Vent: My telescope mount froze up during the Perseid meteor shower

I set up my Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer last week for the Perseids, got everything aligned perfect, and then the declination knob just seized up about 30 minutes in. Like it wouldn't budge at all, and I couldn't track anything after that. I spent an hour in the dark trying to loosen it with a hex key and some WD-40 I keep in my kit, but no luck. Ended up just watching the meteors with my eyes, which was cool, but I was really hoping for some long exposure shots. Now I'm worried the threads are stripped or something inside is warped from the heat. Has anyone else had their mount lock up on a clear night like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaretrivera22d ago

Could the heat from your alignment process have expanded something inside the housing, like a tiny burr on the metal?

lisa97622d ago

Could tiny metal shavings from the drilling act like a fuse and weld themselves together when heated?