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IMPORTANT : Prevent your EQ6 board from frying


Catanonia

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Just for the record as far as I know the EQ6 has NO protection at all either from over voltage or polarity errors.

Generally speaking it behoves everyone to have a decent PSU with overload and short protection. I got one from Rapid Electronics which has both, the Maplin one always seemed a bit crude to me but i is cheaper which always appeals to people.

Its a hard lesson here but I think its far more likley there was a board fault that caused this on the mount, after all reading this it appears the same PSU is beng used.

I'd deffo invest in a PSU with suitable protection. Sadly most astronomers are happy to spend a small fortune on a telescope but then post asking for the cheapest dewshield. Sun filter, power supply etc.

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They need to sell aminboard you know, feed children and such.. no need for fuse man :(

On other hand, mainboard is kinda easy to repair.. yeah you need some pcb solder skills , but i believe we have loads of "solder type" guys here who would happily help you out. I repaired mine by just soldering flat L3, but this will fry your mainboard next time for sure, but :( it can be avoided by fuse installed.

Oh, and I would install fuse inside a mount itself, just alittle more job to do, but will protect it from all, regardless it is car plug, mains or anything else.

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To Astro_baby - they do have a little bit of kinda protection, three little pieces on PCB called L1, L2, L3.. thy blow first, saving motors and rest of PCB(if lucky) and they can be repaired quite easy.

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Hmmmm call me old fashioned but I prefer a kind of protection that isnt related to bits of the board getting fried. i'm fussy like that :(

Another old fashioned person here.

Sadly the people who sold the purse strings at manufacture often do not understand fault protection.

Sadly the buyer often does not understand that you cannot get more than you pay for and goes for the cheapest.

At the point of design, the added cost of the (excellent) thyristor and fuse protection described long back would be about 50p. Putting it in afterwards costs rather more.

Symbol 'L' on a PCB relates to an inductor. This is included to help with electrical interfence issues. Blowing open circuit to protect against further damage, maybe even a fire, is just an accidental side effect.

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Symbol 'L' on a PCB relates to an inductor. This is included to help with electrical interfence issues. Blowing open circuit to protect against further damage, maybe even a fire, is just an accidental side effect.
That's what I thought! "L" has always meant "inductor" to me.
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  • 3 months later...

As you may have known, my NEQ6 Pro board got fried last month and I have now recieved a new working board for £100 direct from OVL via Bern @ Modern.

I must have had a power surge and hence the problem.

Looking closely, I believe (and others) that there is a fundamental problem with the design of the EQ6 power protection.

They supply you with a Cigar Lighter method of powering the mount from 12 volts. This has a 5amp fuse in it for protection if you unscrew the end and have a peek.

Those that power from a 12volt power adapter from the mains have no such protection fuse and are at the mercy of the boards components. In particular there are a few VERY small components that blow and save the motors and the rest of the mount. The problem is that if they blow, they basically make the board useless unless you are very skilled at repairs of small components. That is if you can find which ones are at fault. (usually L1 and L2)

So after recieving my new £100 board, I decided to make my own protection fuse mechanism for 12v from the mains to protect the new board from power surges.

For a few £'s from Maplins I bought an inline fuse holder andf butchered the extension cable from the 12volt supply with a 5amp fuse inline.

A few pictures of the quick and simple mod that hopefully will save me a few £'s in the future.

I would suggest that all people running EQ6 mounts from the mains via a 12v adapter think about how they protect their boards too.

I think this is a bad design flaw, the EQ6 board should have a build in fuse that protects the unit on the actual board.

A few piccies for you.

Cat

As you may have known, my NEQ6 Pro board got fried last month and I have now recieved a new working board for £100 direct from OVL via Bern @ Modern.

I must have had a power surge and hence the problem.

Looking closely, I believe (and others) that there is a fundamental problem with the design of the EQ6 power protection.

They supply you with a Cigar Lighter method of powering the mount from 12 volts. This has a 5amp fuse in it for protection if you unscrew the end and have a peek.

Those that power from a 12volt power adapter from the mains have no such protection fuse and are at the mercy of the boards components. In particular there are a few VERY small components that blow and save the motors and the rest of the mount. The problem is that if they blow, they basically make the board useless unless you are very skilled at repairs of small components. That is if you can find which ones are at fault. (usually L1 and L2)

So after recieving my new £100 board, I decided to make my own protection fuse mechanism for 12v from the mains to protect the new board from power surges.

For a few £'s from Maplins I bought an inline fuse holder andf butchered the extension cable from the 12volt supply with a 5amp fuse inline.

A few pictures of the quick and simple mod that hopefully will save me a few £'s in the future.

I would suggest that all people running EQ6 mounts from the mains via a 12v adapter think about how they protect their boards too.

I think this is a bad design flaw, the EQ6 board should have a build in fuse that protects the unit on the actual board.

A few piccies for you.

Cat

Please, can you remember where didi you buy that new card board? Can you send me the link of the shop ?

Thank you very much ! :)

Gabriel

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I read somewhere that bad connections can cause spikes and kill the board. Also, it's recommended that the switch on the mount is used to switch on and off as making or breaking the connection by umplugging can also cause spikes. Cig lighter plugs and sockets are notorious for causing trouble.

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