Oiling collimation screws

[iansmith]

Hello All,

I have an Edge HD11 which I’ve been using for  about 5 years now. It lives on a permanent mount in the observatory in the back garden and rarely needs much work done on it.
 

Recently, I checked the collimation and decided a few adjustments were required.  I noticed that the collimation screws are hard to turn and I have been wondering if it would be a good idea to put a drip of oil onto them.

Has anyone done this, or done something else to help them loosen up a bit?

Cheers, Ian

[wulfrun]

No experience of using oil on astro gear but I know from photography it's not usually advisable. Oil, being runny by nature, tends to run somewhere it isn't needed or wanted. Sometimes it's the only option but a better idea would be to use a grease of some sort, which would mean removing said screws to apply it. I think that would depend on the practicality of removing the screws, without side-effects of nuts or parts dropping off.

I've put coppaslip on the tripod thread, dovetail clamp screws etc but nowhere else (yet).

[apaulo]

hi ian, i would suggest a little smear of vaseline, petroleum jelly, as some might call it these days should do the trick. not a blob, just a coating on the threads will be ample.

[PeterCPC]

or boot polish.

[iansmith]

Thanks all. For your suggestions. I was indeed worried about oil dripping onto the mirror, grease/Vaseline sounds like a great idea.

Cheers, Ian