NEQ6 fault

[ebdons]

Hi All, need some advice as to the cause of a neq6 pro failure, on the synscan handset it reports both axes failed and no power to motors, but red light is on and handset  is  telling me voltage is 11.7v, this happened in a 3 star alignment,  is this the main board that has gone, I thought when the main board went there was no power at all, tried another handset so can't be that. hope somebody can help. all the best Tony.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I don't have one, but I'd have thought 11.7 is too low, so, if you can, try a different power supply.

[ebdons]

Hi thanx for the quick reply, looked this morning and voltage is now 12v, but still same fault  reading both axes no response, will try another ps or get new board, although nothing is obvious on main board, but noticed synscan button was sluggish to operate. all the best Tony

[ebdons]

Hi, used another ps but still between 11.7 and 12v, left power on and tried Bluetooth  but nothing so left main board out of mount and connected  and noticed MB getting hotter, too hot to touch and synscan went in diagnostic mode and then went blank. so ordered another MB, 2nd hand mount so not so bad anyway. thx for the input. all the best Tony

[jambouk]

Check the lead is OK. 

[michael8554]

Hi ebdons

I guess you haven't found out why the main board has failed?

So just replacing it might end up frying your new one.

Have you at least got a sensible value fuse in your power lead?

Michael

[Ibbo!]

I would try a fully charged battery giving about 13.8v.

[Demon Barber]

I`m with Steve on this one, Neq6 are power sensitive, either fully charged battery or a good quality bench power supply,i always aim for 13.7 minimum, also use a good quality lead,such as the new  Lynx Astro  :     https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lynx-astro-silicone-power-cable-for-sky-watcher-eq8-mounts.htmlynx 

HTH

Mike

[ebdons]

Hi all, thanx for all the replies,  PS still  giving 11.7 to 12.1v dc, works fine with this voltage, jambouk was right, found the original problem with the grey DB9 plug after removing cover found the solder connections to be very badly soldered and with some strands of wire touching other terminals, mainly pins 4&5 and 8&9 which must have been happening for some time but with no effect on operation of mount until last week when the MB failed totally, the MB must have been getting hot for a while but not smelly hot, so had no reason to remove side panel , main capacitor most heat evident, but old MB has green and black caps, new MB has all black caps, so don't know if this was a substandard MB, new board in and tested with BT2EQ6 unit and working great, will need another synscan lead but not happy about skywatcher quality control when it can destroy a main board, so looking for alternatives, may repair old MB as all configuration settings still work with synscan. hope this helps other folks with this issue. all the best Tony