Heq5 Adjustment

[Thalestris24]

Hi all

I got my heq5 back together after a DEC stripdown. I didn't go as far as Astrobaby in that I didn't undo every piece and scrub it separately but instead cleaned the gears in situ. Anyway, everything seems ok though I still need to test.

I have a question about 'end float adjustment'. I presume this is to do with minimising side-to-side movement of the DEC axis? So far, I've not adjusted mine. I was wondering how this adjustment (or lack thereof) might effect tracking and guiding?

Thanks

Louise

[sbooder]

The float on the worm is quite important and it is a game of float Vs backlash.  I use the float to just get the mount so it is tight but not binding, it is hard to get just right but it is worth it.

[wxsatuser]

You do not want to tighten the float adjuster to tight.

These are very small bearings and over tightening will cause problems.

If you only removed one just wind it back so it just touchs the bearing.

If you push and pull on the shaft you should not feel any play.

If you go to tight it will pinch the bearings.

[Thalestris24]

Hi

I've not touched it at all so far. In fact, I've never adjusted it! I was curious as to what any adjustment might affect? I'll certainly proceed with caution if I do adjust it. Will see how the mount behaves when the clouds disperse - whenever that will be! I must say, the DEC axis is much freer now! It's much more sensitive to balance. This wasn't the case before when it needed quite a big weight change in order to move the scope one way or the other. So perhaps that had a bearing on the erratic tracking/guiding I was experiencing.

Cheers

Louise

[Owmuchonomy]

It's very important and finely adjusts the play and to some extent the level of backlash in your mount both in RA and Dec. It takes me a few iterations to get it just so. Too loose and the mount is too sloppy. Too tight and the clutches slip during motor drive which can happen without warning at specific points in the mount's rotation!

[Thalestris24]

Ok - thanks. I'll bear it in mind It seems to be running quite smoothly and quietly at the moment. The real test will come after dark - when it's clear!

Louise

[Nicho]

Hi Louise

Have you had a chance to test the mount out yet?

The reason i ask is that i'm looking to do a strip down of my heq5 and am a little unsure what grease to use .

My Mount at the moment also sticks when trying to balance in DEC so it sounds like a strip down would help alot.

Many thanks

Nick

[Thalestris24]

Hi Louise

Have you had a chance to test the mount out yet?

The reason i ask is that i'm looking to do a strip down of my heq5 and am a little unsure what grease to use .

My Mount at the moment also sticks when trying to balance in DEC so it sounds like a strip down would help alot.

Many thanks

Nick

Hi Nick

Unfortunately, no, not yet - the Glasgow weather has been 'normal' . I'm not sure what in particular I did that allowed my dec axis to run freer. It might just have been adjusting the weight bar collar which is easy enough to loosen and unscrew slightly. Having said that, I'm sure I've done that before! But this time the dec axis appears to be running much better. It used to take a significant weight difference in order to unbalance the scope - that didn't seem right! Now, something like 80g, say, will easily unbalance it. Most people substitute with TF2 white lithium grease. To be honest, it was only the motor gears that had thick, treacly grease on them and I had previously substituted the white lithium but did it again anyway. It may be that the thick grease performs better when the ambient temperature is higher than it generally is in the UK, though I speculate. The trouble with the white lithium is that it doesn't tend to stay in the cogs and after using it for a while I find it accumulates on the spindles which is probably not where you want it. However, it's easy enough to regrease periodically. Maybe something in betwenn would actually be best for the motor gear but I'm not very knowledgeable about these things and don't know what would be ideal. The worm gear, drive and bearing grease seemed quite a light, oily type so didn't seem likely to be causing any problems. I didn't try and brush things clean and shiny as per Astrobaby's guide as going that far seemed a bit unnecessary. I simply wiped the excess off with kitchen towel and an old toothbrush for the cogs. Then re-greased with the white lithium. I'm hoping everything behaves properly when tracking/guiding. It seems quite smooth just slewing and tracking manually .

Cheers

Louise