cg5 mount.Saga continues

[triton1]

hi everyone,

finally managed to get the damaged worm gear out of the dec housing.Decided on the soft approach and used the missus hairdryer.Kept it on the housing for about 40mins while slowly rotating it(WARNING do not do this when the missus is watching the soaps,low flying objects!!!).I then ran to the shed put ring gear into the vice,inserted a long wooden dowl and gave a very hard twist and pull.There was a loud crack and a thump(that second bit was my chin,ouch)but mission accompished.Both parts intact.

My problem now is does anyone know where i can get a replacement worm ring gear(not the worm drive)I was actually puzzled that it was the worm ring that broke because it's made of steel and the worm drive is made of brass?.Another option is does anyone have a broken eq5 or cg5(i've been told there the same)that they might consider selling as long as the dec is intact.

I've been given some advice that to get by is to re polish all friction parts regrease and then mount the worm ring 180 degrees to what it was before.Half the teeth still remain.It will give me good view of northen sky and then to look south turn the tripod around.Any help will be much apprieciated.

many thx Jonn.

[SnakeyJ]

John,

I picked up a an old CG5 mount back in November - it was advertised as seized after being left out in a shed and the owner said that he didn't feel confident to do the strip and assembly himself. I paid the princely sum of £ 65 and was relatively happy until I stripped it back at home and saw the damaged DEC worm ring...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gugrty6ymbf4nld/2013-01-24%2016.55.26.jpg

Obviously the seller was being economical with the truth and schooled in the brute force and ignorance school of maintenance. Though it is possible this sort of damage can be caused by the tripod falling. The rest of the internals showed that it had been stripped and abused on several occassions!

I e-mailed FLO and Celestron Parts in the US, but was told that no spare parts available.

I'm currently waiting for an oppurtunity to acquire another abused mount as a source of spare parts!

Good luck hunting and if you do find a source of bits please let me know!

Regards - Jake

[triton1]

Sorry Jake I know that sinking feeling when you uncover the truth.Are all the teeth missing?

regards Jonn

[andyboy1970]

Have you tried Beconhill telescopes, they do the warranty work for Skywatcher in the UK and say on their website that they can usually help.

I've had a CG5 and an EQ5 and they are identical mechanically.

http://beaconhilltelescopes.org.uk/

[E621Keith]

I think Vixen sells the GP2 dec body (#3815) as an upgrade for their GP2 photoguider. It should be compatible with its clone's RA. May worth sending Vixen UK an e-mail to see if they have one.

Otherwise, it's time to convert your CG5 into a photoguider with either a Vixen 3872 or this

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3737_TS-Photoguider-Upgrade---aus-Ihrer-EQ5-Montierung-wird-eine-Astrofoto-Reisemontier.html

[SnakeyJ]

John

Did the dropbox link not work? It was mullered !

Not too worried at this price, as I have another and its a project or parts for future.

Welcome to sgl btw!

Jake

[SnakeyJ]

Sorry Jake I know that sinking feeling when you uncover the truth.Are all the teeth missing?

John,

Did you mean the worm gear teeth or the vendors

[triton1]

hahahaha nice one.yes i did go on the dropbox link.Looks exactly like mine but i do have half my teeth left.So after a polish and regrease i will put it back in on the good side.I still havent tried out my sw200p yet.

regards Jonn

[SnakeyJ]

John,

Given that I've got two on the go, I might strip the broken mount for parts - the RA axis works perfectly and quite likely the worm gears are identical parts. I'll check and and take some pics/dimensions, pm me if you're interested.

Worst case the new mounts aren't silly prices £ 240 + delivery from FLO, or you'll probably see a s/h one come up in the classifieds here or on ABS - as lots of folk soon develop an interest in AP and move up to the HEQ5 or HEQ6 mounts. You should be able to pick up a good s/h one for £ 150-160.

Best of luck getting this sorted quickly, it's galling to get burned like this but hopefully you can be up and working before the weather clears!

