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Constant Beep?

 

Had my rig out last night and frost stuck to just about everything. I was waiting for the melt and evaporation this morning as it warmed back up before covering. My Gemini 2 is now holding a constant beep when powered on despite power cycles / unplugging / waiting / etc - this can't be good I'm sure. Quite possible but not evident if any water dripped from the frost melting.
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Any advice?
 

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Though situation. As you most likely thought, moisture may have gotten on to the circuit board.? You could try taking the front face plate off and use a hair dryer to make sure all the moisture is off the circuit board. I've also heard of some people putting electronics that were exposed to moisture in the oven and bake them at a low temperature. No sure if any of this will resolve your problem but I wouldn't think low heat would damage the circuit board. Would be interested in hearing what others think. Good luck.?

Sandy?



Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone


-------- Original message --------
From: "David Jones via groups.io" <david.a.jones27@...>
Date: 1/28/25 10:09 AM (GMT-05:00)
Subject: [Gemini-II_io] Constant Beep?

Had my rig out last night and frost stuck to just about everything. I was waiting for the melt and evaporation this morning as it warmed back up before covering. My Gemini 2 is now holding a constant beep when powered on despite power cycles / unplugging / waiting / etc - this can't be good I'm sure. Quite possible but not evident if any water dripped from the frost melting.
?
Any advice?
 

Well there it is ...
 

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Wow, what a mess. Hard to say if just moisture did that or there was some corrosion building up over time and the moisture on top of that did it in. Looks like it's time to call Losmandy and see if they can fix that. I had one of the encoder part of my high torque motor go bad and they were able to fix that. Good luck.?

Sandy?



Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone


-------- Original message --------
From: "David Jones via groups.io" <david.a.jones27@...>
Date: 1/28/25 10:48 AM (GMT-05:00)
Subject: Re: [Gemini-II_io] Constant Beep?

Well there it is ...
 

Yeah, I have an email in to Losmandy - I might make the call soon if I don't hear back in a bit.
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This is a pretty much a new mount (last Nov) with not that many nights of activity yet. I had peaked inside once before and didn't notice anything odd.?
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So the lesson is this frost situation requires deeper thought for how to park own's scope. The tail end of my setup at CWD would be in just the right place to accumulate the droplets, drop down onto the motor cable, seep around the circular interface and given the board inclination - roll right to this very spot where this chip is.
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Nothing I have ever given thought to as my prior mounts either had the controller logic all inside (EQ6R) or off of one tripod leg (Avalon). Clearly there is a safer park position I need to program, then repark CWD once everything is gone and I want put a cover on or bring it inside. This picture is from another day but you can see how the dovetail plate could have likely been the collector. Frost was on the dew shield and even on the bubble wrap as I recall.
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I have my G11G in a backyard observatory year round. During the winter months (when below 32F anyway) I always bring the electronics inside...was afraid from the get go of that happening to me. Good luck!!
Jamey

On Tue, Jan 28, 2025, 11:48 AM David Jones via <david.a.jones27=[email protected]> wrote:
Yeah, I have an email in to Losmandy - I might make the call soon if I don't hear back in a bit.
?
This is a pretty much a new mount (last Nov) with not that many nights of activity yet. I had peaked inside once before and didn't notice anything odd.?
?
So the lesson is this frost situation requires deeper thought for how to park own's scope. The tail end of my setup at CWD would be in just the right place to accumulate the droplets, drop down onto the motor cable, seep around the circular interface and given the board inclination - roll right to this very spot where this chip is.
?
Nothing I have ever given thought to as my prior mounts either had the controller logic all inside (EQ6R) or off of one tripod leg (Avalon). Clearly there is a safer park position I need to program, then repark CWD once everything is gone and I want put a cover on or bring it inside. This picture is from another day but you can see how the dovetail plate could have likely been the collector. Frost was on the dew shield and even on the bubble wrap as I recall.
?
 

Hi David,
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That sure doesn't look good :( If you are willing to try, use a q-tip dipped in Isopropyl alcohol (the 99% kind) and gently try to remove the gunk and oxidation where it's visible. Follow up with a clean/dry q-tip to soak up remaining liquid. Let the remaining alcohol dry for a bit before turning Gemini back on. With any luck, you might get it working without a round trip to Losmandy.
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Regards,
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?-Paul
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On Tue, Jan 28, 2025 at 10:48 AM, David Jones wrote:

Well there it is ...
 

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Looks like something may have burned, the board looks pitted near the L6205 bridge driver.? Maybe I'm wrong and a bit of cleaning will show it is not damaged.? But that's a dual bridge power chip so 5A + I would not be surprised if it was damaged.??
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--

Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?

Astrospheric - South Pasadena, CA?

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