A defect or am I being picky?

[bokchoy ninja]

I bought a brand new Orion Sirius EQ-G and noticed that there is a gear exposed between the plastic side casing and the main body.

Is this normal? Or a defect?

[Guest]

I don't know if that is normal or not but I certainly would not be happy with that!

[bokchoy ninja]

9 minutes ago, Sland said:

I don't know if that is normal or not but I certainly would not be happy with that!

I'm not happy with it either. None of the screws on the side seem to tighten that closer and I'm concerned about moisture getting in

[david_taurus83]

Can you take a picture of that side of the mount so we can get a better idea of what we're looking at?

[bokchoy ninja]

4 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

Can you take a picture of that side of the mount so we can get a better idea of what we're looking at?

Sure that's this piece here

[Moonshane]

I suspect that if you remove or loosen the screws holding on the cover and jiggle it then it may reseat properly and you can then put back / tighten the screws.

 

[bokchoy ninja]

3 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

I suspect that if you remove or loosen the screws holding on the cover and jiggle it then it may reseat properly and you can then put back / tighten the screws.

 

Doing that wouldn't void the warranty would it?

Also I'm concerned about something falling out if i remove the panel

[NGC 1502]

 

If you are not happy with new kit the sooner you contact the supplier the better. Leaving it until later weakens your case.

Possibly there might be a simple DIY fix, or that gap could be sealed with silicon to keep out moisture and dirt, but once you’ve done that it could easily void your guarantee as you’ve mentioned.

Hope you sort it to your satisfaction.

Ed.

[Star101]

As Ed says, go back to your supplier, I recommend email as to keep records. See what they say. If they suggest poking around first then fine. Else have them replace it. 

I agree, visible gears would worry me too.

[bokchoy ninja]

10 minutes ago, Star101 said:

As Ed says, go back to your supplier, I recommend email as to keep records. See what they say. If they suggest poking around first then fine. Else have them replace it. 

I agree, visible gears would worry me too.

You'd recommend going to the supplier instead of to Orion themselves?

[Star101]

Just now, bokchoy ninja said:

You'd recommend going to the supplier instead of to Orion themselves?

In the UK your contract of sales is with the supplier. The supplier may try to get you to take your complaint back to the manufacturer but your rights are with the supplier. 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product

[bokchoy ninja]

22 minutes ago, Star101 said:

In the UK your contract of sales is with the supplier. The supplier may try to get you to take your complaint back to the manufacturer but your rights are with the supplier. 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product

Ah interesting, okay. I'm in the US but imagine it's similar

[Thalestris24]

Hi

It looks like it's just the motor cover. I'd just make a photographic record. It's a bit sloppy to have a gap but it should be simple to fix yourself. There is a wonderful maintenance resource here: http://www.astro-baby.com/heq5-rebuild/heq5-we1.htm

Louise

[bokchoy ninja]

1 minute ago, Thalestris24 said:

Hi

It looks like it's just the motor cover. I'd just make a photographic record. It's a bit sloppy to have a gap but it should be simple to fix yourself. There is a wonderful maintenance resource here: http://www.astro-baby.com/heq5-rebuild/heq5-we1.htm

Louise

Thanks for the reply. Yea i was hoping that tightening the screws would do it, but it doesn't seal the gap. I could just use vinyl tape of course but for a $1,000 brand new mount it feels lousy to have to tape it up on day one. 

 

Do you think I should try to fix it myself or try to get a replacement from the supplier?

 

Thanks!

[Thalestris24]

1 minute ago, bokchoy ninja said:

Thanks for the reply. Yea i was hoping that tightening the screws would do it, but it doesn't seal the gap. I could just use vinyl tape of course but for a $1,000 brand new mount it feels lousy to have to tape it up on day one. 

 

Do you think I should try to fix it myself or try to get a replacement from the supplier?

 

Thanks!

Um, it's a budget mount! As I say, a bit sloppy to have the gap but the mount benefits from various fiddles/adjustments etc. You will probably want to upgrade the latitude bolt and either try and adjust the dec motor backlash, else fit a belt drive upgrade at some point. I imagine someone in the US does them. Have a read through all the various maintenance options linked to the above page.

Louise

[bokchoy ninja]

7 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

Um, it's a budget mount! As I say, a bit sloppy to have the gap but the mount benefits from various fiddles/adjustments etc. You will probably want to upgrade the latitude bolt and either try and adjust the dec motor backlash, else fit a belt drive upgrade at some point. I imagine someone in the US does them. Have a read through all the various maintenance options linked to the above page.

Louise

Fair enough, if you're saying that this sort of sloppiness is to be expected from a mount at this price, then I probably went in with too-high of expectations. However, I haven't found any mention of people having this specific issue.

Do you think I should just tape it off and continue or try to swap it out with the supplier?

[Thalestris24]

10 minutes ago, bokchoy ninja said:

Fair enough, if you're saying that this sort of sloppiness is to be expected from a mount at this price, then I probably went in with too-high of expectations. However, I haven't found any mention of people having this specific issue.

Do you think I should just tape it off and continue or try to swap it out with the supplier?

I didn't say that - it is sloppy! But it's a minor problem which you should be able to easily fix by either just tightening the cover screws or else undoing the cover and reseating it. I'm assuming your mount is identical to the Skywatcher Heq5 Pro. I was trying to point out that there are lots of other things that you might need, or want, to do anyway - at some point. It's up to you as to how you want to proceed with your supplier.

