I think my EQ6 is dead

[paulgrover68]

I had trouble aligning my EQ6 tonight. Basically ran out of altitude adjustment.

 

I did some inspection and it appears the aftermarket bolts have worn a groove in the tab and the rear one now slips underneath it just on 50 degrees.  The mount is 11 years old and had some damage down there from bent bolts.

I've looked at the rail kit from dark frame as a possible solution, but I wonder if this will work with the chewed tab.

I think I may have to consider downgrading it to a visual only mount and somehow source a new one - which courtesy of the pandemic and sideways boat might be hard.

Any suggestions most welcome.

[AstronomyUkraine]

3 hours ago, paulgrover68 said:

I had trouble aligning my EQ6 tonight. Basically ran out of altitude adjustment.

 

I did some inspection and it appears the aftermarket bolts have worn a groove in the tab and the rear one now slips underneath it just on 50 degrees.  The mount is 11 years old and had some damage down there from bent bolts.

I've looked at the rail kit from dark frame as a possible solution, but I wonder if this will work with the chewed tab.

I think I may have to consider downgrading it to a visual only mount and somehow source a new one - which courtesy of the pandemic and sideways boat might be hard.

Any suggestions most welcome.

I have installed the rail kit on my mount, and my tab was chewed up pretty bad. The bolt locates in the slider block, and moves up and down the wedge when you adjust the mount for polar alignment. The slider block pushes against the tab at a less acute angle than the original bolt, and makes adjustment a lot easier. Just make sure your bolts are straight to begin with.

 

Brian

[paulgrover68]

Cool - thanks Brian - that makes sense.  Pretty sure my bolts are okay. I'm going to strip the mount down later and properly check. 

[GazAstro]

If you don't travel far and are a bit diy minded, I've seen people make wedges to screw to the area that the bolts hit which makes the angle more sensible.

Worth a google ?

[GazAstro]

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/187034-eq6-latitude-lug-modification-or-how-to-avoid-bent-bolts/

[MarkAR]

Looking at the pictures in the link I'm wondering if a quadrant of a worm gear could be fitted, it would make adjustments so easy.

 

[AstronomyUkraine]

8 hours ago, paulgrover68 said:

Cool - thanks Brian - that makes sense.  Pretty sure my bolts are okay. I'm going to strip the mount down later and properly check. 

Once you have the correct altitude for your location, it shouldn't need anything more than a minor adjustment anyway. If you buy the rail kit, the hardest part of the job is removing the caps on the side that hide the bolts. The rest is fairly straightforward.

 

Brian

[paulgrover68]

Thanks everyone - We're back and running. The tab was chewed in such a way there was channel that the bolt would push undbeneath it.  We shaped up a lump of steel and bent it to the curve. It's been bonded on with some kind of magic bonding compound.

It's all working well.  The problem was super frustrating because the damage was preventing those final nudges needed for fine adjustment.  

Tonights alingment went super easy.

[MarkAR]

Well done Paul, got any pictures of the fix?

[paulgrover68]

I think I snapped one on my phone - I'll have a look. I was pretty excited to put it all back together so might got carried away. If I have not got one with the mount apart, I can snap one through the gap.

I'll be trying it with the big scope tonight - hopefully they'll be a break in the clouds around the pole...