Jump to content

Narrowband

Replacememnt Alt Az bolts for HEQ5 Pro


Brutie

Recommended Posts

Hi Everyone,

I know this topic comes up from time to time but I need some advice .

One of my Az bolts on my HEQ5Pro has bent so I have decided to get some suitable hex bolts from here http://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk

So I may as well get some for the Alt while I am at it .

This mount is permanently mounted in my observatory so I can live with hex bolts and a spanner as I will only be polar aligning occasionally.

So can anyone confirm for me whether I should be buying stainless steel or high tensile steel , or maybe it does not matter ?

Also can anyone tell me if I am likely to be able to file down the Alt bolts to a rounded ("Dog Point") profile like the original SW ones. I know SS is quite hard so I'm not sure if a file or grinder wheel in my Black & Decker would do the job.

And finally I see there are some fancy handles here https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/clamping-levers/0478692/

These look promising but I don't see how they can be used ie I can see that they can tighten a bolt but surely the handle with unscre itself if you try to unscrew the bolt itself during alignment ? They need some form of locking mechanism.  What am I missing ?

Any help most appreciated 😉

Brutie

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Both stainless steel and hi tensile steel are corrosion resistant and hi tensile steel is harder than stainless, but but you should be able to file either. At the end of the day, I would prefer stripping the thread on the bolt rather than on the mount so I would go for A2 stainless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first thing I would do would be to remove both adjustment screws and see if you can reasonably rock the head up and down manually.  The pivot is often done up too tight at the factory and a major cause of bent bolts.  Using stronger bolts can solve the bent bolt issue but if the head is way too tight you run the risk of stripping the casting thread or worse, damaging the inner casting where the bolt engages.  I would use stainless bolts but I would file off minimally any sharp edge rather than rounding off at the contact point.  It is this rounded profile that encourages the bolt to ride down the contact slope and bend the bolt.    🙂 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Seelive and Peter .

So stainless it will be. But........

Today I took the mount off the pier to remove the bolts and measure them  for my SS bolt order, and to test the tightness of the head movement per Peter's suggestion. Two issues.

1) The uppr Alt bolt came out easily but the lower bolt  did not. It was fine up until the last few mm when it just tightened right up and would not come out any further. It screws back in and out again AOK  un til the last few mm so I think I may have a damaged end on the bolt....perhaps through too much force on the bolt at some time. I cannot see what's going on inside  so hard to be sure. I don't want to force it for fear of damaging the thread on the mount.

2) I tried rocking  the head with one bolt out and one partly out as descibed above.  This was very difficult but after quite a lot of pulling and  pushing I can now get it to move but it's not very easy and it moves jerkily which suggests it is too tight. It'scertainly not smooth at all  . So this might be  another issue for closer inspection.

Is it possible to to open up the head to see if there's any adjustment possible on the head ? If so what's the method ?  It looks like it may be possible to remove the circular Skywatcher badge and / or the Alt scale plate and get inside.  If I can do that I may be able to see the end of my non removable bolt as well. I don't want to proceed without some advice for fear of messing the whole thing up.

Any ideas guys ?

Thanks !

Brutie

Edit.......just saw on astro baby's website that there is are adjustment screws behind the Alt dial. There is also a great big hex bolt head ! So I am assuming that the other end is behind the Skywatcher name plate on the other side. If I could access both ends of that big bolt maybe I can separate the two parts of the head to see what us going on inside . I don't think there's much else in there other than a big bolt ? Ideas. Anyone?

Edited by Brutie
Update
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imagine my horror when I got a new HEQ5 Pro, the altitude head adjustment wont work because it was too tight. I called my local dealer here in India and they said its "normal" its not supposed to move !!😒 I thought how am I supposed to polar align this thing... I searched the web and found Astrobaby's guide and loosened those three hex bolts a little...Now I can adjust it fine. Its still a bit jerky with heavy gear on it but definitely not a problem.

