EQ6 circuit board connectors loose???

[bartman]

I have now ( hopefully) successfully re-greased the bearings on my EQ6 ( thank you to all the responses regarding my question (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=76222) on which grease to use!)
So the challenging part of aligning the parts is doing my head in but I think I've got it now. ( BTW before I did this I had a slight snag/binding when turning the dec shaft. I figured out now-by myself!- that the dec shaft was not plumb to the dec collar. Three grub screws and hours of frustration later its now fixed!!!!!!:D happy days......sorry for the diversion)

I've aligned the dec worm gear -no binding or movement in the dec axis-.
I had the circuit board ( CB from now on) out hanging to the side. When I originally removed the connectors to the motors, they were a bit wonky on the cb even before I pulled them out.
Testing the ra and dec whilst adjusting the worm gears/motors the motors did some funny things. As I was trying to re-seat the connectors it made funny noises like it was a bad connection.
Then at one stage the dec ( which I had successfully aligned) stoped and a continuous beep sounded from the mount. Switched it off immediatly and when I turned it back on all was good.
Focused my attention back to the ra and it was intermittent in ops. When I pushed the connector into the CB it worked fine .....loosened it off and it would make a noise as if it was running but no movement. ATM I believe I have aligned it correctly and it spins alright. ( and alleft heheheheh:rofl:)

Sooooo the questions are.......
1) Has anybody experienced the same problem or similar?
2) Anybody have a solution/reason?
3) Should I not worry and put it back together again and wait till it stuffs up?

Your help/ insights would be most welcome!

I believe Graham from Tassie/ Hobart also has a prob with his EQ and I might think it be a similar prob.

Cheers
Bartman

[Tandum]

Don;t run it with the electronics hanging in the breeze. Get some CRC contact cleaner, not the dick smith stuff but CRC brand, unplug everything and spray out the lot. Plugs sockets, everything. It boils at room temp so will evaporate quickly. Put it all back together, screw it down and then leave it alone. Now adjust the worms and gears.

[bartman]

Thanks Robin,
I did have the cb supported ( no metal contacts) or have any stress on the leads.
It did cross my mind to use contact cleaner but dismissed it due to thinking it was a closed box, ie no contaminates. But now thinking, a few dewy nights and dust could cause havoc.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Bunnings or Jaycar supply it ? I guess. I'll have a look.

Cheers
Bartman

[Tandum]

Bart, I have to get it here from a electronics wholesaler.
DS used to sell CRC but now only carry their own brand which appears to have water in it :(

[bartman]

Well I guess the chemists at the DS suppliers must be on drugs!....get it..get it............get it....
H2o in a contact cleaner?!?!?!?!?.
:)
Bartman

[Tandum]

Maybe it's a chemical, I dunno, but it leaves droplets of something ?

[miker]

Bart, I haven't seen the CB and connector arrangement, but would it be feasible to eliminate the connectors by hard wiring instead? Does it really need to be pulled apart often, which would require connectors?

I hate unnecessary connectors! :D

Michael

[mithrandir]

YMMV but I was in my local DS on Thursday and they had the genuine CRC.

[Visionoz]

Bart

The multi-colored wires terminates onto a 5-way berg female connector/plugs (white in color) and these are then socketed to the male pins that are soldered to the CB and have a white plastic socket - if you look carefully, the damned plastic sockets sometimes come off the pins halfway upwards and then when you re-plug the connectors back they don't home in fully therefore causing intermittents!!

Hope that is your problem otherwise the DMOS Full-Bridge Motor Driver chip might be giving you problems eh!! But I doubt it

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[bartman]

Thanks Bill, yes I have had the same probs when dealing with computer connectors. I'll have a squiz when I get time. I think that might be the problem though.


The DMOS whaaaa????
hehehehe if that is the problem I would have no clue:shrug::lol:

If that is the problem them I'll PM you ;)
BTW I do believe I Pm'd you a long while ago regarding a slight binding in the dec shaft. You offered your help and I appreciated it very much. I believe now that I pulled it apart I have found the problem and fixed it. I think the dec shaft was not true to the dec collar causing it to rub against the dec worm gear collar. After tweaking the three grub screws and the rear ( top)locking doodad, its not binding anymore and spins quite freely with no movement x, y or z axis.
Love it when you work things out yourself!
Cheers for all your help:D
Bartman

[Visionoz]

Aaahh!! Hah! You've caught the dreaded "Tinkerertitis" disease already like most of us do mate!!:lol:

Cheers
Bill

[graham.hobart]

Okay, I have the power light on the mount but no handbox L.e.d at all, the handbox worked last night when I applied direct power as if you were going to do an update on the PC. The power supply is a regulated 12V 2.5amp power pack. Same result with the eq 6 lead into a power tank. The light is on but no hand box action. I sprayed all the contacts with electrical cleaner, took the panel off the mount and there was no moisture or crap in there. Took the hand box apart and there (to my eyes) doesn't seem to be any loose connectors or dirt.
Using an EQDIR connector straight into the mount also results in Nada- which is curious as a couple of months ago it would read that com port ok and work. Switching comm ports doesn't help.
What can I do next? kick it in the nuts?
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif
Frustrated Graham...