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NEQ6 accident.....please help!

Wailin

By Wailin
in Discussions - Mounts

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Wailin

Wailin

Posted
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My first post in stargazers lounge and its not a happy one:(

I had an accident earlier today with my neq6 where the head fell off the tripod and put a nice big dent in the wooden floor. I thought I was lucky and that the mount was undamaged but I noticed that the RA axis was more stiff in certain areas of manual rotation with clutch disengaged. When I powered the unit up and used the arrow keys to rotate the RA axis I got a horrible grinding noise and the rotation seized up. Moving in the opposite direction was the same. The dec axis rotation seems to be fine. I only have the mount 2 months and this is so stressful naturally because of the expense of the mount and I am at a loss as to what to do. Anyone have an idea what may have occured to cause this? Could the RA axis have gotten bent slightly from the fall or a gear got dislodged? I opened the side panel and had a peak but nothing seems to have been dislodged so it is something inside the axis but to be honest i haven't a clue> Help or advice greatly appreciated.

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sloz1664

sloz1664

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I doubt if you have damaged the RA axis, it will be something dislodged. I agree with Red Dwarf and read AstroBaby's EQ6 stripdown & rebuild.

Read the instructions carefully and if you don't feel you have the skills or knowledge to complete task, I advise not to proceed and seek

help from someone who can. You could make matters worse.

I suggest the first step is to re-adjust the RA axis (Section 5 - stripping/rebuilding RA axis).

cheers

Steve

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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The most likley cause is the worm engagement has changed. Look ag the section on worm adjustment. If that doesnt cure it then there is a thin chance you may have bent the main RA shaft or dented the ring gear. If thats the case its a real downer.

My bet is though that a bit of rinkering with the worm adjustment will fix the problem.

I am always amazed at how many accidents happen with this stuff. Quite astounding really.

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jam1e1

jam1e1

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I've stripped down and rebuilt using astrobaby guide, was invaluable resource, as long as got the right tools its not too complex, assuming you are ok with mechanical aspects. Good luck hope u get fixed, can always post pics as you go and sure ppl will assist you

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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That's looks an interesting guide. I might strip mine down as well - for the fun of doing it - there is nothing wrong with it. Nothing like tinkering with stuff :)

Ummm... if you have a mount that works - leave it alone! They're rare things.

Olly

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Wailin

Wailin

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Just to let everyone know how I got on.. Stripped the RA axis using astro baby's brilliant guide. Couldn't find anything amiss so cleaned and greased all the bits and bobs and put it all back together. Turned on mount and still grinding so using the guide I adjusted the worm engagement and eventually got it running smoothly. Phew! Didn't have any trouble really apart from some difficulty removing bearings off the spindle axis but some gentle persuasion with a rubber mallet helped. What a day!

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Wailin

Wailin

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Thank you Mel. It wasn't that difficult thanks to your excellent guide. Very good of you to take the time to do that and help out other people. Without the guide there is not a chance in hell I would have took the mount apart. I have noticed since I took it apart that the ra axis swings a lot more freely when clutch is released. Not really a good thing. I'm wondering is it due to not tightening the main bolt on the spindle enough or too much grease on the bearings?

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Well the mount shoud move freely in all of its axis. It should though stay still mote lr less when the clutch is removed IF it has a scope on t and its balannced with its weights. Mostly theres a little drift as you de clutch even with the mojnt alanced because the balance of the scope is always a little out.......thats due to the fact that when the scope is balnced onto the mount its at one particular angle. As the scope is not usually a regular shape ie dinders and studf sticking out, and obvioulsy in a session the Eps can change theres naturally a little bit of drift towards a partiaulr sirection.

For instance if The acope is pointed at its park position and I rlelease the DEC or the RA dlutch I would expect my own scope to swingl to the left a bit as the focuer and EP is on that side.

Left on ts own it would deift slowly go an angle of about30'

What is causing ou go worry about this ?

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Wailin

Wailin

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Compared to the dec axis the ra axis swings a lot more freely, there is a slight friction in the dec axis, none in the ra. This was definitely not the case before I tampered with it. I'm not really worried about it I just reckon it will lead to more wear and tear on the bearings. For example, with no scope on the mount and with it locked in the home position, as soon as I release the clutch the unit swings very quickly almost swings back up to the home position, whereas before it would just drop down with counterbalance bar pointing up...no drastic side to side swinging. I'm sure its just a matter of trying to tighten the main bolt on the spindle, although I don't think there was much more I could go with it.

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Wailin

Wailin

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Compared to the dec axis the ra axis swings a lot more freely, there is a slight friction in the dec axis, none in the ra. This was definitely not the case before I tampered with it. I'm not really worried about it I just reckon it will lead to more wear and tear on the bearings. For example, with no scope on the mount and with it locked in the home position, as soon as I release the clutch the unit swings very quickly almost swings back up to the home position, whereas before it would just drop down with counterbalance bar pointing up...no drastic side to side swinging. I'm sure its just a matter of trying to tighten the main bolt on the spindle, although I don't think there was much more I could go with it.

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Wailin

Wailin

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The friction before would have been caused by the tar like grease they put in. A smooth action like you are describing is how the mijn should work. With the clutches off the minnt should be almost frictionless.

I have noticed a small issue since I took apart the RA axis and its to do with the RA scale. I use the scale for polar alignment and the issue is when the clutch is released and I move the RA axis the scale moves with it as its supposed to. But, with clutch engaged and moving the axis using the keypad, the RA scale stays fixed and does not rotate with the axis, even when fully tightened! I'm at a loss as to why this is happening.........any ideas??

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