Skywatcher EQ5 mount

[TrevorW]

I brough dual axis motor drive for this scope hand controller says EQ4 on back but I believe same hand controller used for both Eq4 and eq5. Has anyone else had problems with their hand controller power connection. Anyone know how much voltage drop tolerance before hand controller fails to drive motors. Anyone burnt out a hand controller.

General feedback on this would be helpful

[prova]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

I brough dual axis motor drive for this scope hand controller says EQ4 on back but I believe same hand controller used for both Eq4 and eq5. Has anyone else had problems with their hand controller power connection. Anyone know how much voltage drop tolerance before hand controller fails to drive motors. Anyone burnt out a hand controller.

General feedback on this would be helpful

Your right, the hand controller although says EQ4 is for both EQ4/EQ5 mounts. Hand controller on my previous unit worked fine and never had an issue and the battery pack lasted longer than expected

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

I brough dual axis motor drive for this scope hand controller says EQ4 on back but I believe same hand controller used for both Eq4 and eq5.

Not sure thats correct Trevor, I burnt mine out by accidentally feeding it 12v ( avoid switchable plug pack type power supplies) and the first replacement had EQ4 on the back. The mount ran 10% slow on both axes and the controller is not adjustable. It might have been a dodgy controller, but the next one with no sticker ran OK.
Try testing it by running the mount over a couple of hours to see if it keeps to the marks on the RA scales. I used the countdown timer on my mobile as a time check.
If you are proposing using a higher capacity power supply for the controller I suggest a 6v SLA or 12v SLA battery and REGULATED voltage reducer, much safer.

Has anyone else had problems with their hand controller power connection. Anyone know how much voltage drop tolerance before hand controller fails to drive motors.

The battery pack seemed to last a fair while, although it was only used for 2 - 3 hour sessions before changing to an SLA.

Anyone burnt out a hand controller.

Yep see above.

General feedback on this would be helpful

Cheers
Bill

[TrevorW]

I think I may have burnt mine out I inadventenly fed 8v DC into it

Is there I way to tell

Also my battery pack connection is dicky any suggestions

If I have where can I buy a replacement hand controller

Thanks

[WadeH (Wade)]

Hello Trevor,

A couple of years back I had a similar problem, my tripod blew over and cracked the controller destroying on of the buttons. After ages of trying different venders for repair and lots of frustration I finally lucked upon the Australian distributor of Skywatcher. He has second hand units mainly from people upgrading their own systems.

I dont remember his name but he was most helpful and prompt. Contact details as follws:

Tasco Sales (Aust.) P/L
6/9-13 Winbourne Rd,
Brookvale NSW 2100
Telephone: (02) 9938-3244

Good luck and maybe this will be of use.

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

I think I may have burnt mine out I inadventenly fed 8v DC into it

Is there I way to tell

Also my battery pack connection is dicky any suggestions

If I have where can I buy a replacement hand controller

Thanks

Oh Oh, could be. Mine went intermittent, sometimes it would work (green LED) and most times not (red LED). It gave the impression of a dicky battery connection to.
I tried a few places but eventually bought a whole kit from an IIS member, so have spare motors (they'll come in handy one day). Try it with a fresh set of batteries and if it fires up OK check the time as I descibed before.
Hope it goes OK

cheers
Bill

[TrevorW]

It looks like I didn't burn out the controller thank goodness I replaced all the batteries and seems to be working OK although the battery connection is way to loose and I'll need to replace the connector. Thanks guys for your feedback I was panicking there for a moment.

By the way I stripped down my EQ5 RA axis today replaced the grease and checked for rough patches mine wasn't that hard to do and I used spray degreaser to get the old grease off and replaced it with a Teflon Grease. My only sticky problem is with the Dec axis I'll need to buy a ring nut spanner. I tried nails through a peice of wood as suggested in the article but no luck on too tight and bent the nails.

Thanks again

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Good to hear Trevor
Replacing the grease and tweaking the adjustments made quite a bit of difference to mine, much smoother.
If you have problems getting a replacement connector, drop me a PM and I'll send you the one from my defunct controller (I take it you mean the socket on the controller)

Cheers
Bill

[TrevorW]

Thanks Bill for the offer.

Anyone know who'd sell an adjustable ring nut spanner