WarpDrive Mod

2/13/09:
I've read a lot about replacing the gear train that connects the the motor to the worm gear with a belt drive from Warp Corps and how most people are very pleased with the mod but been putting off buying a kit for some time.

I finally broke down and ordered one.

This kit replaces the drive gears between the motor and the worm gear with two pulleys and a Kevlar toothed belt for both the RA and DEC motors. The idea is to provide a smooth drive system without the normal backlash that you get with gear to gear contact. These conversion kits will work on the Meade LXD75/55 equatorial mounts and many other Vixen knockoffs. If your interested and have questions you can join the WARP Yahoo group or E-Mail directly.

The kit comes with all the required hardware including some replacement stainless-steel screws and Allen wrenches needed to mount the pulleys and replacement screws. Warp has also developed excellent instruction on how to do the mod as well as re-lube the motor gear box if you so choose. A copy of the installation PDF file can be viewed here.

My experience with the kit was basically uneventful only a few minor obstacles. When I opened the motor housing couple dead bodies fell out. Last summer I had a small invasion of Lady bugs and a few made their way up into the mount, since I keep it out side all the time.

The biggest challenge was breaking loose the set screws on the gears. The screws were mounted by Meade using Locktite. Using a .050" Allen wrench, it is easy to strip the inside of the set screw. For a while, I thought I would have to abort the whole process. Not sure how to best remove the set screws, I contacted the Warps Yahoo group where one responder said that he used heat applied to the location with a heat gun to soften the glue. That was the technique I tried and it worked.

While I had the motors out I opted to re-lube the gearbox with Super Lube on the end of the motor. Following Warp's instructions the process was relatively painless. You just need to have patience and take your time. When you reassemble the gear box be careful that you put the two intermediate black gears on the proper shaft. They look almost alike but one has a thicker small gear. If you switch them around the case will not seat properly and the gear train will lock up. This is due to the fact that the output shaft will engage both gears if they are installed wrong.
As suggested by Warp, I bought a can of Super Lube which is going to last me a lifetime since the job only required a small amount.

When reassembling the the unit and installing the belts, Warp suggested to re-thread the large bolt that secures the motor block to the mount in just enough to hold the motor housing from falling off. Then leaver the belt over the worm gear pulley. This turned out to be a difficult job. I, instead, left the bolt out all together while attaching the belt. This allowed me to move the pulleys closer together and easily slip the belt over the pulley. Since the belts are long enough I had no problem with attaching the motor block to the mount.

All in all it took me a couple of hours to do the modification.

2/22/09:

I put the mount on the tripod and wanted to test it out but found that the RA motor drive was acting up. I guess I should mention that during the disassembly of the RA gear box and subsequent re-lube I accidentally bent the encoder wheel. I thought that I had straighten it out enough to work OK but I guess I was wrong.

At first I thought there may be something else wrong with the drive but I was able to swap the encoder wheel with that on the DEC motor after which the RA worked properly. Now I need to wait till the replacements Encoders from LXD55.com show up.

To keep you from having extra expense, unnecessary down time and frustration , let me strongly urge you to remove the encoder wheel prior to working on the motor gear box disassembly!!!

I neglected to do so because I didn't have a 0.9mm Allen wrench with witch to loosen the set screw. Thinking that I'd be extra careful. Wrong!!!

If you need Allen wrenches Warp provided a link to a SOURCE.

Should you be unfortunate enough to require replacement Encoder wheels you can get them from LXD55.com . At the time of this writing the price was $50 for a pair.

When the new encoders show up I'll install them. do a drive training session and I'll be good to go . Then I can see what a difference the conversion made.

2/23/09:

Since I had everything apart I decided to give fixing the encoder wheel one more shot. Using a small pair of pliers I was able to get the wheel almost perfect. I then mounted it on the DEC drive and made sure that it was positioned as close to the encoder receiver as possible without it touching. Then I hooked it up to the AUTOSTAR controller and low and be hold it worked the way it should. No skipping part of the encoder. As a test I moved the encoder wheel further from the received and it started to skip sections of the wheel. That proves what Warp mentioned in his instructions, The encoder circuit works best if the wheel is as close to the receiver as possible without touching.

Now I'll try the training again and we'll see how it behaves.