RA Mount gears not engaging

[skippyinspace]

HI All,

My top RA gear isnt engaging the bottom one In the past its been an hex key to tighten the top gear What It noticed this time around is that the whole motor seems to be loose, Pulling up and down on the shaft opposite the  gear  applies movement to the gear. (Should there be a screw on this side to stop that play.  I would attempt to remove the cover but the screw holding that in has rusted and seems to have been threaded.

Any ideas on how to fix, this issue 

 

Photos  below

Ian

 

[Budgie1]

To get the screw out, try a skoosh of WD40 on the head and let it soak into the thread until its gone, then skoosh again and leave overnight. If you can get the WD40 onto the thread itself then even better.

If the head has rounded then I've seen a trick where you put the wide part of a rubber band between the screwdriver and the screw head to help take up the rounded space. I've not tried it but it may work. Otherwise you'll need to drill out the screw head.

[Peter Drew]

Unless you already had some WD40 it's much better to use a proper penetrative oil such as Plusgas.   If the shaft shown is the motor shaft, it seems to have a flat on it suggests that would be a grub screw to bear on to it.    🙂  

[Budgie1]

The shaft showing in the photos is the worm gear shaft, the motor gear can be seen rotating in the video but it isn't meshing with the worm gear.

Once the cover is off you should be able to see the adjustment/securing bolts for the motor, adjust the motor gear so it meshes correctly with the worm gear and then tighten up the bolts.  

[Peter Drew]

10 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

The shaft showing in the photos is the worm gear shaft, the motor gear can be seen rotating in the video but it isn't meshing with the worm gear.

Once the cover is off you should be able to see the adjustment/securing bolts for the motor, adjust the motor gear so it meshes correctly with the worm gear and then tighten up the bolts.  

I just noticed that there is a video showing the motion.  Yes, removing the cover will show the problem.  It would appear that the provision for adjusting the gear mesh has become loose allowing the unit to back away from the driven gear.     🙂

[skippyinspace]

Thanks all, will find the WD 40 later this week, So I can have a go at getting the cover off this weekend

 

[skippyinspace]

Cant get the screw out with WD40 or rubber bands, As the it looks like the RA unit is loose, Can this be tightened with out the cover coming off I notice  there are holes on the underside of the cover.

Thanks

[skippyinspace]

Photos of the screw hole underneath the motor box, Any idea what this hole is for.

 

Thanks

 

Ian

[skippyinspace]

Ended up removing the the RA Motor Tightening screw screw at the back and removed the motor (Still attached to the case and then tightened the the worm gear screw and in the process lost the RA  motor  Tightening screw (It actually fell into the pier. So now off to find a replacement.

I have noticed though the RA Clutch lever doesnt seem to lock the RA rotation,  If that's a problem its for a day after I get the replacement bolt.

[Seelive]

I've spent many hours looking for small items that have fallen on the workshop (aka garage, kitchen or living room, whichever is the warmest) floor... I never seem to learn!

[skippyinspace]

Hi All,

My Nightmare continues, have now fixed the Goto motors gears not engaging issue only to discover the RA Clutch lock seems to have stopped working, The Scope "falls" into its balanced position regardless of if the Clutch lock is on or not. When testin the motors the gears engage but no movement for RA 

Im hoping this is a simple fix, can any one advise / point towards videos etc.

Thanks in advance

Ian

 

[Budgie1]

It may be different to your mount, but there's some details on clutch adjustment for a Skywatcher EQ5 at the start of this video which may be of some use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B8rs9VXMHk

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Budgie1
Spelling.

[SiriusB]

Remove the screw holding the clutch lever on, carefully pull the lever off the clutch shaft,it may be tight.

You can then rotate the clutch lever a little (shaft is splined) to allow a bit more movement for tightening clutch.

Generally,don't overtighten the clutch, it will wear quicker.

If you can get your scope balanced really good you almost don't need the clutch~a very light tightening should suffice.

Hope that helps.