Mount Stops Slewing

[Shaun_Astro]

Hi,

I took my mount out for the first time in 5 weeks, all went as normal on the aligning, until it finished slewing to the second alignment star...

As I tried to use the direction buttons to center Rigel, then I realised it wasn't moving, and the handset said "slewing to...." still.

I tuned it off for a bit, came back to it, but the thing wont move at all. It says slewing still, but doesn't actually move. Also it doesn't make a whisper. The handset is seemingly working fine apart from that.

 

Can anyone suggest anything?

 

It's just turned 13 months old also! So might not be under manufacturers warranty still.

 

Thanks,

 

Shaun.

[PeterCPC]

Check the power first.

Peter

[alan potts]

As Peter has said, power. I have had two SW mounts and had problems with both for very short periods of time and both times it was power related. I didn't actually believe the guys when they gave their answers but even down to poor pointing is a good indicator that the battery is getting low. I now use a mains transformer and would love another one from somewhere but sadly FLO are unable to send UK stock to me due to voltage I imagine.

Alan

[Davey-T]

Are you using a mains power supply ?

Somewhere lurking in the menu should be a reset option to reset the handset in case it's got itself in a twist.

Dave

[Geoff Lister]

2 hours ago, alan potts said:

I now use a mains transformer and would love another one from somewhere but sadly FLO are unable to send UK stock to me due to voltage I imagine

I use the plug-top 12V, 1.5 or 2A supplies, sold on eBay for use with the 300-LED flexible, stick-on, lighting strips. I usually extend the 12V cable with some heavy-duty, white, bell flex. It avoids cord-wrap and shows up well in the dark. A UK, rectangular pin, plug version will not work in Bulgaria (without a travel adaptor), but an "EU" standard, round pin, version should be OK.

Geoff 

[alan potts]

31 minutes ago, Geoff Lister said:

I use the plug-top 12V, 1.5 or 2A supplies, sold on eBay for use with the 300-LED flexible, stick-on, lighting strips. I usually extend the 12V cable with some heavy-duty, white, bell flex. It avoids cord-wrap and shows up well in the dark. A UK, rectangular pin, plug version will not work in Bulgaria (without a travel adaptor), but an "EU" standard, round pin, version should be OK.

Geoff 

Geoff, I have many UK things working here and Amazon will send just about anything but FLO told me they were prevented from send one by the maker, they are trying to source an EU version I believe.

[Shaun_Astro]

It was using a new set of batteries. I know when the voltage is too low: the slewing slows down and the handset back-light dims while slewing. The power is fine.

I "factory reset" the handset: now it says "no response both axes", which is probably related to it not having the correct drivers installed now. Probably shouldn't have done that but worth a try. 

With the Star Discovery there are supposed to be sensors so you can move it by hand, moving it doesn't seem to change where the mount thinks it is pointing to, maybe the system that controls that is dead.

Now I have to install new firmware before I try to fix it, the serial and usb combo; which is expensive, why couldn't they have just had a usb input!

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

 

[michael8554]

A factory reset shouldn't remove any drivers or the firmware so you don't need to buy a cable and usb to serial converter - unless you aren't able to to enter time and date etc, then maybe the firmware is corrupted.

As suggested many times - voltage. There's a voltage check in the Utilities menu, did you check that ?

Clean the contacts on the handset cable, might not be getting info back from the base.

Michael

[Jessun]

Shot in the dark: does the handset have a battery?

/Jesper

[Shaun_Astro]

The voltage said 12.2v, and the handset cable seems to be fine.

I can't find where I put the warranty information, but I assume it's 12 months. I guess nobody has had something similar with other mounts?

Such a shame. I don't want to invest a lot more money on another mount if they are so unreliable.

[Geoff Lister]

I am not familiar with the Star Discovery mount, but I recently opened up my Skymax mount and found that one of the connectors, to a motor/encoder, was not seated properly onto the control board. If not under warranty, it's worth undoing a few screws to check.

