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Re: Ovision worm gear assembly does it have a spring washer...may be mssing on mine

 

Hi Michael,

You know I always forget that people, even people I KNOW are new or new to their Losmandy mount, don't know all of the required bits many experienced people don't mentioning. Thanks for reminding us that you have to start at the beginning to get to the end we are hoping the help people to find.?

So how is it going in the mile high city??

Chip



??
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

Hi Greg,

My 12 year old G11 has no space to put a wavy washer between the clutch plates nor does my more recent GM8. I had my G11 updated last summer to current G11G specs but have not had any issues balancing my G11 before or after the updates to the the tucked motors etc. I did update the clutch discs to the newer stuff but that did not change balancing at all.?

Chip?
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

Hi Eric,

I have always admired your work and it's interesting to hear you are returning to the Losmandy fold. Your G11's logs look less than ideal. I hope your GM8 is working better. Keep us posted on your progress and results!

Chip
??
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

Thank you, Greg. I¡¯ll give Scott a call today.

Glenn
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

Glenn, the washer you are using on the shaft right now may not be the correct size for the clutches. Order the right one.


Greg S.
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

Yes. I called Losmandy and they told me about the missing washer. Trust me, put it in and all will be well. And it's FREE. You have to love free. the plates are just a bit tight and with that washer to seperate them a whisker it works great.


Greg S.
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

Thank you, that is an interesting work around. I will give it a try. Are you doing that because your RA axis also seems stiff, making it too difficult to balance in the conventional way?

Glenn
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

Glenn, the wavy washer I was talking about goes in between the clutch plates. You have to take the RA axis apart and put the washer in the groove on the housing between the plates. this will let it move freely. I had to do this on mine. scott will send you a washer for free. Just tell him what is happening. Once installed it works like a charm.?

Greg S.
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

Steam, what I do to balance my G11G is set my RA axis horizontal and then tighten the clutch knob all the way. ?Using the play in the worm I carefully push on the counterweight shaft watching which way it is biased. ?Since we run about 2mm of slop at the worm this works out perfectly.

Hope this makes sense to you. ?
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

No, it did not, unfortunately.?

When I push the clutch knob inward after loosening it (i.e. push in line with the RA axis), the RA axis moves freely for as long as I hold it. This is what makes me think that the clutch still produces some friction even after loosening the clutch knob.
Re: G-11G with a stiff RA axis

wes Bolin
 

Did moving the wavy washer make a difference in the RA stiffness?
Wes

On Tue, Dec 26, 2017 at 9:01 PM, steamdiesel@... [Losmandy_users] <Losmandy_users@...> wrote:
?

I have a current-design G-11G with tucked motors and am generally very pleased with it. One issue I have been trying to troubleshoot is stiffness of the RA axis with the clutch fully loosened. A stiff RA axis makes balancing the scope in RA challenging.?


I do have the wavy washer installed. Since this picture was taken, I moved it beneath the thick spacer below it so that it is between the clutch knob and the spacer.?




Does anyone else have the stiff RA axis problem? Any solutions?


As an aside, stiffness of the RA axis seems like a natural consequence of the mount's design. The northern half of the RA axis continues to rest on the clutch pad after the clutch has been loosened, causing friction. The effect must be even more pronounced for people living at more northerly or southerly latitudes. The higher the altitude adjustment, the stronger the pull of gravity on the "loose" half of the RA axis against the clutch pad and the greater the friction. The only way this could be avoided would be if there was a mechanism that pushed the RA axis away from the clutch pad to disengage it. Does this make sense to anyone but me? ;)


Glenn
G-11G with a stiff RA axis

 

I have a current-design G-11G with tucked motors and am generally very pleased with it. One issue I have been trying to troubleshoot is stiffness of the RA axis with the clutch fully loosened. A stiff RA axis makes balancing the scope in RA challenging.?


I do have the wavy washer installed. Since this picture was taken, I moved it beneath the thick spacer below it so that it is between the clutch knob and the spacer.?




Does anyone else have the stiff RA axis problem? Any solutions?


As an aside, stiffness of the RA axis seems like a natural consequence of the mount's design. The northern half of the RA axis continues to rest on the clutch pad after the clutch has been loosened, causing friction. The effect must be even more pronounced for people living at more northerly or southerly latitudes. The higher the altitude adjustment, the stronger the pull of gravity on the "loose" half of the RA axis against the clutch pad and the greater the friction. The only way this could be avoided would be if there was a mechanism that pushed the RA axis away from the clutch pad to disengage it. Does this make sense to anyone but me? ;)


Glenn
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

There's good and bad with Losmandy mounts.? Are they perfect?? Nope.? But they are probably one of the best values in equatorial mounts.? They are solid and machined very well. But they do require some tinkering at times.? If you're not prepared to tackle this tinkering, you should be looking at something like the Astro-physics Mach1 GTO.? It's roughly the size as a G11, but is nearly perfect.? I used mine for about 3 years and never touched it.? It always worked perfectly.? But there is a price for this perfection.???I posted a comparison between a G11 with an ovision worm and a Mach1 here:


For what it's worth, I'm starting over with a GM8 :-)

my 2 cents worth...

Eric
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

Thank you all. I do not want to take this off-topic, so I will start a separate thread.

Glenn
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

Glen, call Scott and they will send a free one. it's the curvy washer. It gives just enough space to move the RA freely. There is an indentation where it is supposed to go already on the mount axis. Why they don't put it in is beyond me.


Greg S.
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

large wavy or curved Belleville type round spring washers are under the rear clutch knobs of both RA and DEC.

it would be a quality lapse to leave those out of a new mount.? I am surprised to read of that.

see the nice photos and discussion on ?

There is also a small "R4" size Belleville washer at the back of the aftermarket Ovision worm block system.? There is no such washer designed into the Losmandy drive system, but it can be added by the owner with some slight hand work.?

Best,
Michael?


On Dec 26, 2017 3:46 PM, "bvalente@... [Losmandy_users]" <Losmandy_users@...> wrote:
?

Glenn if you need to loosen the RA to balance just loosen the clutch a little bit.



B
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

Glenn if you need to loosen the RA to balance just loosen the clutch a little bit.


B
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

@tensor74,

What spring washer are you referring to, Greg? The RA axis on my relatively new G-11G is also a little tight when balancing. I have been looking for a way to loosen it up to make balance easier.

My apologies to the group if this is a little off topic.

Glenn
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

I got my new G-11 in July. works great. Only thing is when I balanced it it was tight in RA. Come to find out they never put the spring washer in. so they sent one and has been working fine since.?

Greg S.
Re: Just purchased GM811GHD

 

Yes, it is very possible. I purchased my G11 last November, pulled it straight out of the box, set it up, and had only one problem which Losmandy remedied in 3 days. It worked but one of the gear boxes was binding a bit, so he sent me a new one.

I only had to replace it, in about 5 minutes. It¡¯s been working great for a year.

Doug



From: Losmandy_users@... [mailto:Losmandy_users@...]
Sent: Monday, December 25, 2017 9:13 PM
To: Losmandy_users@...
Subject: [Losmandy_users] Re: Just purchased GM811GHD





Wow, this is scary. I still haven't bought a mount, and haven't taken an astrophoto yet. My understanding is that Losmandy mounts are some of the better ones, though not at the pinnacle--but jeez, it sounds like there's no point in buying one unless I'm ready to tear it apart and rebuild it! I know you guys are perfectionists, and this group is all about improving performance. But. . .is it not possible to pull a GM811G out of the box, set it on a non-back-straining mount and take a decent photo? Thanks (and hope I didn't steal your thread).





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