Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!
It's been a crazy year, but still lots to be thankful for.?
Best Regards,
? ?-Paul
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
Sunlight, especially the UV portion if the spectrum, has a tendency to start bleaching anodized aluminum parts. If you are keeping your rig outside under a scope cover, it's good to check if the brand you purchased is resistant to UV rays. There are some cheaper brands that may protect against rain and weather, but the UV can still penetrate. So the bleaching can start happening on lots of other things other than the tripod legs like the mount itself, dovetails, camera bodies and anything else with an anodized coating. Painted items like OTAs can start to lose their color as well, depending on how good a job the manufacturer did when making it.
CS all,
John
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Losmandy G11G2 on pier; refurbed Losmandy G11 with OnStep controller; SkyShed design roll-off observatory; ZWO ASI2600MM-P; ZWO ASI071MC; Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED with field flattener; Celestron C925 Edge HD with 0.7XFR, William Optics Zenithstar 61 APO; PHD2, Sequence Generator Pro and PixInsight user
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
Again, thanks all.
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Jim W
Phoenix, AZ. USA
Losmandy G11G w/ L6, NINA 3.0 / ASTAP, ASI2600MC Pro, ASI533MM Pro,?Sky-Watcher Scopes, Canon L Lenses.
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
What Mr. Simpson said, but I would like to add one more thing.? I want to elaborate on sealing.? The aluminum is anodized making an porous oxide.? Then is it dyed.? Then SEALED in a follow up process.? Often the dye will fail from UV, or the more likely, the sealing might be failing.? I say sealing, because I have many power supplies with purple heatsinks that never saw the light of day.? So just plain dye degradation or sealing failure is my guess (not ruling our UV in your case).? Both could be the result of sub-standard chemicals or improper process (length, temperature).
Bob
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
Now you know it's genuine Losmandy. ?
That purple color is characteristic of the dye that Scott uses.
The only way to avoid it is to avoid sunlight.?
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
Wow - Until I saw the black picture I thought you were kidding. LOL
I would rather have gold than dark purple.
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Jim W
Phoenix, AZ. USA
Losmandy G11G w/ L6, NINA 3.0 / ASTAP, ASI2600MC Pro, ASI533MM Pro,?Sky-Watcher Scopes, Canon L Lenses.
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
that turned from anodized black into gold after being exposed to the sun.
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
This is normal for anodized parts.?
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Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astrospheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
Thanks all.
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Jim W
Phoenix, AZ. USA
Losmandy G11G w/ L6, NINA 3.0 / ASTAP, ASI2600MC Pro, ASI533MM Pro,?Sky-Watcher Scopes, Canon L Lenses.
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
There's not much you can do about it.? The aluminum parts are anodized.? The anodizing process turns the surface of the raw aluminum to a very hard and wear resistant aluminum oxide layer that protects the underlying metal.
Aluminum oxide is transparent; color is added as a final step in the processing by dipping the freshly processed parts in a dye solution.? The dye is absorbed and sealed in the oxide coating.? They can choose just about any color under the sun, hence some telescope mounts are red and other colors.
Unfortunately, not all dyes are stable under exposure to UV light as you are finding out when you remove the tape.? Those portions are still black.
Sort of having the parts stripped and re-anodized, there's not much to do about it.? The anodizing is still working fine at protecting the parts, it's just the dye gradually fading.? I'd just live with it as I do with my somewhat elderly G-11.
Jim Simpson National Capital Astronomers
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
So, is it sunlight and heat that causes the color change?
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
The anodic oxidation process is performed in an electrolyte solution that typically contains sulfuric, chromic or oxalic acids, and converts the aluminum at the metal surface to alumina. Alumina is a??polycrystalline ceramic material. It readily absorbs moisture from the air and becomes a hydrate. The chemicals from the electrolyte are affected by high temperatures and sunlight. The changes in chemical composition of the alumina cause it to absorb different wavelengths of light and reflect others. Going to purple from black would indicate that it is no longer absorbing all wavelengths and reflecting some?of the ultraviolet.
