Frozen mount

[Rick72]

Last year I used my telescope on a very cold night. I brought it indoors and let it sit in my living room for a few days and then moved it to my basement. When I got it out this year to use it my equatorial mount was frozen. I tried using penetrating oil to loosen it but nothing I did worked. So I had to but a new mount. How do I keep this from happening again?

[Carbon Brush]

Welcome to SGL.

What sort of equatorial mount  has failed?

What is the replacement?

I suspect prolonged damp in the basement has allowed corrosion, but it may be recoverable.

On the replacement, a bit of grease in the right places after minor dismantling is a good preventative measure.

Specific advice does of course depend on the individual mount.

HTH, David.

[Rick72]

Thanks for getting back with me so quickly. The mount was a Orion SkyView Deluxe. Humidity in the basement is 50% or lower. I have an 8" reflector on an equatorial mount that has been in the basement and it works fine. I tried penetrating oil in some of the holes made by taking out the motion locking screws but it didn't help. Couldn't figure out how to dismantle unit. Haven't bought a new mount yet. Looking at an Orion AstroView but haven't made up my mind yet. Just want to know some tricks to prevent the same from happening again. Thanks again