Problems with LX90 - SOLVED

Hi Guys

Last night the dreaded Motor Unit Fault appeared on my autostar LX90.....

Scope wont slew up but will slew down. Left and right is OK.

I've changed battery, changed autostar cable, calibrated motors, reversed L/D buttons, reinstalled the software, factory reset all to no avail. Has anyone had this or similar problems before. I've been onto LX90 User group so there is some feedback there, not too encouraging though.

If the worst comes to the worst is it possible to send the Scope away to Uk to repair, or does it have to go all the way back to US to have it properly looked at.

Regards


Db

Are you able to use a mains transformer with the LX90, if so I'd try that before anything else first.

Hi

Anyone know the cheapest and most importantly the safest way of getting a scope over to UK and back to Dublin in one piece.

Thanks for your reply Dave. I'm pretty sure it is not a battery problem. I use an external power tank and not internal batteries to power the scope. I have tried 2 different powertanks with the same result. I don't see how hooking up a mains supply would prove any different. Left and right work just fine.

regards

dbran

If it slews left-right okay - and slews down okay - but won't slew up then I'd suspect the clutch in the ALT axis.

Have a look at the following clutch-modification product that can be sourced in the UK for £30.

www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/peterson-ez...lx200-lx90_d973.html

I can't say if this will fix your problem but it does look like it might be relevant.

Mark C.

Unfortunately this is not it. The clutch is not slipping.

There is just no power at all going to the motor when it slews
up.

Its very strange that there's power slewing down but not up. Unfortunately I don't have much knowledge of electronics so any further guess from me would be unlikely to help.

However, just in case any of this helps, consider:-

Did performance degrade gradually or intermittently over time (implying mechanical degradation - whether it be qualiy of some electrical contact or whatever)?

Is it possible to use a multimeter to confirm that no extra current is being drawn when attempting to slew up (however if current was dran and motor not operating I suspect you'd still hear something).

Did it happen after some other known change - like firmware upgrade?

Is it worth trying to drive the scope from a planetarium program that has protocol compatible with the LX90 (if that works then that would suggest that the problem is in the hand controller).

Best of luck and sorry to hear that you're having this problem.

Mark