How tight to tighten the clutches on on the Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 mount

[bluesilver]

Hi,  I am new to these mounts,  I have always used the goto mounts on Dobsonians.

So i just relieved mine yesterday,  the Skywatcher AZ-EQ6

Telescope going on it is the Skywatcher Evostar 150ED

So i got everything mounted and gone through the process of balancing everything out to see how it all feels.

I nipped up both clutches so that the scope fall.

Then when i went to take a look through the eyepiece i found if i bumped it even slightly the telescope would move.

I know with the Dobsonian mounts that i tighten up the clutches and it stays fairly well solid and doesn't move even if you bump it slighty.

So my question is,  how tight do i have to do these two clutches up?

I find that the RA Clutch is the main one that doesn't appear to hold tight.

Is this a common issue or do i have to really tighten it up?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[jambouk]

The RA will take some time to “bed” in. Make sure the lever is screwed into the hilt and then you need to give it a good tighten. I plce my thumb on the mount and use my hand to pull the lever to the left side of the mount to tighten it. Over time you may need to unscrew the lever and pick a new hole in order to have enough travel in the lever to slacken and tighten it. 
Make sure it is deeply screwed into the clutch though, milky first one wasn’t and I snapped the lever off!

[jambouk]

Have a read of this:

 

[ollypenrice]

I have two EQ sixes and never have to lock the clutches hard. I'm not a human torque wrench but I apply maybe a fifth the force I could apply if I really tried. Maybe less but certainly not more.

Olly

[Ouroboros]

With mine I do the same as Jambouk. It needs to be quite tight otherwise I find it can slip.  I don’t go silly with the tightening though.  Another thing ... I now loosen the clutches fully when picking the mount up and placing it down on its side for storage. I read somewhere that failing to do that might put strain on the belts and drive system. Is that right? 

[Owmuchonomy]

Are you using it in EQ mode or Alt-Az mode?  As mentioned above The RA axis needs tightening quite hard and the system is a bit cumbersome as you have to judge which radial hole to screw the handle into.  The mounts once tamed are extremely good though.  Mine handles my ED 150 in tandem with my C 9.25" in Alt-Az mode but make sure you balance the ED 150.  It is very front element heavy.

[bluesilver]

Thanks for the replies,  appreciated.

I should of possibly mentioned this before and not sure if it makes any difference,  but i have yet to turn the mount on,  I have only just received both the mount and the scope and was just playing around trying to get the scope balanced and see how the unit works.

So all this clutch issues is with the mount turned off,  not sure if it will make a difference with the mount turned on would t?

Yes,  i figured when carrying the mount in and out it would be best to have all clutch loose in case something grabbed in the clutches.

 

 

 

[gorann]

Clutches are also for safety and need to be able to slip in case you fall a sleep🥱 before a meridean flip run the telescope into the tripod🥴. As long as you have the telescope well balanced the clutches do not need to be very tight at all.

Edited August 16, 2020 by gorann

[jambouk]

The clutch is unaffected by whether the mount is on or not.