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Re: Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
My G11G dates from 2005. About half the aluminum bits still hold their original black anodizing, while the other half are various shades of dark purple. Most of the purple bits are still so dark I have to shine a flashlight on them to see the purple tinge, while others are clearly dark purple to the unaided eye.
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I use NATO clamps and rails.? These are an adaption of the military riffle scope mounting systems and they consist of a rail with periodic slots that capture rods on the scope end of the mount.? The DSLR video camera industry have co-opted this system and they have all sorts of clamps and rails to mount all the various accessories a DSLR videographer might use.? The other system, also for DSLR video, are the 15mm rod and clamps.? Also 19mm rod and clamps.? All nice hardware relatively cheap once you learn the brands. Do a search on Amazon or AliExpress for NATO Clamps and Rails and Accessories.? I purchase my stuff on AliExpress because they are cheaper, but you have to wait longer. If you want more info on this stuff and pic of my scope and how I used it, PM me with the subject line: Nato clamps and rails.Bob Forgot to mention, this is presented as a system to conveniently mount your counter weight to balance your scope in both the radial and axial directions, and not make your scope look ugly! 
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Light-Weight Tripod Turning Dark Purple
I removed some 'glow in the dark' tape from my tripod legs and discovered that my tripod is turning dark purple. I don't know if these are power-coated or anodized but the sections under the tape is black.? I have had my G11G for about 5 years.? Is this normal and what can be done about it?
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Jim W
Phoenix, AZ. USA
Losmandy G11G w/ L6, NINA 3.0 / ASTAP, ASI2600MC Pro, ASI533MM Pro,?Sky-Watcher Scopes, Canon L Lenses.
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Try this. The first thing that comes up:
? ? ? ?  If you want to know if your mount is under warranty, call Losmandy.
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Actually, it is only in the PDF version of the user's manual but not in the HTML one, both at losmandy.com.? I was searching and could not find it because it returned the HTML version as the first pick.
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In which case I suggest that you contact Losmandy and suggest they put that information of the pages of the website that describe the mount. ? This mailing list isn¡¯t a mechanism for contacting Losmandy even if they pop in here now and then.
It¡¯s a shame that Brian Valente left Losmandy to go to AP (Astro-Physics.com) , as he was a regular here and the other related mailing lists. ? David ?
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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of peter@...
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2023 1:13 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] Warranty?? On Sun, Nov 19, 2023 at 07:26 AM, jp071848 wrote: It's right there in the User's Manual, easily found after a quick Google search
WARRANTY
Your Losmandy G-11 Equatorial Mount is covered by a limited 1 year warranty on parts and labor. If
the mount or associated parts fail due to defective material or workmanship within 1 year of purchase,
the mount or parts will be repaired or replaced free of charge. The mount or parts will be shipped free
of charge one way. Damage done by incorrect installation or abuse is not covered by this warranty.
?No, it is not easy to find when it is not readily available even on this link:
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On Sun, Nov 19, 2023 at 07:26 AM, jp071848 wrote:
It's right there in the User's Manual, easily found after a quick Google search
WARRANTY
Your Losmandy G-11 Equatorial Mount is covered by a limited 1 year warranty on parts and labor. If
the mount or associated parts fail due to defective material or workmanship within 1 year of purchase,
the mount or parts will be repaired or replaced free of charge. The mount or parts will be shipped free
of charge one way. Damage done by incorrect installation or abuse is not covered by this warranty.
?No, it is not easy to find when it is not readily available even on this link:
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It's right there in the User's Manual, easily found after a quick Google search
WARRANTY
Your Losmandy G-11 Equatorial Mount is covered by a limited 1 year warranty on parts and labor. If
the mount or associated parts fail due to defective material or workmanship within 1 year of purchase,
the mount or parts will be repaired or replaced free of charge. The mount or parts will be shipped free
of charge one way. Damage done by incorrect installation or abuse is not covered by this warranty.
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Paul Kanevsky
Chip Louie
David C. Partridge