Heq5 cover

[Nicho]

Ive just finished setting up a pier for my heq5 and am undecided if i should leave the head on or off ?

I got the cover from green which ,which seem more than up to the job of protectting my mount just unsure of dew and the general build up of water on metal that you get at night. It's not a problem to take it inside but it would be better off outside if thats possible ? as its the main reason why i made the pier in the first place.

Please excuse the mess in my garden

I would love to hear people thoughts on this please .

Nick

[Bizibilder]

I did more or less the same as you have done but I use a plastic waste-bin over the mount first. Totally waterproof and seems to keep the dew off the mount (I've opened it up on nights with dew everywhere and found the mount still dry underneath.

A mini-movie gives you the idea: (click to make it work!):

[Nicho]

Thx Roger that looks very tidy . I will have a look at bins today . Just one question is that wood used instead a plastic top as a lid ?

Nick

[Bizibilder]

Sorry - I should have said - that is a disc of wood (OSB actually with 5-6 coats of yacht varnish) that is cut to just fit inside the bin. There are three small wooden blocks screwed onto the inside of the bin that stop the bin going over the disc too far. The bin is the "waterproof" lid and the chimera cover is only there to be 90% waterproof (it leaks like a sieve!). I now have a Tesco garden furniture cover that goes over the bin first (99.99% waterproof!) and then the chimera cover. The idea being that the outer cover takes all the "weather and Sun damage and the inner cover and bin keep everything dry. It's been in use over a year now with no problems - and last winter was awful - down to -15° some nights.

I also drilled a few holes in the rim of the bin because now it is upside-down the rim started to collect water!

[Nicho]

That's great Roger thanks for that . I will post an update when I've sorted out the wood ,already bought a bin . Just need to cut it to size and figure a way of being able to attach it to the mount .

[Bizibilder]

Mine is bolted to the bottom of the bolts that hold the two top pier plates together. If you use studding (allthread) rather than bolts the job is quite easy.

[dmahon]

Are the three slabs insted of pouring concrete? Looks like a good idea for a temporary pier!

[Nicho]

Yes Dmahon ..well 4 actually took abit of time drilling throught the slabs but seems to work well . The pier it's self is over half filled with sand also !

As you say its temporary for the mo but does the job .

Nick

[tramsden]

I'm going to copy this idea too. Having the mount attached full time is the way to go. Thanks for the idea

T

[Ryan-y]

Nick I really like the slab idea. It could be a good solution for my situation (obsy thread 'tempory obsy') but do you think you could suffer from subsidiseation with all the weight spead over quite a small point on the soil?

[Ryan-y]

*'short term obsy' forgot the title of my own thread!

[Nicho]

Ryan i would say yes, i will suffer some as i have alot of clay soil down here but the great thing about a pier is it really should'nt move a great deal compared too lugging out the tripod every night.

Nothing a drift align won't sort out every few months anyway( i hope )

Nick

[Ryan-y]

Yeah that's true, let me know how you get on.