CG5 Mount Problem

[mog3768]

My spare mount is a Celestron CG5 Pro GT. I tried it yesterday and it has developed

a strange fault and I was wondering if any one else has experienced it and has a remedy.

Set it to slew to a target and of it goes but then when it reaches target and stops before

I get chance to except or adjust alignment the dec motor starts again move a bit then stops then a couple of seconds later starts again. The only way to stop it is to switch of the power. Even if I unplug the hand control it will continue to stop and start.

Cleaned all the plug connections tried a new dec cable even updated the hand control from Celestron. All to no avail. I strongly suspect the control board is at fault but my understanding is these are no longer available. As the mount is in such good condition it would be a shame not to fix it.  So any help would be appreciated.   

[SteveNickolls]

Hi, sorry to hear your problem with the CG-5.  I have a 15 year old CG-5 AS Go-To if that is the same or similar model to your own. You may well be right on the source of the issue but things you may additionally wish to try first are-

Using a different power supply and power cable to the mount. I have used a Celestron and SkyWatcher 7AHr power tank successfully in the past without power issues.

Checking proper connection into the mount's power in socket, this can work lose over time creating intermittent connection.

The mount has a known build problem of developing a faulty on/off switch. I had my mount rewired by a local repair shop by passing the on/off switch.

Trying a different hand controller if you have one.

Take off the housing to see if either of the boards show signs of electrical damage or if the wires are damaged or have been caught in the housing, the internal design of the mount enclosure isn't the best and trapping can easily happen and the boards can become wrongly seated.

Maybe there are spare boards available on the Internet, or possibly someone is selling their mount for spares?

I hope you do resolve the issue, please do post with what happened.

Cheers,

Steve

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by SteveNickolls

[newbie alert]

Does sound like a potential board issue, take it out and inspect it front and back.. there is a code on there, and you could be lucky its used on other mounts too

[mog3768]

Thanks Steve I have tried all those things except for a different handset . Have now dissconected the Dec motor

And the mount slews and tracks in ra .Newbie I have looked at the board with an eye glass and cannot see any sign

Of damage the only identification marks is a number written in felt pen on the plastic sheet on the back of the board

Thanks 

[newbie alert]

20 minutes ago, mog3768 said:

Thanks Steve I have tried all those things except for a different handset . Have now dissconected the Dec motor

And the mount slews and tracks in ra .Newbie I have looked at the board with an eye glass and cannot see any sign

Of damage the only identification marks is a number written in felt pen on the plastic sheet on the back of the board

Thanks 

Yes, the felt tip looking code, do a search on that..

[mog3768]

Yes newbie have done a search for 432 and found one for 240 dollars give that a miss . Put that towards another mount.

[newbie alert]

4 hours ago, mog3768 said:

Yes newbie have done a search for 432 and found one for 240 dollars give that a miss . Put that towards another mount.

Ouch..

Maybe a wanted ad for a second-hand one ?..

[RobertI]

I guess it’s unlikely to be a motor problem, but you could try swapping the motors round to see if you get the same problem in RA (Dec motor at fault) or Dec (motor not at fault) ?  

[mog3768]

Thanks Robert

Did think of that but have now removed the motor and converted to hand control on the dec.

Every thing else still works fine so I will work with that untill I decide on a new mount

[billhinge]

If you are  interested I  have a CG5-ASGT  which  is surplus to req,  I  upgraded the bearings and  converted to belt drive, replaced one of  the  motors from David Hinds.

I had planned on  selling it for parts at some  time this year if you don't mind waiting, bit time poor at the moment  (there is an  £80 abec 7 bearing  in the RA that I want to remove, still got the old one)

If no one wants it  I'll just  use it for  further experiments 😉 

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, billhinge said:

If you are  interested I  have a CG5-ASGT  which  is surplus to req,  I  upgraded the bearings and  converted to belt drive,

Sorry to divert thread slightly - interested to hear you have done a belt mod to the CG5-GT. Was it easy to do and did it make the mount quieter?

[billhinge]

1 hour ago, RobertI said:

Sorry to divert thread slightly - interested to hear you have done a belt mod to the CG5-GT. Was it easy to do and did it make the mount quieter?

yes it  was, I did the  sums and bought premium parts, there is a write up here 

 

 

I also took the electronics out of the plastic sound boxes, those plastic things seem to magnify the sound. I had planned to put the electronics in a dedicated box and add damping to the motors (so far just a piece of blutak - works in high end audio 😉 

[mog3768]

Thanks Billhinge but deceiided to leave it as it is and buy a new mount when I have given it more thought.

[billhinge]

no problem