SkyTee 2 grease replacement

[bomberbaz]

Hello all.

So my shiny new mount arrived yesterday. lovely looking piece of kit, initial findings are it is perfect for the job in mind which I shall post about once it is modded (extra saddle fitted) but the grease, yuk!

The mount is so stiff that the extension tube or tripod joins are moving instead of the actual AZ part of the mount. I am physically having to hold the tripod/extension tube to stop it turning and make the AZ joint move. (yes i slackened the clutches 😅 )

I am not a weak bloke but I am really having to apply some serious pressure to move it. I realise this will ease off over time but this isn't a little stiff, this is VERY stiff.

SO I am going to have to strip it and re-grease. 

First, has anyone done this? (I assume plenty have, I can't be the only one to experience this) If so, it it fairly easy to get to the parts to strip away the old grease.

Secondly. I have a near full pot of lithium grease in the garage, would this make a suitable replacement?  Reasonably tacky, good temperature range and excellent shelf life.

TIA

Steve

 

[John]

Here is a link to the Skytee II stripdown guide. Mine was done just before I bought it:

Skytee2 strip.docx

If it was bought new, it might be worth checking the warranty situation if you do this ?

[bomberbaz]

5 minutes ago, John said:

Here is a link to the Skytee II stripdown guide. Mine was done just before I bought it:

Skytee2 strip.docx 1.81 MB · 3 downloads

If it was bought new, it might be worth checking the warranty situation if you do this ?

thanks for that John. Seems the most difficult part is the AZ axis which is the part giving the biggest issue although Alt is still very stiff.

No mention of grease though, have you any suggestions on that part per chance?

[John]

25 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

thanks for that John. Seems the most difficult part is the AZ axis which is the part giving the biggest issue although Alt is still very stiff.

No mention of grease though, have you any suggestions on that part per chance?

I've not done the job myself so I can't help with the grease type Steve. Others will not doubt suggest what to use soon though

 

[Rob]

My general goto re-grease is Superlube. However I would wait for another to advise specifically for the Skytee II. Worries me that its VERY stiff straight out the box TBH... If it were me I'd have it replaced??

[johninderby]

It is a bit hit or miss as to how well the Skytee is setup as received. Probably just the mesh between the worm gears and the slo mo controls being set to tight. Easy enough to adjust but you shouldn’t have to on a new mount.

Perhaps ask the dealer if it is OK to adjust it and if you can’t get it right won’t affect your being able to have the mount exchanged.

Edited June 30, 2020 by johninderby

[jock1958]

Is it stiff in operation when using slo mo controls?  Can you fully engage & disengage slo mo controls?  With these controls disengaged it should be fairly effortless in operation even with the original sticky grease, for me its the cold weather that seemed to gum the works up.  

As far as grease goes I use multi purpose grease for wheel bearings which works fine for me though others may disagree. 

As John points out once you start stripping things down your warranty goes out the window. 

Have a look at an old thread 'SkyTee 2 tweaks'

[johninderby]

Funnily enough the TS AZ5 version of the Skytee comes properly adjusted without backlash but then they do charge more. 🤔

[bomberbaz]

20 minutes ago, johninderby said:

It is a bit hit or miss as to how well the Skytee is setup as received. Probably just the mesh between the worm gears and the slo mo controls being set to tight. Easy enough to adjust but you shouldn’t have to on a new mount.

Perhaps ask the dealer if it is OK to adjust it and if you can’t get it right won’t affect your being able to have the mount exchanged.

Good point well made John, I shall contact them now before I start tampering.

Steve

[Captain Scarlet]

Could it be just that the clutches are too tight, so when you loosen them off to move they are still binding? IE the clutch torque "offset"? I have a SkyTee2 so am following with interest...

[Guest]

My friend's 20 year old Meade 114-900 EQ1B mount was terrible.  I stripped it down and removed all the glue grease, then re-greased it with some multi purpose grease.  What a difference!  Mind you, the tub of grease I used came from an auto parts shop and is 20 years old itself, yet is still good and not turned into the glue that you often find on telescope mounts!

Just a thought...

[Steve Clay]

Try removing the Az clutch lever retaining screw then slacken off the bolt slightly. It could be the clutch is binding. I had to do the opposite as mine rotated with the levers tight.

Steve

 

[bomberbaz]

Ok so eased the clutch a little, but no this didn't help at all.

However, whilst doing that I felt something sticky on my hand from one of the Alt axis joins, it was the grease. I thought sod it, the problem is the grease.

So I have very carefully removed the end with the thread for the bar and this confirmed it. Obviously this one has been put together by someone with a thing for the stuff because there is lots of it and I see why some people refer to it as glue.

