EQ6 counterweight bar locking collar.....HELP !!

[LightBucket]

Hi all

recently bought a secondhand EQ6 pro mount, and got a longer counterweight bar for it, Now my issue is that when taking the old one out, fitting the new one and then re fitting the big locking collar that secures it on as well as holds the RA bearings in place, how tight should that be before i tighten up the three grub screws...??

i did not really check this before I took apart, (mistake I know) I have tightened it up to take all the slack out of the bearings and then a tad more and locked down, seems fine, but it would tighten about another half a turn !!!....but on the Astro Baby strip down PDF I have it says to tighten as much as possible by hand then release enough for the counterweight clutch lever to be in line with the DEC clutch lever, well that's impossible on mine, as it will be either much much too loose, or I would have to tighten with brute force....and still not get it inline.

i have looked at pictures of other mounts and those two clutch levers are hardly ever inline, so very confused about the Astro Baby instructions....any ideas guys

[LightBucket]

Is there nobody out there who has done a strip down or mod on this or the NEQ6 mount....

[spaceboy]

I always thought you take the dovetail plate off and feed the CW through the mount from the top end to the bottom ?? There is no need to remove the bottom collar. What ever the case all you need to do is tighten the collar up against the bottom bearing till hand tight then tighten up the grub screws. Once done check that the mount has enough play that you can balance the scope correctly with out it binding.

[LightBucket]

45 minutes ago, spaceboy said:

I always thought you take the dovetail plate off and feed the CW through the mount from the top end to the bottom ?? There is no need to remove the bottom collar. What ever the case all you need to do is tighten the collar up against the bottom bearing till hand tight then tighten up the grub screws. Once done check that the mount has enough play that you can balance the scope correctly with out it binding.

Well it's no where near hand tight, but all the play is removed....like I say it would go another half turn, but surely that will put too much pressure on the bearings wouldn't it ? I did try with it right up and the Dec axis still turns fine but stiffer.....will that be ok..??

[r3i]

I recently had my DEC axis apart and when tightening the collar I also noticed that the axis went noticeably stiffer.  I consulted Astro Baby's guide and saw the comment about backing off - in my case the clutch levers did indeed line up when I backed the collar off, it only needed maybe an 1/8th of a turn or so.  You said on your mount that they wouldn't line up in a practicable position, so all I can suggest is to try backing it off from the stiff position just enough to make it turn freely again.

[LightBucket]

2 hours ago, r3i said:

I recently had my DEC axis apart and when tightening the collar I also noticed that the axis went noticeably stiffer.  I consulted Astro Baby's guide and saw the comment about backing off - in my case the clutch levers did indeed line up when I backed the collar off, it only needed maybe an 1/8th of a turn or so.  You said on your mount that they wouldn't line up in a practicable position, so all I can suggest is to try backing it off from the stiff position just enough to make it turn freely again.

Thanks

even when tightened right up, it still turns freely it's just stiffer to turn, (it never spins under its own weight no matter how loose) it then gets progressively less stiff the more I loosen the locking collar, so it's difficult to know exactly where to back it off too, as I don't want to damage any of the bearings by having it to tight.., is this possible..??

at the moment I have it set so it's taken all the slack out of the bearings so as not to have any movement if the DEC axis when rocked side to side, and then addd an 1/8 turn for good measure, but it would go another 1/4  turn by hand without massive force..!..

[spaceboy]

http://www.rankinstudio.com/eq6rebuild

[LightBucket]

26 minutes ago, spaceboy said:

http://www.rankinstudio.com/eq6rebuild

Thanks, but it does not mention that locking collar at all...or correct way to fit..

[spaceboy]

https://web.archive.org/web/20160810130859/http://www.astro-baby.com:80/EQ6 rebuild guide/EQ6 declination rebuild.htm

 

Sorry I can't be of much help. It was a long time ago I did my strip and rebuild. I did though follow Mel's guide and I did as she said. Tightened hand tight then eased off a little to tighten grub screws. I did though find this was a little sloppy and just nipped it up hand tight then tightening the grub screws. These mounts are not CNC machined precision units. Being rough casted there will be some variations from one mount to the next hence the tuning guides. You really need to use your own judgment if it ends up too loose or too tight following the internet instructions. The main thing to consider, is the mount going to allow you to balance a scope correctly as a poorly balanced scope can cause you all sorts of problems. Not too loose but not binding that it sticks.

[1parsec]

Hello,

The locking collar doesn't need to be fully tight.   This setting is called bearing preload. They are substantial bearings and no damage can be done to them with hand tightening.
As you've mentioned once the collar takes out any play in the shaft, further tightening just progressively increases the resistance to turn the shaft.
I set my collar a further 1/8 turn from when the shaft didn't have any slack and could just feel a slight increase 'drag' from the bearings when turning.

The factory setting was quite a bit tighter than what I'm now set to, but the reduced preload makes balancing easier.
There hasn't been any noticeable effect of the lower preload setting. If you do notice any thing with the mounts performance, it's easy to tweak without stripping the mount down.
 

[LightBucket]

35 minutes ago, 1parsec said:

Hello,

The locking collar doesn't need to be fully tight.   This setting is called bearing preload. They are substantial bearings and no damage can be done to them with hand tightening.
As you've mentioned once the collar takes out any play in the shaft, further tightening just progressively increases the resistance to turn the shaft.
I set my collar a further 1/8 turn from when the shaft didn't have any slack and could just feel a slight increase 'drag' from the bearings when turning.

The factory setting was quite a bit tighter than what I'm now set to, but the reduced preload makes balancing easier.
There hasn't been any noticeable effect of the lower preload setting. If you do notice any thing with the mounts performance, it's easy to tweak without stripping the mount down.
 

Many thanks, that's pretty much exactly how mine is set at the moment...