EQ5 stripdown, clean, re-grease and re-assemble

[Jiggy 67]

Right, Saturday is the date I've set to carry out the above using AB's guide I am not an engineer or anything like that. My question is, has anyone tried this and how easy/difficult did you find it?? I'm nervous about doing it but my mount needs it desperately, and seeing as I can't find a retailer anywhere that can do it....its down to me....any advice?? :eek:

[billhinge]

I've done the CG5-ASGT which is a later version than the one shown in that guide and I've taken everything apart even the bearings themselves , CG5 and EQ5 are similar as far as I recall

It isn't hard provided you follow the guide and use a bit of common sense if you see opportunities - that guide misses a trick on the RA axis, Dec axis is the easy one

On the ASGT it is a bit trickier since the RA motor housing has a circuit board that will only fit back in when in a certain orientation - tip if you are not certain take your time and take some close up photographs

Tip 2, make a note of what has grease on it and what doesn't, you will need to know this when putting things back together (make sure you don't lose any of the teflon shims that may be hiding in the grease) - the orange flavoured grease cleaner for bike chains they sell in Halfords etc is great for cleaning the sticky grease off

Tip 3, be careful when screwing and unscrewing, the mount metal is like soft cheese and you can strip or break something if you over tension something (not trying to frighten you )

Once you've done it once it's easy - good way to understand how these things work

[Astro_Baby]

Whoops wrong post....sgain

[cantharis]

I did this last year - following Astronomy Boy´s guidelines. All I can recommend is you do carefully take notes of what you dismantle and in what order. Get in some lithium based grease, and some diesel to clean the old glop out. I needed a 5mm 4mm 2.5mm and 1.5mm Allen key, and a 17mm box spanner. The result is a much smoother, easier to operate mount - well worth doing. Good luck.

[Jiggy 67]

Thanks guys, I will post how I get on. Lets just hope I don't have to advertise a load of spare parts on the classifieds!!!

[Teal Rain]

I've done two mounts following Astronomy Boys instructions. I also polished all bearing surfaces with steel wool & brasso type polish. Worked wonders! When you re-assemble the bearings make sure it's all perfectly aligned - I didn't on one and nearly jammed the thing, got it apart again but only after a bit of a sit down and a think!

Good luck

M

[101nut]

Get in some lithium based grease, and some diesel to clean the old glop out.

I wouldn't recommend using diesel, if you get skin contact can damage the nervous system. In addition it stinks ...

Use a much safer, water soluble commercial degreaser (as suggested above) and a cut-down paint brush to shift thick stuff. If you've fully stripped parts down you can use the degreaser in a trigger spray bottle (or a small pump-up garden sprayer) set to a very coarse spray pattern to wash down all the parts and then water rinse any residues away.

AndyG

[smeadows]

I recently ran through ab's guide too and didn't find it too difficult to follow. My mount does seem to be smoother.. I didn't seem to need to spend too much time on polishing the various surfaces as they already seemed pretty smooth to me. I only bough my mount in the past year so either the build quality has got better or I need to go back and polish what doesn't appear to need polishig! The only issue I had was adjusting the worm gears, especially the RA, although they are both essentially the same. The Dec one I seemed to get right fairly quickly but I don't seem to be able to get the RA one right. It's either too tight or there is too much backlash. Was wondering if anyone else who's done this strip down has a fool proof method of how to do the adjustment? The guides say that the 2 Hex screws either side of the set screw should be tightened first before tightening the other 2 that secure the worm to the mount. But the order I seem to do each individual Hex and the amount I tighten each one can have varying effects on the play in the worm gear. I know the guides say this part is the bit that takes the time but I just can't seem to get it right.