I damaged my mount

[Derick]

Hi all,

Recently, i have made a huge mistake setting up my stuff... I was distracted and got lazy in the process but i managed to put my scope on my EQ5 mount before my counterweights...

I told myself "i'll lock the axis and i'll get my counterwieghts"... What a stupid idea that was... So the lock "unlocked" and the whole OTA shifted on the R.A. axis and it is the gear and the motor of that axis that absorbed the whole shock.

i managed to put the "plate" that supports the motor and the gear back into place "aligned with the actual gear of the mount"... i got rid of the "trailing/tracking problems" but now my stars are all "doubled" here is an image that shows what i am talking about...

Do you think that i am lucky enough that it is just the motor that got damage or the axis's gear itself that somehow got bent and could cause this?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance!

[fwm891]

May not be that serious. I don't think your gears are meshing properly and the scope is 'bouncing' back-n-forth. Check the meshing first but not so tight that the gears bind.

[Derick]

what do you mean by

but not so tight that the gears bind.

[Derick]

"bind" as if there was no space in between when aligned?

[fwm891]

"bind" as if there was no space in between when aligned?

Yes that sums it up. If they are in too tight a contact then you can overload the motors because they don't have the torque to overcome the friction between the gears

You can get over it by using the scope slightly out of balance so the load is always on one side of the gears - just watch when you cross the meridian as the weight shifts

[Derick]

Thanks I'll look into it

[Jannis]

I vote for a bad gear mesh as well. Your mount seem to be fine with both motor and gears.

When i adjusted the motor distance on my HEQ5 mount, i used a thin paper to put in between the gears. This will create a tight fit, yet leave enough room so teh gears won't jam or cause exxesicve wear.

I don't know how the gears on your EQ5 is though.

As allready mentiond abow, you can overcome this by slightly off-balance the mount.

[Derick]

Thank you Jannis, i will also try that aswell i did not have time to play with this today like i wished but i'll keep that in mind! Hopefully tomorow will be good!!! Hope it is just that i was really planning on switching the dec motor with the ra to make sure!!!

[Jannis]

The stepper motors are thougher then you might think. My scope hit a tripod leg while i went inside, where i fell asleep... when i woke up, i rushed out, and heard the motors make a rather bad sound for every "step", this had probably been doing this for about 2-4 hours. Still no damage to gears or motor as far as i have noticed.

[Derick]

Wow! This is giving me great hope!!! Thanks!

[Mark in Macc]

Food for thought. I always install my C9.25 OTA before the weights on my CG5-GT. I take it from this thread that it is generally not a good idea then?

[Derick]

Coutenr weights should ALWAYS be installed first!!

[fwm891]

Coutenr weights should ALWAYS be installed first!!

With weights 'down' it won't rotate then