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Old 27-03-2013, 01:50 PM
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Andy01 (Andy)
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EQ6 Meltdown

Hi all, wondered if anyone else has experienced weird grinding noises in their EQ6?

Last night while drift aligning, my EQ6 suddenly had a meltdown and started making a continuous hideous screetching as I was putting the kids in bed.

I shut it off and manually parked it, but now the hand controller wont move it in NS and there's a flashing red light where the power on is displayed.

Have I lost a motor? Anyone had this happen before?

Cheers

Andy
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  #2  
Old 27-03-2013, 02:36 PM
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Merlin66 (Ken)
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Hmmmm
The blinking red light usually means the supply voltage has dropped below 11.5V....
What power source are you using?
I'd check that before digging inside to look at the motors...
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Old 27-03-2013, 02:50 PM
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Andy01 (Andy)
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Same unit I've always used, I'll give it a charge up and see if that helps
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Old 27-03-2013, 03:08 PM
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MrB (Simon)
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It happened to me for the first time on Sat night.
While tracking, the head had come into contact with the RA clutch handle and could go no further.
It made an almighty racket that sounded like gears stripping.
I turned the mount off, removed all weight(scope and counter) undid the RA clutch(not easy with the head pressed up hard against the handle) and started over.
Tested the mount and all is fine.

When steppers stall they do make a lot of noise, (experience from using them for various projects over the years) I doubt you have any damage as the EQ6's stepper motors probably don't produce enough torque to strip the gears. My gears are fine anyway.

I have since undone the handle screw and rotated it 90deg so it can't make contact with rotating parts in future.

Good luck
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Old 27-03-2013, 03:17 PM
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asimov (John)
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You blokes must have your clutches up too tight. A clutch is just that; it's designed to allow tracking yet allow slippage when necessary..
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Old 27-03-2013, 03:22 PM
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LewisM
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Had same on an HEQ5 - the pinion for the Dec motor would spin inside the supposedly pressed and peened cog - poor QC by Synta. So,it'd whirr away, no movement.

Tasco replaced the motor gratis. Worked perfectly after that.

Blinking red light - mine ALWAYS does it when slewing, regardless of what power source I use - battery or mains. When tracking, it is steady.
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Old 27-03-2013, 03:25 PM
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MrB (Simon)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by asimov View Post
You blokes must have your clutches up too tight.
Probably true!
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Old 27-03-2013, 08:02 PM
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whzzz28 (Nathan)
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Most have been mentioned but as i had grinding issues with my HEQ5 i thought id list all the possibilities:
  • Power levels too low. Check input voltage.
  • Worm gear too tight. Shouldn't be a problem unless you tuned up the mount.
  • Clutch overtight. You shouldn't need a hammer to undo the clutch...
  • Too much weight. My HEQ5 couldnt handle an ED127 + CCD + guide scope and would grind gears. Make sure your not overloading the mount.
Once i identified my problem (worm gear too tight + over weight) and rectified it, the mount runs perfectly.
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Old 28-03-2013, 11:17 PM
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Andy01 (Andy)
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EQ6 - all's well

All sorted and ok now, recharged the battery and its running like clockwork again. Happy days, (or nights).

Thanks everyone for your input

Mind you, I'd still like to quieten it down a bit when slewing on speeds above 7, it does make a racket when it gets going. Doesn't seem to happen at lower speeds, assume that's a design problem?

Cheers
Andy
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Old 29-03-2013, 12:02 AM
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MrB (Simon)
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Do a search for belt drive mod and hypertune
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