So I have emailed the seller and told them to leave it, I will simply regrease it with something a little less tacky.

Problem I think solved.

Steve

[bomberbaz]

Ok so I have regreased the mount  and it is far better. For grease I got some carlube LM2 lithium based grease from B&Q (other grease is available from other retailers)

Even after this It is still a little stiff and slipping. However I think this is down to the extension pier more than the mount, there is not a lot of surface contact to allow the two joining edges to bite. (see pictures below)

So I cut a small thin piece of mouse mat foam rubber to give the two edges something to bite into and it has worked so there is no slip. 

It's a lot of work for something that should work well out of the box.

However mechanically I do really like it and feel it will get a very lot of use.

[John]

That's the AZ-5 pillar extension isn't it ?

 

 

[johninderby]

Really wants the proper EQ5 extenstion pillar to properly support the Skytee. Wish they made a short pillar like the EQ6 one.

[bomberbaz]

Its the extension pillar I got with the AZ Wifi GTi mount John. It is quite steady actually John but I will see how it goes from here.  Spent quite a bit recently and I am looking to draw a line in my spending.

[Guest]

Call me cynical, but doesn't the glue grease hide some possible poor engineering practices? I'm thinking of sloppy fitting moving parts, etc. These could be hidden under glue grease... 

[John]

16 minutes ago, merlin100 said:

Call me cynical, but doesn't the glue grease hide some possible poor engineering practices? I'm thinking of sloppy fitting moving parts, etc. These could be hidden under glue grease... 

I think there might be something in that.

If the Skytee II was made to the same engineering standards that, say, the Rowan AZ100 uses though, it would not cost £260.

And it does work pretty well, with a little tinkering

[jock1958]

9 hours ago, merlin100 said:

Call me cynical, but doesn't the glue grease hide some possible poor engineering practices? I'm thinking of sloppy fitting moving parts, etc. These could be hidden under glue grease... 

It took a lot of effort to remove the so called grease on mine, it was like a concoction of un-mixed araldite & bees wax also not sure about the dodgy casting techniques 😂
On the plus side it’s still in one piece and does everything I want it do 😀

 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by jock1958

[HollyHound]

12 hours ago, John said:

That's the AZ-5 pillar extension isn't it ?

I have that very same pillar (supplied with a number of the SW mounts, mine came with an Avant) and it’s worth noting that it’s thread (top and bottom) is 3/8” rather than M10.

Isn’t the SkyTree an M10 thread ? If so that could make a difference in connection solidity, and might cause that spinning.

I’m also a bit dubious about the solidity of that pillars top mounting plate, as it’s only held on with three small screws, fine for AZ GTI, AZ5, Avant etc, but SkyTee is a heavy mount with fairly high capacity!

I’ve got another extension pillar now (received with the Castor mount I bought recently), that has M10 bass and 3/8” top, and does seem a little better made too. Might be worth checking around for something similar.

Also FWIW, my SkyTee was moderately stiff for the first few hours of use, but it now zooms around very smoothly even under dual scope load... maybe the grease “beds” in 🤔

Edited July 1, 2020 by HollyHound

[HollyHound]

Out of interest, I’ve been assuming 3/8” and M10 are not compatible... close but not quite... is this assumption correct ?

[John]

3 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

Out of interest, I’ve been assuming 3/8” and M10 are not compatible... close but not quite... is this assumption correct ?

Some of the german made mounts (eg: Giros) state that they can accept both threads but I have always assumed that the machining of the thread was specially designed to handle this.

Maybe the Skytee II "tolerances" are loose enough to accept either ?

The Skytee II is M10 as specified though.

 

 

[HollyHound]

17 minutes ago, John said:

Maybe the Skytee II "tolerances" are loose enough to accept either ?

Here are the two extensions I have:

Skywatcher AZ5 extension pillar (3/8” top and bottom, weighs 0.8kg)

TechoSky(??) extension pillar (top adaptor 3/8”, bottom adaptor M10, weighs 1.2kg).

Actually just tried, and it is possibly to thread the SW 3/8” into the TechnoSky M10 and it was quite solid, so yes perhaps the tolerances are close enough to allow this.

Still not sure I would trust the SW pillar with a heavily loaded SkyTee though.

Edited July 1, 2020 by HollyHound

[Guest]

1 hour ago, jock1958 said:

It took a lot of effort to remove the so called grease on mine, it was like a concoction of un-mixed araldite & bees wax also not sure about the dodgy casting techniques 

I'd remove that with some WD40 or similar thin degreaser, then wipe the surfaces down with meths (or similar), then regrease with some ordinary grease.  You should find that makes a lot of difference!