NEQ6 Pro-Removing Latitude Decal from mount

[Banni]

Hi All...

Does anybody know a way of removing the altitude decal from an EQ6 without totally destroying it? I've tried warming it with a hairdrier, soaking it with WD40 and isoprop then trying to lever it off with a thin blade but it just won't budge.

I need to dismantle the mount to get to the bit that the rear latitude bolt bears against to move the scope up in latitude. It's worn away and I need to dismantle the mount to put a steel face on the affected part.

I've tried longer bolts but the mount just sticks at 53 degrees and then the bolt just grinds away at the metal!

Best wishes

Malcolm

[r3i]

Hi Malcolm,

These badges are renowned for being notoriously difficult to remove without damaging them. They and the adhesive that affixes them to the mount are very brittle. Some detach easily, some don't.

All you can do is try to be extremely patient and use something like a sharp craft knife to slowly prise them away from the mount.

I did mine recently so that I could fix steel plates to the adjustment tab and replace the grub screws that hold the pressure plate in place with socket cap screws. I did this so that the pressure plate can be eased off whilst adjusting the altitude then tightened up again afterwards.

The "NEQ6" logo badge came off intact, but the one with the latitude scale left a little bit of itself behind and was somewhat frazzled round the edges. I replaced this with one that I knocked up in Visio, printed off and laminated. I've got a few pics somewhere that I'll try to post later.

[Parus major]

Surely there's a market for after market ones? As it were.

[r3i]

Surely there's a market for after market ones? As it were.

The importers, Optical Vision, may be able to supply replacements?

[Mik3]

Malcolm could you post some images of this when you have finished?

[Banni]

Hi All...

I'll post images if and when I beef up the tab.

I've sent an Email to FLO about this problem because with my NEQ6 when I move the mount by hand to about 60 degrees latitude and screw in a long bit of M10 studding, it misses the tab altogether which suggests that either the rear bolt hole is in the wrong place/drilled at the wrong angle or, and this is just a crazy idea, that Synta make mounts for different latitudes and I've got one meant for the equator to about 45 degrees latitude. It adjusts easily between these settings but above that the bolt contacts the tab at an increasingly acute angle while making a mess of the tab. At 55 degrees (my latitude) the bolt starts climbing over the tab.

It's really difficult to move the mount in altitude as well.

The M10 thread in the mount is very loose and this contributes to the problem. Why can't Synta use a decent alloy or at least use steel threaded inserts for these bolts? I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem.

I'm tempted to run an M12 tap through the hole and use a socket head bolt with a suitably rounded end as this would probably cure the problem. The mount's more or less in a permanent position so once it's polar aligned I generally won't need to touch it, but it's still under warranty and I don't want to mess around with it.

I'll wait and see what FLO have to say.

Has anyone else had problems with wear in this area, and how did you cure it??

Best wishes

Malcolm

[r3i]

I used 2mm thick stainless steel, cut to 30mm * 20mm and gently bent to match the shape of the tab. I fixed them onto the tab using JB Weld.

I replaced the pressure plate grubs screws with M5*20mm socket cap bolts.

Here's a few pics. The gouging on my tab wasn't as bad as others that I've seen: