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Old 07-01-2024, 10:09 PM
tcab (Andy)
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HEQ5 Pro Servicing in Victoria

Can anyone recommend how I can get my HEQ5 Pro checked and serviced in the Melbourne area? There are a few old threads but I’d like some current information.

I bought it with the belt mod already done, and have been using an EQMOD cable. I keep blaming myself or my software or the skies for the too occasional star trails in my 30s light subs. I also get to a point in my sequence where the the whole image jumps by a few pixels all of a sudden e.g after 15 subs it might happen.

It would just be nice to know that the mount is working correctly!
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  #2  
Old 07-01-2024, 10:57 PM
JA
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Hi Andy,

In Melbourne, perhaps you could try Siderial Trading for service /repair work. I'm not 100% sure, but seem to recall someone recommending them for such work.

One thing to check is that the correct effective diameter (#teeth & teeth size) pulleys have been installed when the belt mod was done as that could definitely alter tracking accuracy, which you seem to be suffering from. You could simply check over a long time period through what angle the RA axis rotates. It should rotate 360 degrees in 24 hours or 15 degreed per hour. It it doesn't then there's an issue.

Good luck in the hunt and BTW, given that's your first post ...... Welcome to the forum.

Best
JA
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Old 07-01-2024, 11:07 PM
Saturn488
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Following.

I underwent this quest earlier this year and was not successful.

I contacted Testars, Sidereal Trading and Astronomy Alive and they all said they don’t service/tune mounts.

Hope this helps.
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  #4  
Old 08-01-2024, 09:19 AM
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AstroViking (Steve)
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Hi Andy,

Welcome to IIS!

How mechanically competent are you? The HEQ5 is not a complex beast and can be stripped down and rebuilt by anyone with a modicum of ability and common sense.

There are plenty of resources out there detailing how to service an HEW5.

First place I'd look is the astro-baby 'How-To' page here:

https://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby...-sirius-mount/

Followed by any one of a number of YouTube videos by AstroBloke, Frosth Astrophotography and others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RcTuPWCHug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x79akiJO3pU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwZnLkzNQlw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yzFTjlpZaI

Cheers,
V.
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  #5  
Old 08-01-2024, 09:48 AM
triplej3 (Jordo)
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hey andy


my saxon heq5 pc boards were contacting with the metal housing of the mount and i was being zapped/electrocuted. i fixed this with some thin foam from my guide scope box and tape from bunnings!
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  #6  
Old 08-01-2024, 11:17 AM
JA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JA View Post
Hi Andy,

In Melbourne, perhaps you could try Siderial Trading for service /repair work. I'm not 100% sure, but seem to recall someone recommending them for such work.
Ok so I did check with Siderial Trading and unfortunately they don't do the service/repair I suggested, but the kind person that I spoke to gave me a referral to a gentleman by the name of Clive Garner. I will PM you (Tcab) the details.

Best
JA
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  #7  
Old 09-01-2024, 11:18 AM
tcab (Andy)
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Thanks for all the suggestions and resources everyone.

I looked at some of my old subs when I first got the mount and it looks like I was doing 60s without guiding which is nice. These days, it ocurred to me, my ocassional 30s trails might be due to wind, mount may be OK after all, will try 60s again too.

As for the "jump" of the entire photo by a few pixels every so often - presumably stacking software will deal with that quite effortlessly during alignment. Its still a worry that it happens, but I found this post I think suggests its normal to get problems and you have to guide to avoid it.

If anyone can chime in with how many seconds they are getting on the HEQ5 Pro mount without guiding that would be helpful. My telescope is an ED120 with 0.85 reducer (thus 765mm focal length). Nikon D750 hanging off the end.

Also, is it normal that the HEQ5 Pro mount, with clutches unlocked, when balancing, after being rotated to the horizontal - has more resistance if I keep attempting to rotate any further? Is this normal, do I need some re-greasing perhaps.

Last edited by tcab; 09-01-2024 at 11:23 AM. Reason: more info
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  #8  
Old 09-01-2024, 11:49 AM
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AstroViking (Steve)
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I can't help with any unguided exposure lengths past 30 seconds, as I went straight to using guiding when I got to longer exposures.

However, it's not normal for there to be increasing resistance when trying to rotate the mount on either axis.

Obvious question - are the cable(s) snagging on something when you rotate the mount?

Cheers,
V.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tcab View Post
Also, is it normal that the HEQ5 Pro mount, with clutches unlocked, when balancing, after being rotated to the horizontal - has more resistance if I keep attempting to rotate any further? Is this normal, do I need some re-greasing perhaps.
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  #9  
Old 09-01-2024, 02:47 PM
tcab (Andy)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AstroViking View Post
I can't help with any unguided exposure lengths past 30 seconds, as I went straight to using guiding when I got to longer exposures.

However, it's not normal for there to be increasing resistance when trying to rotate the mount on either axis.

Obvious question - are the cable(s) snagging on something when you rotate the mount?

Cheers,
V.
No cable snagging, no. And the resistance only starts if you rotate past 90 degrees on RA when e.g. balancing. With weights at the bottom and scope on top, thats 0 degrees noon. With the weights on one side and the telescope on the other, thats 90 degrees, balancing horizonal. Slightly more resistance at 95 and 100 degrees. Hope that's clear. Presumably the mount never strays into those territories anyway, so probably not a big deal.
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  #10  
Old 09-01-2024, 02:58 PM
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AstroViking (Steve)
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That is not normal, then. It's possible there are globs of solidified grease causing the mount to stick when rotated past the usual limits of movement.

