Heq5 pro died!!!

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Hi guys.

I have a skywatcher Heq5 pro goto mount that I purchased September 2012 from U-shop in Sydney CBD.

I was hoping to image tonight and when I plugged it in, it turned on for about 2 minutes then it died. It would simply not turn on. The power cable that feeds the mount went really hot and when ever I plugger the power jack into the socket sparks would form. I am assuming that there has been a short circuit which has fried the insides of the mount.
The hand controller still works though. the PSU is still fine too.

I don't know what to do. U-shop has closed down and I am not sure if this is still under warranty ......should I open the unit up and see what's happened?


John.

[DJT (David)]

Contact skywatcher directly first before ripping it apart. I think they have a 5 year manufacturers warranty (Andrews sells theirs with 6 years).

Worth a shot

[anthony.tony]

It Dose not matter what Dealer you Bought it from - Skywatcher has to Honour the Warranty -Can you Explain How your power source Works -- Tony

[johnnyt123 (John)]

Tony it is running off a 5amp 12v fused adaptor which has a 12 v cigarette lighter socket which I plugged the power cable into. Even the power cable has a fuse.

It's unfortunate. I was hoping to image tonight too. Weather is good.

I will call skywatcher tomorrow.

And see what happens.

[raymo]

Hi Johnny,
As I understand it you have a 12v adaptor plugged into a 220v
power cable. I have always been wary of doing that, because the voltage output from the average run of the mill adaptor can vary from moment to moment, and can sometimes go well over the stated voltage.
By chance I was browsing the database in my Synscan hand
controller the other day. I couldn't be bothered to set up my usual power
supply, so I used an adaptor I had laying around. The information section
of the menu told me it was receiving 15.7v. Needless to say I switched it off
immediately. I checked all the adaptors that I have [7] with my
multimeter, and they were all over the place voltage wise.
INMYHO, best stick to a battery. I'm not saying that this is what
caused your problem, but I think its a possibility.'
raymo

[johnnyt123 (John)]

I measured the voltage output from the adaptor with a voltmeter and it read 12v exactly.

I am also running my QSI 683wsg-8 and the moonlike focuser off a splitter from the same adaptor and they are still functioning as normal.

Only the mount decided to call it a day.

I don't know what happened.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Did you manage to resolve your problem??