EQ6 unable to track after not being used

[jbrazio]

Hi all,

I have a NEQ6 with the belt mod for some time now, it always tracked well.

The mount has been not used for over than 3y but has been always well kept at a home environment without massive temperature changes.

 

Yesterday night I took it out, despite some clouds, just to get it working again.

After going trough the Polar alignment routing in EKOS until both axis are in the green zone.. this was the result of a 120s exposure non guided using a DSLR with a 105mm lens.

After a lot of testing with 60 and 120s exposures (without guiding) the error is inconsistent, some times it produces longer star trails, other times start almost fully round.

I lost years of my life and gained a lot of white hair last night.. :-/

What could be causing this ?

Thanks for your help.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

was everything balanced properly ? 

Also if its been sat doing nothing, did you ensure that everything moved smoothly with no "dead/sticky spots" that may have built up. 

[1parsec]

Could be the worm wheel gearing is tight from taking a bump while in storage.
Does the mount sound nice and smooth when slewing a various rates with the hand set ?  If not, check and adjust the mesh so it has a fraction clearance so the motor does not bind.  
Also check the clutches are tight and don't easily allow the axis to slip.

[jbrazio]

Thanks for your answers.

I did tests with it well balanced and also a bit CW heavy just in case, same behaviour.

If I remember correctly, if I raise the RA CC bar without any weight (and without any equipment on top) parallel to the horizon and let it go it would act like pendulum going back and forth until settling down with the bar perpendicular to the horizon. Yesterday when dismounting everything I tried it and the RA axis does not swing even once, it goes into a halt like 10º past the perpendicular to the horizon. Nevertheless if I try to move it manually, I don't have to do any special force in order for it to do a complete 360º turn on RA.. it is just not "as free" as I remember it to be before.

It never produced any weird sound during the night, sound wise it was just as I remember it to be. I even used it with three different controllers: EKOS, EQMOD and Syntrek, all of them show the same erratic non-predictable behaviour.

I used teflon based lubricant at the time and off the shelf KOYO sealed bearings which are supposed to be a good brand.

Edited October 25, 2021 by jbrazio

[malc-c]

Sounds like the clutches are sticking, or the lubricant used has become thick and less viscous over the years. 

Edited October 25, 2021 by malc-c