Needless to say, in the seven years that have followed, I've never thought about buying any item from that dealer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The side plates on the mount, unfortunately, do have to be removed to access the through bolt.  They are plastic and glued on and difficult to remove without cosmetic damage.  I would recommend heating carefully with a hair drier before trying to prise them off.  New ones can be purchased if necessary.      🙂   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi i got upgraded bolts from 365 astronomy  they are made to look the same as the standard bolt but much higher grade material  as i change locations a lot i have to adjust altitude a lot and these bolts are great 

If they dont show them on 365 call Zoltan he will get them in for you they are not dear 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Neil H said:

Hi i got upgraded bolts from 365 astronomy  they are made to look the same as the standard bolt but much higher grade material  as i change locations a lot i have to adjust altitude a lot and these bolts are great 

If they dont show them on 365 call Zoltan he will get them in for you they are not dear 

Hi Neil

Thanks for that tip I will contact Zoltan and see how much they cost 😉

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

The side plates on the mount, unfortunately, do have to be removed to access the through bolt.  They are plastic and glued on and difficult to remove without cosmetic damage.  I would recommend heating carefully with a hair drier before trying to prise them off.  New ones can be purchased if necessary.      🙂   

Hi Peter, 

Thanks for that tip. Well I took the bull by the horns at the weekend and disassembled the mount. The side plates came off fairly easily with a small craft knife .....wish I had tried the hair dryer trick but anyway they came off without damage. You were spot on with the friction grub screws ....far too tight . A quarter turn to slacken them off a tad and the head rocked smoothly like Status Quo. Even the great big bolt unscrewed really easily. I went on and disassembled the two halves of the casing to get a look at the damaged lower Alt bolt and I could see the thread was damaged about 20mm from the end. I was able to remove the bolt by sawing it off outside the casing with a junior hacksaw then unscrewing the damaged end from the inside of the casing by squeezing  my fingers into the space in the casing  - twiddly but easy enough to unscrew..... I was lucky I had not tried to force it out as it could have got jammed  which would have been a real problem. A large sigh of relief from me !!

I shall either order sone stainless hex bolts (plan A) but will also check out the bolts from 365 Astro - if they are reasonable price I may opt for those.

Thanks very much for the tips.  I had never heard about the need to check the friction adjustment - I think a lot of users may have damaged their bolts if they were over tightened at the factory.

I checked out the Astronmomy Centre website last night - very impressive indeed ! I hope that one day I shall be able to visit the site.

Best wishes,  Brutie

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bolts i think were about £3 each so not a bad price 

Glad the bent one came out ok 

I did get the bolt with the ratchet on from ebay but ratchet head is big and hits the polar scope so cant use them 

Edited by Neil H
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I ordered the bolts on Tuesday and they arricved Wednesday from http://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk   and I re assembled the mount and fitted the bolts Thursday. All seems good. I ensured that mount was adjusted properly so that the head will rock smoothly and the new bolts work nicely. I even managed to revise the fitting to my pier so the head fits a bit more snugly which will aid in easier polar alignment.

Just one minor cock up. When I disassembled the mount there were two transparent discs (greased) one was same size as the metal disc with the grub screws, and the other is larger and is slightly larger diameter than the Nameplate badge. On re assembley, I fitted the smaller greased disc between the metal plate that the grub screws engage with and the mount casing ie at the back of the metal disc (Is that correct ?) but I can't recall where the larger disc should go. Could someone confirm its correct location. I should have written it down but of course I didn't , though I thought that it went inside the nameplate but for what reason ?

Would appreciate any help on this embarassing failure in my brain . However I am pleased with the new smoother alt adjustment. Now need a bit of clear sky to do the PA.

Best wishes all, Brutie

 

Observatoire Brutie

North Wales

Edited by Brutie
spelling
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
On 15/10/2020 at 12:19, Brutie said:

-->snip

Just one minor cock up. When I disassembled the mount there were two transparent discs (greased) one was same size as the metal disc with the grub screws, and the other is larger and is slightly larger diameter than the Nameplate badge. On re assembley, I fitted the smaller greased disc between the metal plate that the grub screws engage with and the mount casing ie at the back of the metal disc (Is that correct ?) but I can't recall where the larger disc should go. Could someone confirm its correct location. I should have written it down but of course I didn't , though I thought that it went inside the nameplate but for what reason ?

Would appreciate any help on this embarassing failure in my brain . However I am pleased with the new smoother alt adjustment. Now need a bit of clear sky to do the PA.

snip<--

Bruitie, did you get any feedback on this, or is it "alls well" with the assembly order you described for the various washers?

Last night (1st clear one in two weeks) I had a very hard time trying to make minor adjustments to my elevation while polar aligning. (I'm at 49 degrees and a bit). Down was a non-issue but up was very hard. As a result, today I am learning what I can before I start any surgery. (and the mount is only a few months old)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.