"Motor Unit Fault" on Meade DS2114

After a year of no problems, my DS2114 now comes up with a "Motor Unit Fault" warning every time I start it up - sometimes the machine doesn't move at all, sometimes it acts likes it's possessed, moving on it's own :shock: The batteries are brand new, it's not overloaded, have tried recalibrating it, training the motors, factory resetting it. Still acting demented. Anyone else come across this problem - I've been onto Weasner's site...to be honest I don't want to start taking the thing apart.....

Hi Cheggs,
I bought a DS2130 last christmas and I initially had the same problem however I sent back the mount and received a replacement and it was then okay. It did happen to me again however but only when the batteries are running low. If it's still under warranty you may be better to send it back if possible.
Keith

Hi Cheegs,
I know with my etx70, I get this error when the battery is low,

Presuming you done all the checks, calibrations and tests, then you'll either need to replace the drive or try fix it yourself.

www.weasner.com/etx/techtips/2004/motor-fault.html

Unfortunately it's JUST out of warranty...BC&F have just quoted me £100 to get it fixed Looks like I'll be getting stuck in with the screwdriver this evening....

Could it be a software issue rather than a hardware. I'm not sure about the DS models, ie #494 controller but for other models it is possible to download updates for the software. as far as i know there is a special connector for DS models, it's either 505 or 506, whichever one is the most expensive is the one you need as it has electronics built in. I'm not saying this is definitely the case but it might be worth a go.

Thanks for all your advice so far - took the motor etc apart there, checked it out, loosened all the nuts'n'bolts, no obvious signs of wear and tear/strain on anything. Still keep getting the dreaded message - it won't even let me try to train or calibrate the scope now -I press MODE and the message just starts to scroll from the start again!!! EVERY TIME. :evil: I'm thinking it could be a software issue now. Anyone with a Meade ever come across this before? Seems really strange - how could this happen? Haven't hooked it up to anything. Getting more than annoyed with it, reading through websites like Weasner's just brings home the atrocious quality control standards Meade have - there's loads of examples where people keep getting duds sent back to them. Incidentally, this is the second DS2114 I've had - the first one was brought back after one day because of build quality problems......