Skymax 127 Goto HELP!

[Mez7000]

Hi all

Need some help and advice please!

I have a skymax 127 on an az go-to mount.  Haven't used it much through the summer and decided to give it a clean and some general tlc.  Have noticed that whilst controlling the mount it goes left to right etc ok, but if I try and raise it up the tube just falls down almost like it's not gripping.  Have tried it with out the scope and it's looking like the motor is sticking and struggles when going up or down.

Is there a way of fixing this or is it doomed?

Thanks

Mark

 

 

 

 

[AstroNebulee]

Have you tightened the clutch up on the alt side, which mount have you got the Skymax on 

[Mez7000]

11 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Have you tightened the clutch up on the alt side, which mount have you got the Skymax on 

It's the standard one I think you get with it originally?  No haven't tightened anything - I think I'll need some guidance 😁

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, Mez7000 said:

It's the standard one I think you get with it originally?  No haven't tightened anything - I think I'll need some guidance 😁

Have you opened the mount oop to clean or grease it atall. I've looked online quickly and like you say there's no clutch to tighten, only the dovetail locking bolt. It sounds like the gears aren't engaging in alt or need greasing maybe. I don't have this mount so not sure but it's a start. 

Edited August 21, 2021 by AstroNebulee

[Mez7000]

I've not dared yet to open it, will take a look and see what's happening

[Cosmic Geoff]

We can't see clearly what mount it is from your ultra close up photo.   If it's the Synscan, that one is mechanically similar to a Celestron SLT and you don't need to dismantle it to adjust the vertical clutch, if that is in fact slipping.

Instructions for adjusting the clutch for either should be available online somewhere.

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

We can't see clearly what mount it is from your ultra close up photo.   If it's the Synscan, that one is mechanically similar to a Celestron SLT and you don't need to dismantle it to adjust the vertical clutch, if that is in fact slipping.

Instructions for adjusting the clutch for either should be available online somewhere.

I think this could be the link to the manual 

"Sky-Watcher | Sky-Watcher Global Website" https://skywatcher.com/download/manual/goto-mounts/

This YouTube video may help too, bit long winded and can go on, not the best light or commentary but may help you 

And this coukd be the manual 

en_download_caty01316547032 (3) (1).pdf

Edited August 21, 2021 by AstroNebulee

[Mez7000]

12 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

I think this could be the link to the manual 

"Sky-Watcher | Sky-Watcher Global Website" https://skywatcher.com/download/manual/goto-mounts/

This YouTube video may help too, bit long winded and can go on, not the best light or commentary but may help you 

And this coukd be the manual 

en_download_caty01316547032 (3) (1).pdf 1.1 MB · 0 downloads

Thank you! I'll take a look - thanks for your help, much appreciated!

Edited August 22, 2021 by Mez7000

[AstroNebulee]

19 minutes ago, Mez7000 said:

Thank you! I'll take a look - thanks for your help, much appreciated!

No problems, hope it helps you a bit, the video is a bit ropey and I'm not keen on his video presentation style but he's passionate about astro. 

[DeanCJ]

Your scope looks to be a fair way back in the mount.
Have you balanced the scope? I have the same scope and mount, and as there is no clutch, I found that if the scope wasn’t correctly balanced it would slowly drop. I had to find the balance point of the scope using a pencil on a nice flat surface, then I marked the balance point on the dovetail bar, then align the mark with the dovetail clamp screw. Make sure you fit your diagonal and an average weight eyepiece, and dew shield if you have one, before balancing.

Dean.
 

[Mez7000]

3 hours ago, DeanCJ said:

Your scope looks to be a fair way back in the mount.
Have you balanced the scope? I have the same scope and mount, and as there is no clutch, I found that if the scope wasn’t correctly balanced it would slowly drop. I had to find the balance point of the scope using a pencil on a nice flat surface, then I marked the balance point on the dovetail bar, then align the mark with the dovetail clamp screw. Make sure you fit your diagonal and an average weight eyepiece, and dew shield if you have one, before balancing.

