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Az Adjustment Play/Slack

 

I have a G811 and adjusting the azimuth while drift aligning is a bit of a pain.? First, there seems to be a lot of play in the gear when changing direction and makes it frustrating to make very fine adjustments.? I called Losmandy and they put me on with Scott, he suggested a shim under the female fitting.? No idea how I'll go about that but wondering if anyone has done that successfully???

Second, when I loosen the two locking bolts the mount moves a little bit and I have to compensate for that movement by moving azimuth adjustment just a tad more or tad less.? Anyone else encounter this?
 

I find it best to install a 3/8 Belleville spring washer, faced on both sides by flat stainless steel washers, on both the AZ hold down bolts.? I then can release the AZ pressure adjustably while doing AZ adjustments.? Otherwise it goes from tight to overly loose.

For that, I also use slightly longer 3/8 stainless steel bolts and I put in colored T handles to make these more visible in the dark.??Some photos are attached.?

I also put a similar Belleville washer up the bottom center pivot point to keep that under compression.?

I also put these Belleville spring washers in the Elevation knobs, but not sure if they have any effect there...those flanges are already firmly?in place.
But here is a photo of that installed too.

I have the extended stainless steel bolts, 3/8 Belleville washers, stainless steel flat washers, colored T handles (red, yellow, black)... let me know if interested in a small package of these parts, and what color you'd like for the T-handles, and what mount you have (G11 or GM8 or GM811).??

Very best,
Michael





On Sat, Oct 5, 2019, 9:09 AM John Dias <jddias@...> wrote:
I have a G811 and adjusting the azimuth while drift aligning is a bit of a pain.? First, there seems to be a lot of play in the gear when changing direction and makes it frustrating to make very fine adjustments.? I called Losmandy and they put me on with Scott, he suggested a shim under the female fitting.? No idea how I'll go about that but wondering if anyone has done that successfully???

Second, when I loosen the two locking bolts the mount moves a little bit and I have to compensate for that movement by moving azimuth adjustment just a tad more or tad less.? Anyone else encounter this?

 

Sweet, interested for sure!? GM811 is my mount.? I did replace the hex bolt on the alt adjustment lockdown with a handle that makes it easier to loosen/tighten in the dark.? I'd be open to trying a Belleville washer there as well.

Yellow would be my color preference.
 

HI John

Pretty much all losmandy mounts act this way afaik.?

It's really important to not loosen the bolts the entire way. in fact i barely loosen them and while it's a little tough to move the az adjustment, it makes for much more fine changes. As for the play, you just get used to it.?

The only hardware upgrade that i found helped?was swapping out the bolts for hand-tightened bolts, but that may be standard now



On Sat, Oct 5, 2019 at 9:09 AM John Dias <jddias@...> wrote:
I have a G811 and adjusting the azimuth while drift aligning is a bit of a pain.? First, there seems to be a lot of play in the gear when changing direction and makes it frustrating to make very fine adjustments.? I called Losmandy and they put me on with Scott, he suggested a shim under the female fitting.? No idea how I'll go about that but wondering if anyone has done that successfully???

Second, when I loosen the two locking bolts the mount moves a little bit and I have to compensate for that movement by moving azimuth adjustment just a tad more or tad less.? Anyone else encounter this?



--
Brian?



Brian Valente
portfolio

 

So, Brian, if I do that there's no risk of shortening the life of the clutch plates?
 

afaik there are no clutch pads on the alt and az adjustments. i have had my G11 for 13 years and haven't had any issues with them, nor have I heard of anything along the lines you described.?

i like michael's T bolts, though losmandy offers those too in stainless.

I personally would not want any sort of spring-loaded mechanism in there because once I have alt az alignment, i want it completely locked down.?

Brian

On Sat, Oct 5, 2019 at 2:45 PM John Dias <jddias@...> wrote:
So, Brian, if I do that there's no risk of shortening the life of the clutch plates?



--
Brian?



Brian Valente
portfolio

 

Hi gang,

The AZ and Elevation bolts have zero to do with the clutch plates that attach the telescope and DEC axis to the worm driven plates.? They are completely separate items.?

Once the Belleville washer flattens, it is the same as a flat washer.? It simply provides a spring force when it is adjustably loosened.??

What wears out clutch plates is too much knob force on the back clutch knobs, and then rotating the axis.? The plastic then has to flow along it's surface.? Like scuffing your shoes wears out the soles.? The other thing that makes the clutch plates lose grip is a flow of oils diffusing from the lubed needle bearings.??

Have fun...and read online about Belleville washers and their intended benefit for bearing performance.

Best,
Michael



On Sat, Oct 5, 2019, 3:17 PM Brian Valente <bvalente@...> wrote:
afaik there are no clutch pads on the alt and az adjustments. i have had my G11 for 13 years and haven't had any issues with them, nor have I heard of anything along the lines you described.?

i like michael's T bolts, though losmandy offers those too in stainless.

I personally would not want any sort of spring-loaded mechanism in there because once I have alt az alignment, i want it completely locked down.?

Brian

On Sat, Oct 5, 2019 at 2:45 PM John Dias <jddias@...> wrote:
So, Brian, if I do that there's no risk of shortening the life of the clutch plates?



--
Brian?



Brian Valente
portfolio

 

Michael I think you and I are on the same page re: the clutch pads have nothing to do with the alt-az adjustments and any belleville washer type of mod. so any pressure?on the az adjustment - spring or otherwise - would not impact clutch pad longevity






On Sat, Oct 5, 2019 at 3:28 PM Michael Herman <mherman346@...> wrote:
Hi gang,

The AZ and Elevation bolts have zero to do with the clutch plates that attach the telescope and DEC axis to the worm driven plates.? They are completely separate items.?

Once the Belleville washer flattens, it is the same as a flat washer.? It simply provides a spring force when it is adjustably loosened.??

What wears out clutch plates is too much knob force on the back clutch knobs, and then rotating the axis.? The plastic then has to flow along it's surface.? Like scuffing your shoes wears out the soles.? The other thing that makes the clutch plates lose grip is a flow of oils diffusing from the lubed needle bearings.??

Have fun...and read online about Belleville washers and their intended benefit for bearing performance.

Best,
Michael



On Sat, Oct 5, 2019, 3:17 PM Brian Valente <bvalente@...> wrote:
afaik there are no clutch pads on the alt and az adjustments. i have had my G11 for 13 years and haven't had any issues with them, nor have I heard of anything along the lines you described.?

i like michael's T bolts, though losmandy offers those too in stainless.

I personally would not want any sort of spring-loaded mechanism in there because once I have alt az alignment, i want it completely locked down.?

Brian

On Sat, Oct 5, 2019 at 2:45 PM John Dias <jddias@...> wrote:
So, Brian, if I do that there's no risk of shortening the life of the clutch plates?



--
Brian?



Brian Valente
portfolio



--
Brian?



Brian Valente
portfolio

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