AM5 Winter Temps

Kevin_A

I have used it in -10c, but below that my body does not work so mine stays in the house with me. I live in Ontario Canada.

tempus

I have seen people saying they used it down to -17°C but running into issues at -18°. That mount was obviously not designed with Nordic climates in mind. My EQ6-R/HEQ5 team will happily perform the work in the winter. I have ran the HEQ5 at -28° without any issue.

BenBret-1

I recently tried to image below -15, the mount was tracking well at least with the tracking numbers i was getting on the AsiAir plus, but i was unable to move the AM5 axis in rapid mode without overloading. ( that was at -23C when i finished imaging and i tried to rehome all the axis ).

Next time, i will try to put some hand warmer pad ( spread on 3 faces of the AM5 body ) and wrapped arround the AM5 body + aluminum foil and wrapped with a towel, will see if that can help to keep the internal temp higher than -15C .

Defenitly this mounth is not made for the Canadian winter !

Kevin_A

The lubrication used in most strain wave gears is a blend of mineral oil and lithium soap. It has a yellow colour and rated to -15c.

BenBret-1

Has anyone found a good heating solution for the AM5 while shooting at very low temp ?
So far , the hand warmer solution + insulating the main AM5 body seems to be the quickest thing i can do for now.
Thanks

MarcK

BenBret-1
My first choice would be Dew Heater Strip.

MarcK

BenBret-1
I will definitely have to contend with cold temperatures in the coming weeks too.
In case there is something else to see like clouds

The most effective and attractive solution would certainly be to install a heating system.

Unfortunately, there is not much space inside the AM5.
The solution would be to replace the black cover with a 3D printed cover to create more space.
Then it’s possible to install a 12v control cabinet heater and at the same time a chinch connection. This can be controlled with a dew heater controller.

The heating elements I have looked at reach a surface temperature of 80 - 100 C.
So with my usual 25% on the controller I would have around 20 C heat output.

The same can of course also be done on the inside with 12v heater strips as Kevin just said.

Kevin_A

I have been looking at 12v polymide heater strips that stick on like the camera sensor dew heaters do.

Kevin_A

MarcK I was thinking that a high temperature 12v polymide heater could transfer heat into the aluminum botton plate that has the counterweight threaded hole and then the whole metal case would act like a heatsink. My only concern would be testing and seeing how much heat is at the point source. You would need a separate power source as I am not sure how many amps it would draw.

MarcK

Kevin_A
You must ensure that the entire housing is heated evenly. Otherwise there is a risk of condensation. This is not so easy to achieve from the outside.

Kevin_A

MarcK heat rises so you want to ensure it is at the lowest part of the housing. Also you want to only heat enough and not excessively. I agree that you do not want to create warm air currents or condensation but just the same amount a dew heater puts into the scope housing and the tiny amount that keeps an objective from condensation . It would be great if it could have a built in outside air temp sensor like a EAF sensor that would just keep the body at Just above 5-10c. The gears are good to -15c but the belts do get rigid at those low temps. It seems for me here in Canada this winter has no clear skies so far so all is mute! Darn cloudy winter so far. Dec 14 was the last fair night for me.

MarcK

Kevin_A
Of course the heat rises. But the housing also rotates and the lowest point shifts as a result.

But with such a small housing, I wouldn't pay attention to this, but rely on heating power so that the elements that are affected by the cold get enough heat.

The telescope only needs a little bit heat to protect it from dew. But I think it needs a lot more heating power to keep the elements in the mount at the right temperature.

Kevin_A

MarcK true that it turn, we can never change that changing rotating housing. There are only 2 items that really need the heat and that is the strain wave grease and the belt. Nothing else moves. The mineral oil with lithium soap lubricant in the strain wave is good to -15c and it really depends on if a few degrees of temperature increase will do anything and will it make the belt less rigid. The other concerns I have at lower temperatures is external cables and the brittleness of plastics near connectors. Personally, I dont move well at less than -10c haha So far I have not had much issues other than my AM5 being noisier due to the belts.

BenBret-1

I have succesfuly been able to use my AM5 mount lower than -23C (-25C) last weekend without any issue 🙂

I used another dew heater band for a 5 inched dia. telescope, and i've rolled it up arround the DEC axis.
I've set it up at 90% heat on the ASIAIR Plus control, and it really help warming up the AM5.
Last time before without using any heater, at -23C my AM5 was unable to drive the axis a full speed without overloading.
I've checked the temp of the AM5 outside casing with an infrared heat gun, and the dew heater band was able to transfer some heat way below the DEC shaft.
Also using a longer tan needed dew heater band just helped to keep some heat by insulating the the DEC axis and was not causing any interferences while moving the rotary axis.

Just want to share my last attempt

Ben

cengell

Great to hear BenBret-1, like right now it's -10 F and no I would not take the AM5/AM3 out in this but down to 0 F?

Since it's remote controlled with my ASI Air Plus...

Please post more pictures of what you have done.

Thank you
Christopher

Galaxium

I just did two nights back to back at -18C. No issues. Have a big battery though because cold weather is tough on batteries.

PaulRix

I’m thinking it might be possible to put a heat strip inside the mount casing, running the power for it through the hole for the counterbalance bar, assuming of course that you are not using the bar.

GoKidd

I do not recommend the AM5 for colder temps. The RA on my brand new AM5 stopped functioning at -11C with a load of 8.62kg onboard. (Both ambient temperature and payload are well within the ZWO-prescribed limits.) ZWO approved an RMA return and my failed mount has been sitting at ZWO Tech Support in New Jersey since Dec. 6, 2023. Every time I contact tech support I get "Sorry. It will be ready next week."

philippe barraud

I had this kind of issue by cold weather... but it was not the cold !
It was because I used a 12V/2A adapter. I switched for a 12V/6A and the mount worked quite normally.

DennisG

I am contending with this right now. It is getting down to -22C and I decided its not worth the risk. I was told by an engineer that if you attempt to use the AM5 at these temperatures it might work for a while but if you do a fare bit of slewing the stress may be too much and the mount can be damaged. The fact you got away with this is specific conditions and a bit of luck. The dew strap likely save the day.

Let hope for some better skys eh?! what is it about this winter ugh...

GL to all
Dennis