Don't know if either of mine have been wired wrong but....................
At DSC I plugged the dew heater in then rested it on the tripod spreader plate, the dew heater touched centre fixing bolt which blew the fuse.
I assumed that one of the centre pins of the outputs was a bit too long so I shoved tape over all unused outputs.
Just went over everything with a meter.
The casing of the HEQ5 shows Negative 12v
The 2 x permanent power outlets are OK showing 12v pin Positive
The 4 x dew heater outlets are showing 12v pin NEGATIVE
The housing of the Kendrick is OK showing 0 volts. I've taken it apart and the PCB is isolated from the case and all outputs are connected directly to the PCB, I can't see an easy way of reversing the polarity of the dewheater outlets, which is not really a problem now I'm aware of it - It's still stupid though.
It's possible this affects other brands of kit so you may want to check yours
Should the casing of the HEQ5 be connected to it's power source? Sounds odd unless they are trying to save a conductor as they do in cars, unlikely. Possibly the problem is with something shorting to the casing in the mount.
The casing of my EQ6 is connected straight to -ve.
The centre pin of my dew controller (a Rigel, not a Kendrick) is connected straight to +ve
When switched on you wouldn't any connection to come into contact with any part of the mount/legs.
In any case it's clearly something very aware of. Thanks for drawing it to our attention.
Mark
Thank goodness my Meade has plastic covers on the forks!
Oh , I hope this will not affect me in any way................................. :boom:
Wrap your legs in clingfilm Fay, that should prevent any unwelcome shorts. ;)
would that not cause the unwelcome shorts to keep slipping off?