Dean.
 

Even without the scope fitted the mount either doesn't move up or down, or "stutters" in its movement and when the scopes fitted it just drops, I'd best describe this as though there is no grip on the mechanism.

[DeanCJ]

I have never really tried to copy and paste a link before , so hope this works.

I don’t know if this will help, but it includes some photos of your mount with the cover removed, the topic is very similar to yours. 

[Mez7000]

2 hours ago, DeanCJ said:

I have never really tried to copy and paste a link before , so hope this works.

I don’t know if this will help, but it includes some photos of your mount with the cover removed, the topic is very similar to yours. 

Thanks for the link.  There's a nyloc nut at the top and one at the bottom of the mount where you attach to the tripod.  The top one where the dovetail attaches is tight and has no further movement.  I then decided to open the casing and got no answers here either 😆.  There's the PCBs and motor and the mechanism for the alt movement is behind a plate which i think in some way is connected to the motor, at this point I put it back together as I was utterly confused 😆

[AstroNebulee]

Just out of curiosity have you a lighter scope to try on the mount to see if it's the same. I know like previous members suggests that balancing has to be quite good to avoid the slippage. 

[Mez7000]

No I don't anymore, but the issue is there with or without a scope, the mechanism struggles to turn

[Cosmic Geoff]

In the mechanically similar SLT mount, if you unscrew the dovetail clamp knob all the way, you will expose a large central nut. If you tighten this a bit with a box spanner, it will tighten up the vertical clutch.  The clutch should not be totally tight, for reasons which I hope are obvious, but neither should it be so slack that the clutch slips at random.   Almost all the vertical drive gearing is in a sealed motor/gearbox unit, which BTW seems to be identical to the azimuth (horizontal) motor/gearbox unit.

The motors are quite weedy, but the gear reduction is such that they are capable of generating considerable force at the output.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Cosmic Geoff

[Geoff Lister]

10 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

if you unscrew the dovetail clamp knob all the way, you will expose a large central nut. If you tighten this a bit with a box spanner, it will tighten up the vertical clutch.  The clutch should not be totally tight, for reasons which I hope are obvious, but neither should it be so slack that the clutch slips at random. 

I have the same Skymax mount, and my Skyliner Dob mount also has the same Nyloc nut. The difference between a slack axis and a tight one is a fraction of a turn of the nut. I have adjusted the clamping force, so that there is no slip in normal operation, but that it will slip if part of the OTA touches other parts of the mount or tripod.

Geoff

[Mez7000]

I braved it this afternoon and decided to remove the cover off the synscan mount.  There is a nut behind the part that holds the scope inside the case which has two washers.  The nut was loose so I tightened this slightly and tried it.  Didn't work well first time so undid the nut and removed the mechanism and cleaned around the cog connected to the motor and there seem to a build up 'space dust'.  Tried it all again and it seemed to move up and down nicely.  Put the whole thing back together and fitted the scope back on and tried again, and all seems good, nicely moving up and down and no slippage of the scope. Fingers crossed that I've solved issue.

Thanks everyone for your help!

[AstroNebulee]

3 hours ago, Mez7000 said:

I braved it this afternoon and decided to remove the cover off the synscan mount.  There is a nut behind the part that holds the scope inside the case which has two washers.  The nut was loose so I tightened this slightly and tried it.  Didn't work well first time so undid the nut and removed the mechanism and cleaned around the cog connected to the motor and there seem to a build up 'space dust'.  Tried it all again and it seemed to move up and down nicely.  Put the whole thing back together and fitted the scope back on and tried again, and all seems good, nicely moving up and down and no slippage of the scope. Fingers crossed that I've solved issue.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Brilliant, I hope that has now solved your issue, sounds like it has, let us know how you get on when using it out in the field, well done 👍

[Mez7000]

18 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Brilliant, I hope that has now solved your issue, sounds like it has, let us know how you get on when using it out in the field, well done 👍

Thank you! Yes I'm hoping it's all good and now hoping we get some clear skies!