My impulse would be to pull the mount apart, remove all the old grease (aka 'glue'), check all the bearings to make sure they're not clunking (and replace them anyway) before re-greasing everything.

I did all that to my HEQ5 when it was only 3 months old. But then, I'm that sort of spanner-waving tinkerer.

Cheers,
V.
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  #11  
Old 09-01-2024, 03:17 PM
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doppler (Rick)
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This procedure worked for me, a bit fiddly but worth the effort without doing a full strip down and re-grease.

https://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby...t-motor-gears/

Rick
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  #12  
Old 09-01-2024, 03:44 PM
Leo.G (Leo)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doppler (Rick)
This procedure worked for me, a bit fiddly but worth the effort without doing a full strip down and re-grease.

Aren't the gears disengaged when the clutches are released?
Sorry, ignorance on my behalf I've not played with the HEQ5.




Quote:
Originally Posted by tcab (Andy)
Also, is it normal that the HEQ5 Pro mount, with clutches unlocked, when balancing, after being rotated to the horizontal - has more resistance if I keep attempting to rotate any further? Is this normal, do I need some re-greasing perhaps.
Clutches released there shouldn't be any snagging or friction.


Perhaps a silly question, has the mount always snagged when balancing?
It does sound like a grease problem, bearing problem or incorrect tensioning of a shaft retaining nut though that should cause the same friction throughout barring a bent shaft.


If I was going to the trouble of greasing it I'd be inclined to go through a full clean up, capabilities, time and the perhaps necessary tools permitting.

In saying that I did a full strip, tune up and re-engineering of my lesser EQ5 PRO mount and found the RA head had some nasty high spots from manufacture where the alloy gear was snagging and, plastic shims instead of the PTFE (quickly replaced with 0.5mm PTFE shims I cut). For the price of the mounts they are not great manufacturing standards. Not bad but certainly not great.
There are many pages on strip down and maintenance/repair of the HEQ5.


If you do decide on doing a full strip down might I suggest zip lock plastic bags (or small containers, ice cream or anything) and separate the parts from each section into their own bags/containers/small cartons. There are so many parts it can get a little confusing as to what goes where (I took photos too just to be sure)



I cleaned the high spots off mine with wet and dry, light oil and a lot of caution and it's now as smooth as it should have been from new.
The re-engineering, I replaced the standard roller in the head with a tapered roller bearing (The HEQ5 has the tapered roller standard I believe) and a better quality thrust bearing. That meant having the head machined out by an extra 4mm depth for the tapered roller.

Though the HEQ5 is made with higher quality materials and design standards, mine has alloy gear rings, the HEQ5 has brass, I guess it's a case of what you pay for. Mine was a far cheaper mount when new I believe.


Good luck!

Last edited by Leo.G; 09-01-2024 at 04:15 PM.
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  #13  
Old 09-01-2024, 07:18 PM
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doppler (Rick)
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I would try rotating the mount without a load, no scope or counterweights through the full 360 deg, with clutches disengaged and again with clutches engaged but then using the hand set to slew 360 deg.
If there is any tightness or excessive play it will be easier to feel that with no load.


Rick
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  #14  
Old 17-01-2024, 07:12 AM
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Andy01 (Andy)
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+ 1 for Clive Garner - Clive does excellent work.
PM me if you want his details. He's in the SE suburbs.
Cheers
Andy
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  #15  
Old 24-01-2024, 10:44 AM
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AlexN
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My HEQ5 back in the day was a bit of a rough one when I got it. It had a lot of backlash, a lot of wiggle in the gears, big jumps every 638s (the worm period, which, if you're doing 30s subs, is every 13 subs)...

When I started astronomy I thought equatorial mounts were a very complicated, highly specialised machine requiring extremely specific adjustment by professionals... Trust me, they're not... Simple. Simple machines..

Having never opened anything like an equatorial mount before, but armed with Astrobaby's guides, and the instructions for my Rowan Astronomy belt kit, I took on the task of doing a full tune of the mount.

I stripped it down as far as I could, cleaned and regreased the main RA and Dec bearings, replaced all the bearings around the worms, fitted the belt mod, re-meshed the worms to a much higher level of accuracy than they were before... I threw an ADM saddle on it at the same time just for completeness, and removed the hand controller port, replacing it with an internal USB port with EQMod electronics in the mount.

I was scared the first time I powered it on after all this work - assuming for sure that SOMETHING would be wrong... To my surprise, I did a drift align, and thought for a laugh, I'd try a 60s unguided image just to see how much better or worse it was.... It was spot on.. So I went to 120s... Still fine. I went to a 240s and it showed a slight elongation, but still WORLDS better than I'd ever achieved with the mount prior to the modifications.

Granted - this was with a 380mm focal length... a little 80mm f/6 scope with a .8 reducer.. so not exactly pushing the mount at all.

When running with the OAG and guiding, I did many 600~1200s subs on that rig for a number of years, not one single isssue with it at all.


Moral of my big old story..

Even when you're not completely comfortable with doing something yourself, if you read instructions before you start. then follow them carefully during the proces, double checking each step as you go - nothing is insurmountable, and with something as simple as an equatorial mount, if you follow the instructions for what you're attempting, things really can't go too far wrong... Worst case, you have to loosen two bolts, adjust a grub screw a touch and then tighten the bolts to adjust the worm mesh.
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