NEQ6 Pro stripped worm screw.

[Marcoc0202]

Hello everyone, this is Marco, from Italy! 

I've been following this forum for a few years but I have rarely partecipated since being from another country and speaking a different language but today I need your help, or at least a few advices for a problem with my NEQ6-Pro.

 

Since I had this mount, I've always had a few problems, all based from the fact that I dropped it on the ground a few weeks after getting it because I was super clumsy and did not give it the attention it deserved.

 

Every now and then a problem occured but I am sure most of them were just me being a beginner and not knowing that all those problems were probably caused by me and were easlily solvable.

 

Anyway after an inactivity period of 2 years I have had the time to take my equipment out but I found the same big problem I have had for as long as I can remember, the go-to just won't go where I want it to go being super inaccurate.

Since Astro Photography Tool plate-solving seemed to resolve the issue, I thought that I would have been good to just have a bit of maintenance on my mount and desided to fix a bit of Backslash I was having by trying to turn the worm screws.

 

Sadly, I stripped one of them due to not using the right tool for it, now I have tried everything I could but I cannot let it out and the DEC axis is now stucked with the motor grinding noise.

I have been super clumsy but is there a way to open it from the inside and remove that screw? 

 

My last resort would be sending the mount to a friend of a friend who worked in SkyWatcher and can do a full check up on it, even tho I would like to try to fix at least this problem myself.

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated and I am sorry if I did not explain myself clearly due to being Italian.

Thanks everyone, ciao!

P.S. just for clarification this is the worm I have stripped

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I feel your pain, as I have done similar things....   

Personally, I would first remove the grub screw by using a small drill bit, and drilling right through the screw, which usually removes the stuck screw.

Then using an M3 tap, gently, run the tap through the hole, and with luck, the thread will be restored to a 'working state', but you will probably need to buy a longer grub screw (M3).

Failing that, when the stuck grub screw is removed, then drill and tap, for an M4 grub screw. 

Good luck !!

[higgins]

Hi Marco,  My suggestion is to follow the excellent guide from astro baby for the declination axis strip down to be able to remove the worm carrier. With the carrier off you may be able to turn the grub screw from the inside with pliers or grips, then replace with a new grub screw. Then follow astro baby's reassembly guide to put it back together and adjust the backlash correctly. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Edited December 17, 2021 by higgins

[newbie alert]

Hi  Marco, as suggested above you might be able to get some purchase on the grub screws from the inside .. they're used to align the worm.. so you need to slacken one to tighten the other.. also did you slacken the worm carrier housing bolts for the grub screws to be able to align?

[lukebl]

Exactly the same thing happened to my NEQ6. I eventually re-tapped the hole with a slightly larger thread, put in a bolt matching the new thread and it works fine.

As you can see here, it's not at all pretty, and the NEQ6 has seen better days, but it works fine now.