ZWO EAF beeping and not moving

astrotad

I contacted ZWO support yesterday and they responded with

Please reset the 0 position and the max steps(60000) and test it in ASIStudio.

I did this and now the focuser is working correctly again 😀

Agata

Can someone explain me more precise what need to be done here? I was trying everything I could and nothing works. I have set up max steps to 60000, and whatever value I put in current position I will move just a little and or at all. Please help.

Tech@ZWO

Agata
Please remove EAF from the telescope focuser. then attempt to move forward or backwards using ASIStudio, if it beeps and clicks but does not rotate, Please resetting the 0 position and the maximum number of steps. You can refer to below manual:

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/manuals/EAF_Manual_EN_V2.7.pdf

There is a chance that the settings on the focuser where all zeroed out(Somehow those values had been reset to zero).

johnpd

This drove me nuts in the beginning. Did you try setting the "Reverse" switch on? As mentioned above, the beep indicates that you have reached the end of travel, either "in" or "out". If you set "reverse" direction, you should be able to move it one way or the other.

JohnD

astroricco

Hello @tech@zwo#51937 I just recently bought a new ZWO EAF and i am encountering the same problem as @Agata. The motor is just beeping and not moving at all or just a little. I dont have the motor attached to the focus ring or telescope at all and tired all the suggestions from above. Over AsiStudio i tried to set the position back to 0 and to a step size of 60000 but this didnt changed anything at all. Is there a solution to this? Does the software work properly? Any suggestions would help. Thanks

w7ay

astroricco Any suggestions would help.

Assuming it is max step size that you had changed to 60000, and it does not rotate, the only suggestion I have is to try powering the EAF through a powered USB 3.1 hub.

Remember that the actual EAF steps are small. You can try changing the coarse steps to 1000, and tape something to the EAF shaft to help detect any movement.

You can also set max to 60000, and GOTO between say, 31000 and 30000 to see if there is any movement.

The ZWO EAF has 5760 steps per revolution. Better electronic focusers have even more steps per revolution. Remember -- you are trying to move the draw tube by just a couple of µm to achieve critical focus.

If beep has been turned on, the ZWO EAF will single beep at the end of all successful movements, and double beep if there is an error causing it not to move. If you are hearing single beeps, but still see no movement, you received a faulty unit.

Chen

astroricco

Hello Chen @w7ay, thank you for your reply. I have tried all your suggestions too. It just beeps three times fast and thats all not really moving and yes i am aware of the option "Beep" but i didnt check it to do it. I guess i have a faulty unit then.

vladi

Oh, no, I now have this problem too! It worked almost 2 years... My EAF still moves in small steps, but if I keep it going in one direction it goes the same small step and then beeps again. Both directions do not work. Yes, I tried all the hints above! What else can be done?

Tech@ZWO

vladi Please remove the EAF from the focuser, then download EAF Firmware update kit here to update the FW(FW Update - EAF). https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/software-drivers
Note: you need to set EAF max step as 60000, reset the zero position in the ASIStudio after the firmware update.
If it doesn't work, please submit a ticket here. (choose 'product')https://support.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/

vladi

Thanks for a very quick reply! Yep, the firmware update did the trick! It seems to work now! Thank you! I now have my second EAF on my setup and will test it later, since it is taking pictures now.

hfhenrichs

Hello, Tech support.
My EAF (new model, SN 0f21208043d11711) suddenly failed to move. I verified this stand alone, not physically coupled to a focusser. Both ASIAir and ASIStudio report position 0. It beeps rapidly a few times when pressing the hand controller in either direction. After setting the focus position to say 30000, it is set to 0 after a move command, with the same beeps. The same behavior (beeps and failure) when connected to a powered USB hub without software.
The link above for downloading an EAF firmware update kit does not exists.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

