Problem with EQ6 Classic

[Nielsburt]

Hey Guys,

 

Recently i startet to try Astrophotography. First untracked with my Olympus Camera and an absurd amount of frames to stack. 

Then a friend offered me his equipment, because he can't use it anymore. This equipment is a Skywatcher EQ6 Classic (the black one with the very simple hand box controller) and a i think 8" (maybe 10"??)  TS optics newton telescope.

This Skywatcher Mount has caused me some Problems. At first pretty much nothing worked. Now its working fine, except for some random error in Tracking. Most of the Times i can get 60-120 seconds Subs, but then sometimes inbetween the mount just starts to fall behind. After a few Minutes its working perfectly fine. 

Does anyone have any idea what could be the problem here? The mount is obviously pretty old, could it be just that simple, that it needs a rebuild?

Wormgear spacing is already tuned, the mount has no Play in any axis and feels very solid while handling, slewing etc..

 

Im very thankful for any tips.

 

Cheers

[Alan64]

Given its age, yes, absolutely, a re-build is in order, and you can get an idea as to how to go about that from this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qujs7Kt_6_c&t=2587s

I use heavy-duty Super-Lube for my mounts.  I do not use the silicone-based version, only the PTFE(Teflon) version...

The silicone-based is for plastics, plastic gears for example.

Of course, you can use any grease that you prefer.

[Nielsburt]

Ah well, thanks for the answer.

I was hoping to not stripping the wole thing down, but the forecast looks pretty bad, so i suppose i have the time for that.

Is the Upgrade kit a must for more serious Astrophotography with this mount, or is the tracking performance good enough. I only got to use ist twice and due to me being an absolute noob i cant really tell.

[Alan64]

Modern, go-to equatorial mounts are equipped with a host of computerised/electronic features to help ensure perfect results.

Some success can be expected without, but it will be more difficult.  

[michael8554]

14 hours ago, Nielsburt said:

sometimes inbetween the mount just starts to fall behind. After a few Minutes its working perfectly fine. 

That could be Periodic Error - tracking slows and speeds up in a repeating pattern, often over 4 minutes.

Due to the RA worm not being perfectly round.

14 hours ago, Nielsburt said:

Wormgear spacing is already tuned, the mount has no Play in any axis

When the worm is way out of adjustment you can feel play.

When it's close but not ideal you won't be able to judge by feel.

Michael

[Nielsburt]

19 hours ago, michael8554 said:

That could be Periodic Error - tracking slows and speeds up in a repeating pattern, often over 4 minutes.

Due to the RA worm not being perfectly round.

Well around 4-5  minutes sounds like it. Is there any way to fix it?

19 hours ago, michael8554 said:

When the worm is way out of adjustment you can feel play.

It had a pretty substantial amount of play when i got it, but i could adjust it and now there is literally no play and the gears turn perfectly without binding.