Oooohhhh and in a pop and puff of smoke I killed it
My new second hand redcat51 dad 3 focuser just died. I must have made some stupid mistake connecting it up and powering up. To be honest I am gutted. It certainly doesn't smell nice. And I don't actually think that the inside should look like that
And here I was preparing for spsp
Looks like an arduino nano with a stepper motor controller breakout board. Looks like the damage is to the stepper motor breakout board which should be quite easy to replace. The whole thing looks home made. Who built it?
My new second hand redcat51 dad 3 focuser just died. I must have made some stupid mistake connecting it up and powering up. To be honest I am gutted. It certainly doesn't smell nice. And I don't actually think that the inside should look like that
And here I was preparing for spsp
On a lot of those stepper motor control circuits there is a capacitor across the incoming power supply. The bit that looks cooked in the photo looks a lot like a capacitor. It might ne as simple as removing and replacing that component. The manufacturer should be able to tell you the rating of that part.
Looks like an arduino nano with a stepper motor controller breakout board. Looks like the damage is to the stepper motor breakout board which should be quite easy to replace. The whole thing looks home made. Who built it?
Just dab a little toilet paper on it mate....it will be fine after that. 😁
No that's too dear, just a little question Mr Ward how did you connect up your qhy? Can you enlighten me with your holey scroll of wisdom and a photo or two
No that's too dear, just a little question Mr Ward how did you connect up your qhy? Can you enlighten me with your holey scroll of wisdom and a photo or two
I don't use an auto-focuser...well... not with my SpaceCat
...but a WO Copper-T (EOS) adapter and Cyclops Optics Blade C adapter gives me the exact spacing I need to
drop a QHY or Canon DSLR behind my Red/SpaceCat51.
I don't use an auto-focuser...well... not with my SpaceCat
...but a WO Copper-T (EOS) adapter and Cyclops Optics Blade C adapter gives me the exact spacing I need to
drop a QHY or Canon DSLR behind my Red/SpaceCat51.
Works very well and nothing to go "pop"
Thanks I will have to work out how to connect my asi294mc Pro?
You can run into trouble if connecting/disconnecting the motor from the driver while powered up. But all that you can do with your unit is plug in power and USB. So this sounds weird to me. You could just get a 100uF/50V electrolytic cap locally and try and see if that does the job.
Other than that, I'd be worried that the motor and/or the stepper driver might also be fried. To check the stepper, unplug it (with no power on) and meaure across red-blue then green-black leads. Should be a few ohms, if not then its blown.
If its the nano or the driver (it'll be a FYSTEC something or other) then looks like you are out of luck as they appear to be soldered directly to the board and hard to replace.
The blown component is an electrolytic capacitor. They are polarised, with positive and negative leads.
Most times I have seen these blown like this is due to a reverse polarity connection.
I would try cutting away the capacitor, identifying if able the positive and negative leads, as well as the value and voltage rating.
A new replacement cap will be easily sourced.
If you need any assistance pm me. I am an electronics technician by trade.
If you do decide to give fixing it a go, it might be a good idea to clean the board as well, electrolytic caps tend to cause corrosion if they aren't tended too when they spill their guts everywhere. I've heard vinegar is good for neutralizing it but that might depend on whether its an acidic or a basic solution. I'd just use isopropyl alcohol or contact cleaner to be safe.
The blown component is an electrolytic capacitor. They are polarised, with positive and negative leads.
Most times I have seen these blown like this is due to a reverse polarity connection.
I would try cutting away the capacitor, identifying if able the positive and negative leads, as well as the value and voltage rating.
A new replacement cap will be easily sourced.
If you need any assistance pm me. I am an electronics technician by trade.
cheers Phil
I will probably get it fixed after I get the new board arrives and I can take pictures of the offending bit.
If you do decide to give fixing it a go, it might be a good idea to clean the board as well, electrolytic caps tend to cause corrosion if they aren't tended too when they spill their guts everywhere. I've heard vinegar is good for neutralizing it but that might depend on whether its an acidic or a basic solution. I'd just use isopropyl alcohol or contact cleaner to be safe.