THE IOPTRON SMART EQ MOUNT TUNE UP 

Thanks again! Now your IOptron mount Smart should be working, It's very good mount once tweaked, but it gets very bad press from other users, still mine is still working and I've never had to strip it down after this tune-up!!

Thanks James for your positive feedback, I totally agree this is a simple fix, and I did inspect the gears and worm drive to see if there is any signs of damage or worm, and I did not find any at all, and the mount has been used for 5 years solid use. At the moment I'm looking into super tuning this mount, but I don't won't it to be put out of commission if it still works you know what a mean?? The internal bearings are still running smooth and spins freely, so IOptron have used good solid bearings, which it's a shame they get bad press from the community, being a Chinese manufacturer which I disagree they offer outstanding service and I think these mounts are better constructed than Skywatcher's with outstanding performance capabilities. 5 years and still running, where my NEQ-6 and EQ-5 mount had to be stripped within 3 years with all sorts of mechanical problems which now they are finally sorted and assembled with better components than the original parts assembled in the factory. IOptron have made some outstanding mounts over years they do cost a lot more than the other cheaper brands, but you get what you pay for, end of the day. Thanks viewing the video, and please don't forget to hit the like button and share this info out James!!

Fingers crossed it works Lou. When the last time I've adjusted my backlash on the gears, the mount as been working 100% now, I've not touch it once. But hopefully this advice should work out for you!!

Sure is a great video :)

No worries!

Thanks for your support to MP ASTRO John

You're welcome!

Hi Wolfgang, Thanks for watching, at the moment the IOptron have had a bad press, there's seems to be alot of problems in the RA drive motors grinding a bad patch reported in the UK, especially the new Smart EQ Pro+ series, If you check with Telescope Service, they should be able to check the mount before they send it out to you.

@@MPAstro Yes, I had comparable issues with a mount from the UK, but with the DEC axis. The mount was replaced and now all seems fine. Took a long time though to get a new one.

Only a Canon 600D which has been modified with a I/R Baader filter. The cooling mod I've made through cheap parts. As you see you don't need to spend a ton of money on expensive astro cameras to achieve amazing images. The key aspect to astro-imaging is skill and experience and learning and push basic equipment to their full potential.

You can fit both types, However I think the dovetail plate is much more stable, to avoid flexure.

Firstly I need to apologise for not keeping up with comments lately however I was on a IOSH course all of last week till this week, so I 've had assessments and exams to do. I have seen about 5 messages from you but I can only see this message on my RU-vid Studio. It seems you having quite few problems with the Smart EQ mount, I know there are a few people who are deeply dissatisfied with the newer Smart Pro+ variant has the quality control and batch sent over Europe seems so abysmal of late. There is been reports of motor drives binding and literally grinding, even some not moving at all. I feel that IOptron really need to up their game and improve on their quality control, as this is not acceptable and if it's that bad, it will hammer blow on their sales, it will even effect the sales on their most expensive mounts, as if people are having problems now, they will lose their confidence altogether with IOptron. At moment my Smart EQ Pro (not +) is still running like a dream and the adjustment I've made are still good. The adjustment must be made in intervals, there are very small adjustments, you should give 1/8" of a turn on each side first and tighten the nut, then check the adjust for free play and check the motor operation for binding, Keep doing that until you have no free play at all but it must be adjusted so that you do not get any binding at all, (If you hear a whirling sound on the motor it means you have overtighten it and motor is struggling rotate). Only adjust in small amounts DO NOT Overtighten one side and then the other otherwise you will break the worm gear adjuster. If you have still have no joy and the motor is still binding or the adjustment is not reducing the free play, I advise you to send it back to the Retailer or manufacturer for repairs, as long if you do not tell them what you have done and you still have warranty on the mount, they can have your mount repair free of charge. I've heard from reliable sources where some people have adjusted the mount and it's still binding, later they find out from the warranty repairs that the Manufacturer has replaced faulty electric motors and even replaced the entire worm wheel and RA/DEC gears, luckily after the repairs I've had no reports of any problems after the repairs. To what I am aware, is that IOptron offer a 2 year warranty and they have good customer service. If these adjustments do not work, please EJ I will advise you to send it back for repairs straight away before the 2 year warranty runs out, as the Pro + series as been prone to many complaints of late. Thanks for watching my videos and appreciate good input, there will be many more coming next month, which I will try to fit in, but I am doing quite few courses like NEBOSH which overtakes a lot of my time and I have to balance it out whilst working full time as well. So please EJ by hitting a like button on some of my videos will help my channel push out this video content more to help many in the community which are having these problems.

