Eq3 pro stiff in both axes

[emyliano2000]

Hi guys.

I recently bought a eq3 pro mount for travel purposes. I got it from somebody who only used twice so it's as new. The goto things weren't even taken out of the box. Is it normal for a new mount to be quite stiff. I can't balance it at all in both axes. I will be using it for imaging with my ts65 quad and camera lenses and ballacing the mount properly is quite crucial.

I managed to take some photos with a canon 135mm f2.8 lens and the result is pretty good but I'm worried that I won't be that lucky with the ts65q or the 200mm lens

Emil

Edited March 14, 2018 by emyliano2000

[JohnSadlerAstro]

Hi,

I had the same issue with new EQ5, the locking knobs were rotated so that they couldn't fully unlock the axes. You need to unscrew them, loosen the locking bolt, and then put the knob back on again. The issue should then be sorted.

John

[emyliano2000]

6 hours ago, JohnSadlerAstro said:

Hi,

I had the same issue with new EQ5, the locking knobs were rotated so that they couldn't fully unlock the axes. You need to unscrew them, loosen the locking bolt, and then put the knob back on again. The issue should then be sorted.

John

Tried that, no change.

[emyliano2000]

Here's a couple of videos I made of the mount to highlight the stiffnes.

20180310_093845.mp4

20180310_094105.mp4

Edited March 14, 2018 by emyliano2000

[wimvb]

Unfortunately, this mount doesn't have ball bearings on the RA and DEC axes (only in the worm gears). It's the "chinese gunk" that determines its smoothness. The RA axis/shaft is held in place by a threaded aluminium ring that in its turn is held in place by three small grub screws:

Worst case, you may need to open up the axes and loosen the bolts a bit. There's a fine balance between too stiff and too loose/wobbly.

You need to remove the polar scope and the RA setting circle to reveal a small hole that will give you access to the three grub screws. Also remove the RA setting circle's locking bolt, of course. Loosen the three grub screws (1.5 mm or 2 mm Allen key needed) about 2 turns. Then unscrew the aluminium ring about 1/8 turn. Then tighten grub screws again. Put setting circle and polar scope back again.

Hope this helps.

Edited March 14, 2018 by wimvb

[emyliano2000]

10 hours ago, wimvb said:

Unfortunately, this mount doesn't have ball bearings on the RA and DEC axes (only in the worm gears). It's the "chinese gunk" that determines its smoothness. The RA axis/shaft is held in place by a threaded aluminium ring that in its turn is held in place by three small grub screws:

Worst case, you may need to open up the axes and loosen the bolts a bit. There's a fine balance between too stiff and too loose/wobbly.

You need to remove the polar scope and the RA setting circle to reveal a small hole that will give you access to the three grub screws. Also remove the RA setting circle's locking bolt, of course. Loosen the three grub screws (1.5 mm or 2 mm Allen key needed) about 2 turns. Then unscrew the aluminium ring about 1/8 turn. Then tighten grub screws again. Put setting circle and polar scope back again.

Hope this helps.

I'll give it a try, thanks.

[emyliano2000]

On 14/03/2018 at 19:18, wimvb said:

Unfortunately, this mount doesn't have ball bearings on the RA and DEC axes (only in the worm gears). It's the "chinese gunk" that determines its smoothness. The RA axis/shaft is held in place by a threaded aluminium ring that in its turn is held in place by three small grub screws:

Worst case, you may need to open up the axes and loosen the bolts a bit. There's a fine balance between too stiff and too loose/wobbly.

You need to remove the polar scope and the RA setting circle to reveal a small hole that will give you access to the three grub screws. Also remove the RA setting circle's locking bolt, of course. Loosen the three grub screws (1.5 mm or 2 mm Allen key needed) about 2 turns. Then unscrew the aluminium ring about 1/8 turn. Then tighten grub screws again. Put setting circle and polar scope back again.

Hope this helps.

Done. The RA feels so much better now. When I balance and I move the counterweight on the bar there is a portion of about 40mm on the bar where nothing happens like it's in balance. I presume the center of that 40mm will be the spot where the mount is in balance. I will mark that spot when I will have all the equipment on the mount and always balance it east heavy.

On the dec axis, the bolt inside the mount was quite tight too so I loosened it up just a tiny bit. It is better now but still not enough to balance it properly. I think that some good quality grease would make both RA and DEC much smoother.

[wimvb]

3 hours ago, emyliano2000 said:

I move the counterweight on the bar there is a portion of about 40mm on the bar where nothing happens like it's in balance.

I think that this is because there are no bearings. Grease is all that assures smooth rotation, and this has "stiction". A better quality grease should give a better sensitivity to imbalance, but it shouldn't be too thin. And it has to work in your climate.

[Thalestris24]

Hi Emyliano

I have an eq3-pro too . Watching your videos I don't think you have any problem - yours seems to behave about the same as mine, and mine tracks and guides fine. I don't know if there are any mechanical differences between the pro and the eq3-2 but I wouldn't bother doing any tweaks unless you have a problem when it's in use (or unless you're a compulsive tweaker!).

Louise

ps if you can get hold of an eq5/heq5 tripod it will improve stability (at the expense of the extra weight)

Edited March 16, 2018 by Thalestris24

[emyliano2000]

8 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

compulsive tweaker

That's me ???

Look at it now ?

20180315_183829.mp4

I think I'm just too used to my hypertuned eq6 and I'm expecting the same from this one. I know they are not the same.

3 hours ago, wimvb said:

And it has to work in your climate.

UK climate.

14 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I don't think you have any problem - yours seems to behave about the same as mine, and mine tracks and guides fine.