[Shaun_Astro]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have the right size screwdriver, and it seems to have some tool specific bolts on it.

When I started it up earlier, I didn't get the "Both axes no response" warning. It stated up fine and asked if I wanted to align as normal. But the arrows wont move the mount at all still.

I'll contact the supplier and see if they can suggest something.

[Apharov]

I'm beginning to think this is a common issue with the SW Star Discovery mount. My first SWSD stopped slewing in AZ very often, got it replaced and now the second one is doing the same thing regularly. I think the issue is not power as the AZ motor is running, but rather that the friction between the motor drive and the rotating mount part is not sufficient. The tightness of AZ is not externally adjustable, but there probably is internally some adjustment possibility.

[Shaun_Astro]

On 31/03/2018 at 17:20, Apharov said:

I'm beginning to think this is a common issue with the SW Star Discovery mount. My first SWSD stopped slewing in AZ very often, got it replaced and now the second one is doing the same thing regularly. I think the issue is not power as the AZ motor is running, but rather that the friction between the motor drive and the rotating mount part is not sufficient. The tightness of AZ is not externally adjustable, but there probably is internally some adjustment possibility.

Did you have the  "Both axes no response" notification?

I gave up trying to get it to work, it's sitting behind a sofa collecting dust, £300 down the drain.

[Geoff Barnes]

By golly this brings back bad memories for me! I too had the dreaded "Both Axes - No Response" with my 12" Dob GO-TO, weeks and weeks of frustration, until the Skywatcher technician suggested the AZ Power cable was not fully inserted into its sockets. I thought it was connected as it hit a definite "stop" in the socket, but no, it had to be quite forcefully pushed until it clicks and locks into place. I did that and tralaaaa! It works perfectly now every time!

Give it a go and make sure the cable clicks in and locks. If it's not that then I'm afraid I can't suggest anything else.

[lux eterna]

7 hours ago, Shaun_Astro said:

Did you have the  "Both axes no response" notification?

I gave up trying to get it to work, it's sitting behind a sofa collecting dust, £300 down the drain.

I have had the "Both axes no response" with My HEQ5 Pro. The handset will say so if both stepper motors are disconnected (maybe due to stepper motor connectors not engaging 100% etc) during startup. It should not have anything to do with the factory reset, just a coincident it appeared at the same time.

In my case it was not a stepper motor connector issue, it was the electronics cirquit board that was broken. It happened when the 12V plug in the mount did a bad job (bad contact). This can generate destructive voltage spikes, especially if you have a long power cable.

There is a small chance that your problem is with the handset cable. If the handset is receiving 12V through that cable it will start up, but if any of the signal lines is missing (bad contact or broken cable) I guess the handset might report "Both Axes no response". If you know someone who has the same type of mount, you could try your mount with a fresh handset or cable. If not, inspect the cable carefully, spray the contact terminals with something appropriate. Then excersice the contacts in/out a couple of times before testing.

[Moonshane]

I was planning on buying a used HEQ5 pro as an upgrade to my totally trouble free EQ5, maybe I should think again or are such problems a rarity?

[lux eterna]

1 hour ago, Moonshane said:

I was planning on buying a used HEQ5 pro as an upgrade to my totally trouble free EQ5, maybe I should think again or are such problems a rarity?

If you are referring to my broken electronics card, it can happen to any mount with a cheap 12V connector. But it can easily be fixed with a plug modification like this.

[Moonshane]

cheers for that, I am comfortable with fixing in general other than soldering cards. Maybe I should just relax ?

[lux eterna]

3 hours ago, Moonshane said:

cheers for that, I am comfortable with fixing in general other than soldering cards. Maybe I should just relax ?

I do have a non-solder fix also... I used it before I did the 12V connector upgrade. It´s an alu bracket, attached with double sided tape. The little foldable "wing" part has enough friction and padding under it to secure the original 12V plug into it´s socket.