vladi

I actually just wanted to post an update and hfhenrichs came across 😆 So, following the above suggestion, I updated the firmware and just after this, EAF worked as expected. I also set max step to 60000. This was some time ago. I'm using this EAF yesterday and today. BTW, this is the first version with the separate power plug. As I started my setup, EAF did not work as hfhenrichs described. In my setup, the EAF is connected to ASIAIR Pro (1.8.3 / 9.12) with the recent firmware. I disconnected it and used ASIStudio again to set max step. After I reconnected to ASAIR, the setting was apparently gone and EAF did not work the same way. I kept testing and it looks like EAF can retain the setting when used with ASIStudio, but as soon as it is connected to ASIAIR, the setting is lost. Now my gear is making running but I will submit feedback in the ASIAIR app so that the logs from these attempts will get to ZWO. I going to file a support ticket as @tech@zwo suggested.

hfhenrichs

I found the EAF firmware update: it is actually at the link tech@zwo supplies on Feb 8 above. It is under the last tab called FW Update, which I overlooked earlier. (It seems for Windows only.) After the update the EAF functioned normally.

vladi

In the next night also, I actually also figured out what my problem was. In addition to the max step, I also set the zero position to 30000. This is something which causes some conflicts. Maybe only with ASIAIR. At least after setting only the max step to 60000, in ASIStudio, EAF started to work as expected. Thanks for the replied on this thread. For some reasons, ZWO did not respond on my support request...

Daniel

I have also had the problem of the EAF beeping and not moving. EAF has worked well for me for over a year, but all of a sudden it stopped working, I have always found focus around 31000-32000, in the middle of the work area. Tried to update firmware according to zwo´s instructions which did not help. Removed the EAF from the telescope because I thought it might be too much resistance. The EAF did not move even though it was not connected to the telescope. Then I tried to remove the dew heater from ASIAir Pro and then EAF started working! I think this problem started when ZWO did an update on power output? Of course tried to connect the dew heater again and then it stopped working. Something for @tech@zwo to check? Should be easy to program so that the power to the dew heater is switched off when EAF is active?

Tech@ZWO

Daniel How did you power the Dew heater? via the USB port or DC output port.
If you power the dew heater via USB port, may cause the power for EAF to be insufficient, so the EAF stops working.

johnpd

This evening I ran into this problem where the EAF would not move in either direction. I found that somehow the Max Step was set to zero. I reset it to 60000 and the focuser started working again.
JohnD

Daniel

@tech@zwo#54873 Sorry for the late reply, i used dc output for the dew-heaters. Both for main telescope and guide scope. I needed to disconnect both to make EAF work.

Tech@ZWO

Daniel What is the power consumption of your dew heater? it sounds like caused by the insufficient power supply

CingStars

I've just encountered the same problem others on this Forum have had: After working just fine for three weeks, my ZWO EAF won't move my focuser past a certain point so I can't focus my scope (AT60ED). I've set the zero position several times, have my fine step set to 100, coarse step set to 1000, and the limit set to 60000 temporarily (I had it set to about 27,500 since that was about the limit of my focuser when I initially set it up). I've updated the firmware to version 3.3.5, turned everything on and off several times, but I'm still having the same problem. I also checked that my focuser tension lock is loosened and everything seems to be lined up just fine.

As I said, this problem just came out of the blue after the EAF was working fine for about 3 weeks. I haven't changed any hardware.

w7ay

CingStars I'm still having the same problem.

It is best to try to isolate the problem.

First, loosen the grub screw that attaches the flexible shaft coupler to the OTA's focuser. After doing this, the OTA's focuser knob should be free to turn and control the drawtube length.

Then, connect a computer directly to the EAF (do not share the bus with any other devices). Connect a 12V supply directly to the EAF, if it is the original 12V version.

Run one of the programs in ASIStudio (ASICAP should be sufficient for this). In the ASICAP's focuser window, you should find an Advanced button - click on that to get to the hidden parameters. Be sure to type Enter after you change a text field.

If the EAF is a 5V model, make sure the computer's USB port is capable of supporting 100mA. One of my EAF draws 80mA when it is not moving (and probably more when it is).

See if the EAF behaves correctly when isolated. If it does, the problem is elsewhere. If it still fails, then you could have an EAF that has given up the ghost.

Chen