I got star trails on 10 sec exposures. Polar alignment was spot on with the polemaster.

I'll have to test it now to see how it is.

Emil

[emyliano2000]

36 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

ps if you can get hold of an eq5/heq5 tripod it will improve stability (at the expense of the extra weight)

Already did. Bargain £30

[Thalestris24]

15 minutes ago, emyliano2000 said:

That's me ???

Look at it now ?

20180315_183829.mp4

I think I'm just too used to my hypertuned eq6 and I'm expecting the same from this one. I know they are not the same.

UK climate.

I got star trails on 10 sec exposures. Polar alignment was spot on with the polemaster.

I'll have to test it now to see how it is.

Emil

Looks like that might be an improvement - what did you do? Star trails after 10 secs - what focal length?

[emyliano2000]

2 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Looks like that might be an improvement - what did you do? Star trails after 10 secs - what focal length?

I loosened the ring behind the polarscope a little bit and smeared some grease on it. It was way too tight.

TS65 quad. 420mm focal lenght

[wimvb]

25 minutes ago, emyliano2000 said:

Look at it now ?

Much better. Just make sure there isn't any play in the axes. With the better tripod you should be able to get more than 10 s unguided. You can still have a large periodic error. Pec training isn't a practical solution for a portable setup, so guiding may be the way to go.

[Thalestris24]

5 minutes ago, emyliano2000 said:

I loosened the ring behind the polarscope a little bit and smeared some grease on it. It was way too tight.

TS65 quad. 420mm focal lenght

You mean the setting circle? My one was very sticky initially but I loosened it too. It's a waste of space really! Or did you mean the small ring below it and with the very small screw? I've not touched that yet. I've hardly done anything with the mount since I bought it just before Christmas...

[emyliano2000]

18 minutes ago, wimvb said:

guiding may be the way to go.

I will be guiding. I own a Lacerta standalone autoguider which I'm very happy with.

It can dither too.

19 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

You mean the setting circle? My one was very sticky initially but I loosened it too. It's a waste of space really! Or did you mean the small ring below it and with the very small screw? I've not touched that yet. I've hardly done anything with the mount since I bought it just before Christmas...

The small tring below it, yes. Scroll up and look at wimvb's suggetion. That's exactly what I did.

[Thalestris24]

2 minutes ago, emyliano2000 said:

I will be guiding. I own a Lacerta standalone autoguider which I'm very happy with.

It can dither too.

The small tring below it, yes. Scroll up and look at wimvb's suggetion. That's exactly what I did.

Ah ok - got it! Let us know if it's improved the star trails problem and I'll consider doing same! At the moment my RA axis seems quite free and easy so if it ain't broke...

[wimvb]

3 hours ago, emyliano2000 said:

I will be guiding. I own a Lacerta standalone autoguider which I'm very happy with.

It can dither too.

Then you're set.

3 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

At the moment my RA axis seems quite free and easy so if it ain't broke...

... then stay away from it. Removing worm gear backlash and guiding may be all you need.

[Thalestris24]

19 hours ago, emyliano2000 said:

The small tring below it, yes. Scroll up and look at wimvb's suggetion. That's exactly what I did.

Just to check - this little ring with the single screw?

 

I came across this on youtube - might be useful.

Louise

[emyliano2000]

2 hours ago, Thalestris24 said:

Just to check - this little ring with the single screw?

 

I came across this on youtube - might be useful.

Louise

You have to take the polarscope out completely to expose the threaded ring. Then take out the RA setting circle ring and the bolt that's holding it in place. That threaded ring is held in place by 3 grub screws that can only be undone by turning the RA axis until each of the grub screws are in line with the hole where was the bolt that's holding the RA setting circle in place.

[Thalestris24]

23 minutes ago, emyliano2000 said:

You have to take the polarscope out completely to expose the threaded ring. Then take out the RA setting circle ring and the bolt that's holding it in place. That threaded ring is held in place by 3 grub screws that can only be undone by turning the RA axis until each of the grub screws are in line with the hole where was the bolt that's holding the RA setting circle in place.

Ah, ok, of course - silly me. I've done it before on the heq5 but I forget things...

Thanks

Louise

[emyliano2000]

 

[Thalestris24]

Yeah, I've seen that thread. Astrobaby's version for the heq5 pro is a bit of a maintenance bible . The heq5 is so much better made - but a lot heavier and more expensive, of course! I only bought the eq3-pro for it's portability. I have a guided 1100d with 300mm lens on it and probably won't use it with anything else/more demanding. I've been setting up a RPi 3 with Linux and PHD2 for guide control. When it gets a bit warmer I'll even try it outside

Louise

[emyliano2000]

1 hour ago, Thalestris24 said:

Yeah, I've seen that thread. Astrobaby's version for the heq5 pro is a bit of a maintenance bible . The heq5 is so much better made - but a lot heavier and more expensive, of course! I only bought the eq3-pro for it's portability. I have a guided 1100d with 300mm lens on it and probably won't use it with anything else/more demanding. I've been setting up a RPi 3 with Linux and PHD2 for guide control. When it gets a bit warmer I'll even try it outside

Louise

I'm planning to use it with my ts65 quad, 420mm focal lenght and with some camera lenses and keep the eq6 for the 8" newtonian. I've been trying for a while to learn phd2 but with just one mount I didn't wanna spoil a good night worth of imaging on learning phd2. So far I've been only using my Lacerta mgen standalone autoguider but now I have the possibility to use it on one mount which I'm taking photos with and learn phd2 on the other mount.

[Thalestris24]

You could always just run PHD1 to start. It does the same thing without all the bells and whistles  

Louise