SolarQuest Peculiarity

[Marke998]

I've had three SQ's so far. The first was returned because the GPS misbehaved from the outset, the second began making a grinding noise after a few months and the third, well it has a problem but not one that Skywatcher is willing to do anyithing about because they say it is an expected behaviour (although it is not one mentioned in the manual 😉).

The behaviour they are referring to is this - if the mount is running via AA batteries it will switch on and off exactly as expected but if it is running on external power it will not switch off properly. The light goes out but the movement buttons still work. Further, it will not switch back on again and I have to disconnect the mount from the power source and reconnect to get it working again. It seems very odd to me. However, Skywatcher have looked into it and concluded that all SQ's do this and as such there's nothing wrong. It's not a big deal; I advised FLO about it only because of my concerns that it could be the start of a greater problem that might not emerge until after the warranty has expired so could turn out to be expensive to deal with.

Does anyone else have an SQ that behaves like this and more importantly does anyone have one that actually switches off properly when on external power?

Thanks,

Mark.

[Carbon Brush]

My SQ mount runs from AA usually, so I have not seen a problem.
I also remove cells after use to avoid risk of self discharge and leakage, so am doubly protected🙂
Thank you for posting.

When I get a bit of time to spare, I will experiment with different external supply voltages.
It may be a 'funny' that only happens at >12V?

Edited December 19, 2023 by Carbon Brush

[Marke998]

10 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

My SQ mount runs from AA usually, so I have not seen a problem.
I also remove cells after use to avoid risk of self discharge and leakage, so am doubly protected🙂
Thank you for posting.

When I get a bit of time to spare, I will experiment with different external supply voltages.
It may be a 'funny' that only happens at >12V?

I thnk you are right. I have tried it with three different external sources all of which are 12v. Thanks for your reply; it will be interesting to know how you get on. 😊

[michael8554]

Bizarre.

Like switching your car off, then finding that  pressing the accelerator crashes the car into the back wall of your garage.......... :-<

Michael

[Marke998]

2 hours ago, michael8554 said:

Bizarre.

Like switching your car off, then finding that  pressing the accelerator crashes the car into the back wall of your garage.......... :-<

Michael

...and then you tell the car maker who says 'Yeah, we expected that to happen so it's not a fault!'. Lol.

[Paul W]

My Skywatcher Solarquest  mount that I just got delivered powers up fine and then when I turn the power off it will not come back on until I disconnect the double A battery pack and reconnect it. With the power supposingly off, it is still sending power to the directional switch. When I pull the pack out with it still connected, I see a blinking green LED light inside,  indicating this thing is still powered up.I know some have this trouble with external sources, but has anyone experienced this issue with the factory battery pack?

[Geoff Lister]

My Solarquest takes 0.25mA when "Off". I usually use an external 12V supply, but if running on batteries, I tend to take out one cell at the end of a session.

Geoff