Here is the diy belt drive kit that we can buy in the uk: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/belt-mod-kits/rowan-astronomy-sky-watcher-heq5-pro-orion-sirius-eq-g-belt-mod-kit.html It's possible to buy a heq5 pro in the UK with the belt mod already fitted, at extra cost, of course

I fitted a diy belt mod to mine!

Louise

[bokchoy ninja]

3 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I didn't say that - it is sloppy! But it's a minor problem which you should be able to easily fix by either just tightening the cover screws or else undoing the cover and reseating it. I'm assuming your mount is identical to the Skywatcher Heq5 Pro. I was trying to point out that there are lots of other things that you might need, or want, to do anyway - at some point. It's up to you as to how you want to proceed with your supplier.

Here is the diy belt drive kit that we can buy in the uk: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/belt-mod-kits/rowan-astronomy-sky-watcher-heq5-pro-orion-sirius-eq-g-belt-mod-kit.html It's possible to buy a heq5 pro in the UK with the belt mod already fitted, at extra cost, of course

I fitted a diy belt mod to mine!

Louise

I removed and replaced the plate, it doesn't seem to be a matter of how it's placed. I think it's because of how the housing itself is positioned beneath it (difficult to describe). Definitely not opposed to DIY work but I just want to make sure I'm starting with a good mount.

[Sunshine]

I can see myself totally not caring about that gap if it were mine, my CPC1100 had little gaps and small anomalies all over but, it worked like a charm and i loved it.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I didn't say that - it is sloppy! But it's a minor problem which you should be able to easily fix by either just tightening the cover screws or else undoing the cover and reseating it. I'm assuming your mount is identical to the Skywatcher Heq5 Pro. I was trying to point out that there are lots of other things that you might need, or want, to do anyway - at some point. It's up to you as to how you want to proceed with your supplier.

Here is the diy belt drive kit that we can buy in the uk: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/belt-mod-kits/rowan-astronomy-sky-watcher-heq5-pro-orion-sirius-eq-g-belt-mod-kit.html It's possible to buy a heq5 pro in the UK with the belt mod already fitted, at extra cost, of course

I fitted a diy belt mod to mine!

Louise

Totally disagree!  If I had paid that much for a mount and found it in that condition I would be all over both the supplier and the Manufacturer.  Work like that is COMPLETELY unacceptable and consumers should not have to put up with it.

[John]

I've owned a couple of Skywatcher HEQ5's (which appear to be identical mounts apart from the colour scheme) and I've been looking around the web at photos of other folks Orion Sirius EQ-G's and neither my mounts or the ones that I have seen photos of appear to have a similar gap in the casing. So I don't think it is normal and, if I'd bought the mount new, I would ask the retailer to do something about it, ie: provide a replacement mount.

I can't see the point in us consumers having these protections and warrantys if we don't use them when there is a legitimate issue that needs to be dealt with.

 

 

[Thalestris24]

Here's a Sirius demonstrating the belt mod

Probably just for future reference  

[bokchoy ninja]

Messaging the supplier... hoping they don't make it difficult/painful to swap for a mount that isn't faulty.

Just my luck, as I'm hopping into this hobby.

[FaDG]

Sorry to see that, and feeling embarassed for having advised the mount. ? And, yes, @Thalestris24 and @John, it's the US equivalent of the HEQ5 Pro. 

It's centainly not normal and, while removing that cover and regreasing the Gears below or turning their tolerances to optimise backlash is part of the ordinary maintenance, it certainly isn't from day 1!

What is bothering me in your photo, is that the curved edge leaving the gap seems to be on the mount side, not on the cover. And this is too bad, because the cover is normally replaced with a thicker one when belt modding, which is a strongly adviced choice to improve performance (tracking and backash) , as Louise wrote. 

No direct access to  electronics under that cover, and unless the internal is out of alignment too it shouldn't impact performance, so no great issue with the gap if the mount performs perfectly, but i wouldn't accept it in a brand new mount anyway. 

Hope you get it fixed. 

Fabio.

P..S. I often see reference to the HEQ5 or even EQ6 as budget mounts, and wrt a Mesu or Astrophysics theycertainly are, but they're way over 1000€, and I'd expect such manufacturing horror to be blocked by QC. 

[bokchoy ninja]

13 minutes ago, FaDG said:

Sorry to see that, and feeling embarassed for having advised the mount. ? And, yes, Louise, it's the US equivalent of the HEQ5 Pro. 

It's centainly not normal and, while removing that cover and regreasing the Gears below or turning their tolerances to optimise backlash is part of the ordinary maintenance, it certainly isn't from day 1!

What is bothering me in your photo, is that the curved edge leaving the gap seems to be on the mount side, not on the cover. And this is too bad, because the cover is normally replaced with a thicker one when belt modding, which is a strongly adviced choice to improve performance (tracking and backash) , as @Thalestris24 is writing. 

No direct access to  electronics under that cover, and unless the internal is out of alignment too it shouldn't impact performance, so no great issue with the gap if the mount performs perfectly, but i wouldn't accept it in a brand new mount anyway. 

Hope you get it fixed. 

Fabio

 

P. S. I often see reference to the HEQ5 or even EQ6 as budget mounts, and wrt a Mesu or Astrophysics they certainly are, but they're way over 1000€, and I'd expect such manufacturing horror to be blocked by QC. 

Thanks for the reply. At this point I'm at the mercy of the supplier. I can't return it without risking a restocking fee so I'm just going to see what they can do in terms of replacing it or having it repaired.

Just sucks since I might have to wait weeks now to have a working mount, which I might have avoided by buying somewhere else. Just my luck I suppose.