Help please - DEC axis freely rotating with clutch fully tight - AZ EQ6

[MikeODay]

Can any one give me some clues as to what has gone wrong with my Skywatcher AZ EQ6 mount?

All was working ok, the mount was tracking ok for some time when all of a sudden it stopped moving. There was no obstructions and all cables where loose, no reason I could see for a problem. I checked the hand controller which was displaying "initializing" and kept doing so until I gave up waiting and turned off the mount. I then released the clutches and returned the mount to its home position. After I tightened the clutches I found that the DEC axis was freely rotating with the clutch fully tight.

Does anyone have any ideas - I am a complete novice with mounts; I pretty much just follow the manual and I'm lost after that.

My thoughts are:

- could it be an adjustment issue

- has something come loose

- has the motor/belt become disengaged

- has something broken

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Mike

[ronin]

If there is a belt then check also that the gear wheels are not rotating around whatever drive shaft.

They tend to be held by a grub screw and it may have become loose and is not gripping the shaft.

Also check before it falls out and disappears or jams something.

If no belt then check the the same anyway as the gears may be simply not gripping the drive shaft from the motors anymore.

[msh1]

it is belt driven just remove the right hand panel the one without all the connections ie power etc see if the belt is loose  or grub screws come undone its an easy job 

mark

[MikeODay]

Thanks guys, I will remove the panel and have a look.

Cheers

Mike

[MikeODay]

Ummm.... well... ok, my excuse is that I am completely mechanically inept, and it was dark and very cold so brain was not working at its usual mediocre peak.

Anyway, 'problem' solved.

So here is what happened last night, I loosened off the clutch from one side of the pier with the telecope in an unusual position, swung it back to park and walked around the pier and 'thigtended' the clutch. Or to put that another way, I in fact unkowingly fully loosened the clutch until it was hard up and tight against the stop in the fully unlocked position. What is worse, it took me at least 10 minutes of trying to 'loosen' the clutch tonight before I tried to see if there was any play in the other directions - and well, yes there was ... right up to the point infact where the clutch locked the axis as it should.

Thanks again for your help and I'm sorry to have troubled you.

Sheepishly yours

Mike

[ronin]

I've done simialr with a printer, many years ago. Took the paper tray out then somehow and without knowing it turned it round. It is a very refctangular cube of a printer and looks much the same whichever way round it is. Then tried to get the paper tray back in the now open slot at the "front" (really the rear). Wouldn't go in, eventually phoned the help line.

About 10 minutes into the talk I realised the "problem", asked the person if I had given my name, they said no I hadn't, so I thanked him said I was a complete idiot and had somehow turned the printer round and had been trying to fit it in the small rear slot not the front slot where it was meant to go and had come out of, and as it happened happily went back into. Then put the phone down.

Weighs a fair bit so how I managed to forget picking it up and turning it round was the real puzzle.

[MikeODay]

I'm glad to here it's not just me

[Pompey Monkey]

Ummm.... well... ok, my excuse is that I am completely mechanically inept, and it was dark and very cold so brain was not working at its usual mediocre peak.

Anyway, 'problem' solved.

So here is what happened last night, I loosened off the clutch from one side of the pier with the telecope in an unusual position, swung it back to park and walked around the pier and 'thigtended' the clutch. Or to put that another way, I in fact unkowingly fully loosened the clutch until it was hard up and tight against the stop in the fully unlocked position. What is worse, it took me at least 10 minutes of trying to 'loosen' the clutch tonight before I tried to see if there was any play in the other directions - and well, yes there was ... right up to the point infact where the clutch locked the axis as it should.

Thanks again for your help and I'm sorry to have troubled you.

Sheepishly yours

Mike

LOLs - I also find that I completely forget which way to turn the dec clutch to tighten it, even five only seconds seconds after loosening it!

BTW, your lovely roll-off shed has inspired me to do the same. I have the same shed in the box just sitting there, waiting for me to finish the pier and lay the decking!... If only there was more time...

[MikeODay]

LOLs - I also find that I completely forget which way to turn the dec clutch to tighten it, even five only seconds seconds after loosening it!

BTW, your lovely roll-off shed has inspired me to do the same. I have the same shed in the box just sitting there, waiting for me to finish the pier and lay the decking!... If only there was more time...

All the best with your observatory. Take lots of photos - I regret not taking more work in progress shots. Oh, and I'd love to see them.

Cheers

Mike

[Peter Drew]

Make sure you try and roll it off the right way.