Check your belt mod.....

[gazza]

Hi had a disastrous night last night with my  Rowan belt modded HEQ5. This is in no way the fault of the Rowan mod, but entirely my fault in installation. The mount had been working superbly for a couple of years, but the last couple of nights out, I found guiding was pretty bad, It looked like cable drag - sudden jumps in ra, then last night (incidentally the best night for 3 months for imaging) it became hard to get accurate slews, and guiding was impossible.  OK, it's 1 am on a great night, the penny drops. Check the mount, off with the side cover... &%&^%&%^ the motor had slipped next to the idler, and had jammed an effectively destroyed the belt. I had obviously not tightened the cap screws holding everything down tight enough, my fault entirely. Unfortunately there were no grinding noises to warn me. In future I think I'll check everything as part of a maintenance routine. New belts ordered, but I expect they will take a few weeks to get to Australia.

Maybe you should check yours?

cheers

Gary

[Knighty2112]

I would have thought if it worked fine for two years that if the screws weren’t tight enough to hold either the idler or the motor that it would have shown up well before now? Anyway, hope you get up and working soon again. 

[Demon Barber]

Hi Gary,when you fit your new belts put a drop of threadlock on each bolt,no more worries!

Regards

Mike