@@MPAstro Today I adjusted the RA axis, and that one is fine now, no play, no binding. The motor of the Dec axis however still binds a little after adjustment, but I hope it is acceptable enough not to wear anything out (because I really don't want to send it back a third time, I want to start using it finally). Now I noticed that the sets of RA and Dec screws left and right stick out in different lengths from the mount body. So maybe if I loosen one of the Dec screws and tighten the opposite one I can fix the binding since it seems from www.cloudynights.com/topic/394297-ioptron-smarteq-mods-and-partial-disassembly this might shift the position of the wormwheel a little bit. On my Pro+ mount RA and Dec axis adjustment is done by Allen bolts, but they all seem to be a little off-spec. For two of them I had to grind/file off a 1/8" (3.18 mm) Allen key a bit to have a tight fit, and for the two others a 3 mm Allen key was just a little too loose but well I got it done. Same for the ~ 2 mm Allen bolt to remove the polar scope, it seems slightly larger than 2 mm, but a little tape around the Allen key provided a good fit. To me it looks obvious now that these mounts are put together with little or no good adjustment and QC in the factory and are directly shipped to shops and customers, because apart from the RA axis play, also the polar mount focus on infinity was way off. Also, the 6 mm Dec clutch screw must be replaced by one much better (as in one of your other video's), and the plastic battery cover on the side of the HBX connector is also a pain to remove. I am sure this is basically a good design, however manufacturing, adjustment and QC from the factory must become much much better. I rather pay a little more to have a good mount from the start then to go through solving all these problems. Hopefully I can now start enjoying some first observations without anymore issues.

It should be one beep as soon you switch on, It should not be beeping constantly!! I would send it straight back to FLO, and get a new replacement!! Luckily you should get it replaced straight away within 30 days of receiving the item. I would highly recommend that you record a video of the fault and embed it to e-mail to FLO. Here you have some evidence to back you up if any retailer gets upset of your claim.

@@MPAstro Yes thats what i thought. I will get right on that today. Thanks Martin

I also had severe problems with this mount from FLO delivered Oct. 26. DEC axis motor not properly running, and jamming / locking up completely within 5-10 minutes of use. Quality Control and tuning by iOptron before delivery can be much improved for what is basically a great portable design. Replacement mount seems to perform better (after just a single night of quick testing), needs RA tightening though and the DEC motor sounds as in the video so DEC is slightly binding (so have to slacken the DEC screws a bit). Shame iOptron does not have any instructions beforehand in the box on how to optimize performance of this mount. I almost gave up on this mount. So thanks for helping us all out Martin!

Yes, absolutely!! ensoptical.co.uk/

It can possibly have the same issues, I can't see any massive changes between both the old and newer models. They are very similar in design so this advice on the video should apply to the EQ Pro +. However best that you contact IOptron for further advice regarding Pro + Mount.

@@MPAstro Really appreciate the quick response, I'll keep your video saved just in case! Thanks again!

Thanks for watching AB PhotoArt, Yeah I agree even expensive mounts require fine tuning too, there is not perfect set-up out of the box anymore. Thanks for tips, will try to condense the video content a little less, but I don't want to lose very important info in the process too which makes this channel just more from any other Astro channel.

Defo, and very easily too!!

5Kg payload!! this is tune-up video why mention payload??