Starman 1967 Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Can any body help. I have a S.W AZ-EQ5. I decided to put some light grease on my dec worm gear today. I turned the motor wth my fingers to get the grease in. Nothing was connected up like power or the hand set. i was very careful not to disturb the wires and not to damage any thing. The motor turns freely by hand so no binding. i powered it up tonight and the R.A. Works but the dec hasn’t moved at All. I’ve taken the cover off again and checked all the plugs and wires for damage. The belts not to tight the motor turns freely. would me turning the motor do any damage? Like voltage feed back into the board or world the motor be be out of digital alignment and prevent it running. is there any body that knows about this stuff that can advise me. Im absolutely gutted this has happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Sorry to hear your having issues, Unfortunatly I don’t have a clue about these things, but there are a number of people on here who do, one in particular.... @Graham I’m sure can point you in the right direction. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) Hi Darren What a nightmare. First off turning the motor by hand could create a current back to the board but I doubt this would do any damage as you would not be spinning it fast enough . What you would have done is upset the digital encoder as you have moved the mount by turning the motor. What I would suggest you do is start from scratch as in when you first received the mount and set it up for the first time. You will need to reset the handset back to the factory settings. This should zero the encoders. The problem probably stems from the software as it constantly checks the encoder ticks with the motor steps, if you move the motor with the power off then the encoder count/position will not match the last known step count. Let me know how you get on. Edited February 23, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share Posted February 23, 2019 Hi graham thank you i was thinking that and I’ll give it a go tomorrow. ive just found the instructions to do a factory reset. if that doesn’t work would it be worth plugging the dec motor into the ra board?i assume they are the same motors. This would tell me the motor is good and could safely say the dec board has gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) Hopefully the reset should do the trick. If you go down the route of plugging the motor into the RA side make sure you have the encoders switched off before you power down the mount to try it. You can do that on the hand set. Edited February 23, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Good luck Darren. Got fingers crossed it comes back to life for you. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share Posted February 23, 2019 Good point. Thank you again graham. cheers Pete too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Hi graham I’ve done a factory reset and it has made no difference the dec motor is not moving at all. i think I’m gonna have to try the motor on the ra board if it works I reckon the dec board must have gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Hi graham again ive tried the dec motor on the ra board and it works. Ive also tried the ra motor on the dec board and it doesn’t work so I assume it can only be the dec board. Or could it be something else? Are you able to get parts? If it is the board it looks easy to swap just like the motors were. are you able to help with parts or have I got to got to a shop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) Oh heck sorry to hear that. Can you post up a photo of the board. Might also be a good idea to run a circuit tester on the dec cable Edited February 24, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Here’s a photo of the pcb. im not sure what i would be doing with the tester other than looking for a voltage when the dec motor should be running but I’m not sure which wires to test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) That is the motor board. Which looks ok from the photo. I would check the cable that runs from the main body up to the dec motor housing. Just check for continuity on all the cables in the lead. They have a bad habit of breaking off the terminals inside the plugs and sockets. Edited February 24, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Ah I’ve already dismantled the plugs to look for broken wires and there all good. That was one of the 1st things I did. i can do a continuity test just be sure tho. ill do that tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 17 minutes ago, Starman 1967 said: Ah I’ve already dismantled the plugs to look for broken wires and there all good. That was one of the 1st things I did. i can do a continuity test just to be sure tho. ill do that tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Hi graham right ive checked the external cable from the R.A. AXIS to DEC axis. I left It connected to the DEC axis socket and checked the continuity right thru to the DEC pcb plug, every cable has good continuity. I’m hoping the feed back voltage just went to the dec pcb and stopped there. any other ideas? any luck locating a new board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Hi Darren No more ideas sorry. Guess you are going to have to bite the bullet and get another board. Shame you dont know anyone with the same mount so you could try their board before shelling out. As it is such a new generation of mount I cannot get a board for it. Give Ian a shout at http://www.iankingimaging.com/ he should be able to sort you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Thanks for your help graham. i do actually no somebody who has the same mount but I’m not going to ask as his is still under warranty. Ill get in touch with Ian king imaging tomorrow. I think I’m gonna have to take a gamble and go for a new pcb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 (edited) As it is just a motor driver board it should not be too expensive. I would guesstimate around the 50 to 60 quid mark. Mind I could be wrong ? Just a thought pull the plug on the encoder and try it like that. Edited February 25, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 I’m pretty certain it’s the dec board as there is a voltage going in but nothing coming out to the motor. Where as the ra board has a voltage going to the motor constantly even when it’s not moving. ive been in touch with Ian king they can get a new board for £42 which is great. Only problem is it’s going to take 4 months to get here from the manufacturer synta. rother valley optics don’t stock it either but they do the mother/ra board hitch I £100 great stuff but no dec board thy are finding out how long it will take, I fear it will be the same. im going to try f.l.o tomorrow. A bit of a bummer if I’ve got to wait 4 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) If that is the case I would be inclined to swap out the caps. Synta have a bad rep for their caps especially on the HEQ 5 boards. For the sake of a few pounds it might be worth doing. Edited February 27, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 I wouldn’t know here to get them from. I’ve just googled he number on the capacitors and nothing comes up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) You can get them from any electronic wholesales on line. I would say they are 47uF 50 volt. The codes on the top of yours are not a standard format that I know of. If you send and inquiry to these folks they should be able to tell you for certain. https://uk.farnell.com/c/passive-components/capacitors/aluminium-electrolytic-capacitors/smd-aluminium-electrolytic-capacitors?capacitance=47uf&voltage-rating=50v If you do swap them out only thing to make certain is the side which is Black is the negative terminal. Edited February 27, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 Thanks graham I’ve ordered 3 and I’m going to have a bash at swapping them. I’ll let you know how I get on. farnell did check and agree those are the the correct capacitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 (edited) Great stuff Darren Look forward to hearing how you get on. Good luck. I have saved many an HEQ 5 board by doing just this operation. Edited March 1, 2019 by Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman 1967 Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 It appears I’m going to have to wait for the full 4 months as they sent me totally the wrong size capacitors, and I can’t get access to the capacitors on the pcb to desolder them, unless I’m missing something how are they connected to the board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now