How freely should a mount spin

[jnb]

Just wondering if I should try stripping and rebuilding my mount. If I take the clutches off and give it a shove how freely should it spin?

I'm wondering if a rebuild would take a significant amount of the load off my drive motors or if the hassle would exceed the benefit.

[astrofox]

Well my Vixen GP will spin if I leave on the counter weight arm on clutch off ( no weights) obviously. It slowly rotates to the arm being verticle. I am happy with this you need a compromise between being too slack with backlash and so stiff the motors are struggling.

[triton1]

My cg5 with scope and weights on you can move it around with no effort at all hardly know it's there,that was after a strip down and polish and re grease.

[jnb]

My cg5 with scope and weights on you can move it around with no effort at all hardly know it's there,that was after a strip down and polish and re grease.

What grease did you use? I hear so many differing opinions.

[Alien 13]

What mount are you using? if its a skywatcher never ever never change the grease fom the black sticky stuff.

Alan

[jnb]

Bresser EXOS2. That's Bresser's version of the EQ5 but that doesn't necessarily mean that it uses the same grease. Of course the answer "never change the grease from the black sticky stuff" doesn't answer the question of what grease to use as presumably people will still choose to rebuild skywatcher mounts and that means replacing the grease.

[triton1]

I used the red Teflon grease that come in a tube I got from eBay but Halfords might sell it.

[Alien 13]

If the mount is similar to the EQ5 then you can get much smoother rotation by just removing the thumb screw holding the RA setting circle the assembly introduces a lot of drag.

Alan

[Ouroboros]

I've owned two SkyWatcher mounts and both have had to be way out of balance before they start to move. Whether that's how they should be I have no idea.

I've found the best (only) way to achieve something like balance is to spin the mount in both directions. I then adjust the position of weights or telescope until the mount comes to rest in about the same distance. I've marked positions on the scope so that I can at least start in approximately the right place.

[jnb]

I've owned two SkyWatcher mounts and both have had to be way out of balance before they start to move. Whether that's how they should be I have no idea.

I've found the best (only) way to achieve something like balance is to spin the mount in both directions. I then adjust the position of weights or telescope until the mount comes to rest in about the same distance. I've marked positions on the scope so that I can at least start in approximately the right place.

The exos 2 I have is similar to that. However if it has to be "way out of balance" that suggests a lot of torque is needed to move the mount, scope, counterweights and accessories even when balanced which adds up to a lot of strain on the motor.