Jake

[triton1]

I did send u a message,vixen gp mounts have the same amount of teeth.gonnaa give them a ring

regards Jonn

[LeeB]

I purchased an eq5 (early model ) with similar stuck axis , luckily it was seized but had not been forced. so a strip and judicial force in the right place got it loose. some 600 grit emery for a re polish and luckily i was ok. There must be broken ones about so keep looking,

[pete_gamby]

Hi there - as mentioned above, we can supply parts for the Vixen GP2 mounts which are mechanically the same as various Celestron and Skywatcher mounts. I will check pricing for this part and let you know - that may determine whether you need to continue your search for another mount.

HTH

Cheers, Pete - Opticron/Vixen UK

[E621Keith]

FLO posted in the Vendor forum that they are going to strip a CG5 for parts. I think it's worth letting them know which part you are after.

While the Vixen part is going to be better quality, it's probably more expensive and may not be identical to the CG5/EQ5's. After all, CG5 and EQ5 uses different bearings and the GP2 are far better made.

[SnakeyJ]

Hi there - as mentioned above, we can supply parts for the Vixen GP2 mounts which are mechanically the same as various Celestron and Skywatcher mounts. I will check pricing for this part and let you know - that may determine whether you need to continue your search for another mount.

thanks Pete if you could PM me on this as well it would be appreciated. Jake

[SnakeyJ]

Re my earlier post on stripping using an RA worm gear to replace a stripped DEC worm gear - afraid that this is a non runner:

I've just stripped down the RA and done a side by side comparison of the RA Worm Gear and DEC Worm Gear:

Same material.

Same Inner Diameter.

Same Outer Diamer.

Same pitch of worm thread and number of tpi

In all ways identical, other than height - with the RA gear being 4mm longer The RA worm gear is 47mm high and the DEC worm gear is 43mm - and it was all going so well....

Still no problems for a competent machinist with a lathe to shorten this down - but no straight swap/replacement.

Comparison Photos:

End Comparison - https://www.dropbox.com/s/5lzqs65rogadyy2/2013-01-26%2000.02.38.jpg

Side Comparison - https://www.dropbox.com/s/rsag5abe7j9y22x/2013-01-26%2000.02.21.jpg

Zoom Side Comparison - https://www.dropbox.com/s/m09hycpl1dzl7cr/2013-01-26%2000.01.55.jpg

Jake

[pete_gamby]

Looks like using Vixen parts may be a non-runner then Jake - the Vixen RA and DEC wheels have differing internal diameters too.

I got pricing for these from Vixen Japan. As always, nothing that comes from the land of the rising yen is cheap - price including VAT would be £30 for either the DEC or the RA wheel (plus whatever postage your dealer would charge).

Prices for the worm gear itself are £20 for DEC worm and £30 for RA worm.

Cheers, Pete

[SnakeyJ]

Looks like using Vixen parts may be a non-runner then Jake - the Vixen RA and DEC wheels have differing internal diameters too.

I got pricing for these from Vixen Japan. As always, nothing that comes from the land of the rising yen is cheap - price including VAT would be £30 for either the DEC or the RA wheel (plus whatever postage your dealer would charge).

Prices for the worm gear itself are £20 for DEC worm and £30 for RA worm.

Cheers, Pete

Pete,

Thanks for taking the trouble to enquire on these for Jonn and I and responding, very much appreciated. I thought the price was pretty reasonable and its good to know that Vixen do stock parts for its mounts (unlike Synta for Celestron/Skywatcher)!

Pretty sure the DEC and RA worms are the same on the CG5/EQ5 mount, so perhaps another major difference between the Vixen (original) and Synta (clones/copies).

Regards - Jake

[Astro_Baby]

Probably a bit late to this thread but I am breaking a CG5 at the moment and its bits are on ABS. I have been overwhelmed with replies to these ads, there must be a lot of broken EQ5/CG5s out there.

I was planning to refurb this one for my sister but a lack of parts and a high cost of spares has made it uneconomic hence me breaking it up.

I have to say the goop grease in this puppy is even worse than the Synta goop. Its like tar and gets absolutely everywhere. It took about 10 goes with degreaser to get the stuff off.

Not sure how the ring gear could have been so mashed up in those pics though. Luckily you have a spare to hand (see your email). Can you advise dimesnions so I can make totally sure its the same size.