Bearing grease

[Anthonyexmouth]

As my guide cam is gonna be away for a while being repaired I've decided to strip down my Heq5 and change the bearings, is a standard white lithium grease ok for this? Hoping it is as all of my grease guns are full of it and just spent £70 on bearings so don't wanna spend much more. 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

check that the grease temperature range covers what you think is required, i.e. it is still guaranteed to work @ -20 *C .....   I have some that do, but others that not guaranteed to work at lower temps.

[Bizibilder]

If you have just bought bearings are they not already greased?  If so you could ask the supplier which grease it is.  Many bearings are greased for life and should be OK as they are.  If you want to change the grease you need to ensure that you have removed ALL the old grease before greasing with the new grease.  

[CraigT82]

I used Baader No1 brown grease on my old EQ6 when I striped and reassembled it,  ran sweet as a nut afterwards. It is very thick and very very sticky (not completely unlike the original skywatcher grease), just what you need on mounts that might have somewhat less than perfect tolerances. 

The bearings I bought to replace worn ones were all pre-greased and so these were left as is.

 

 

[Anthonyexmouth]

53 minutes ago, Bizibilder said:

If you have just bought bearings are they not already greased?  If so you could ask the supplier which grease it is.  Many bearings are greased for life and should be OK as they are.  If you want to change the grease you need to ensure that you have removed ALL the old grease before greasing with the new grease.  

Oh the sealed bearings are greased. I mean the tapered bearings, those will need grease. I only use quality white lithium, I buy it by the bucket for use on my commercial fishing boats. 

[Skipper Billy]

I used 'Superlube' which is a very lightweight grease - and good for -42º to +232º  ( fine for Scottish Highlands!! 😉 )- it made adjusting the backlash out so much easier as it wasnt clogging up the spaces between the gears.

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by Skipper Billy

[m.tweedy]

There is also this

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/geoptik-equatorial-mount-grease-kit.html

[david_taurus83]

I've just done my AZEQ6. Grabbed a tube of the stuff we put in the diggers at work. Lithium EP2. So far, better than the original. 

 

 

[Anthonyexmouth]

31 minutes ago, m.tweedy said:

There is also this

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/geoptik-equatorial-mount-grease-kit.html

Damn, £18 is more than the bearings cost. I think that'll stay on the Shelf . Lol

[newbie alert]

On 25/05/2022 at 12:04, Anthonyexmouth said:

As my guide cam is gonna be away for a while being repaired I've decided to strip down my Heq5 and change the bearings, is a standard white lithium grease ok for this? Hoping it is as all of my grease guns are full of it and just spent £70 on bearings so don't wanna spend much more. 

If you're changing the bearings then you don't need to add more.. you can easily over grease a bearing, and white lithium cakes up and dries.. 

[Anthonyexmouth]

1 hour ago, newbie alert said:

If you're changing the bearings then you don't need to add more.. you can easily over grease a bearing, and white lithium cakes up and dries.. 

There sealed ones don't need it but the 2 tapered bearings do. Also white lithium certainly doesn't dry out. Well not in the 40 years I've been using it. 

[Starflyer]

Whatever grease you decide, less is more in my experience and I've done a few Skywatcher mounts over the years.  If you pack out the thrust bearings both axis will be tight, you'll struggle to balance and you'll experience stiction that messes with your guiding. A thin smear is all they need.

[newbie alert]

On 27/05/2022 at 14:06, Anthonyexmouth said:

There sealed ones don't need it but the 2 tapered bearings do. Also white lithium certainly doesn't dry out. Well not in the 40 years I've been using it. 

Sorry you're right, it doesn't dry out, it chemicallly separates from its petroleum carrier leaving a dry crust of lithium base( soap)

I did have a picture of a ring gear with a crust of white lithium oozing out of the bearing .. if I find it, I will re-post for you..

Edited May 29, 2022 by newbie alert
Added info

[billhinge]

I would be tempted to try https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193592991803?hash=item2d130aa03b:g:DOIAAOSw0SxfGtat&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4M4fESIOVpM4AfPZgMpi5H5QYHh3mNPYPNNE%2BqD506Sb3HBbCJq2MTwHaMA%2B1ZgcsvUW%2F%2B%2FCVMj%2FaV6RWMZnlz8bjAc%2BF4LweN18YDfkyoAUG3oTb%2F9Kh6IsfLJuwZWnXKiVnVvnbqMx8JQvMVztBSntSyikkAw%2FUMF3IWKp%2FrODLTpJ6GdCbnyeD%2Fn56xgMbN44%2Bz%2B2zNw4nWeTWeXurvWRCwbrm22ZscttQJhfKFMvGs69HYqSi3SyRlXG%2FmjeL9WFn9G1IKNxHerZBTKUjvawc1bEcsFEYJk34MfH7zjp|tkp%3ABFBM7sbGobJg. if I didn't have the 100% pure stuff both grease and dry powder bought from the US some years ago. You can even put it on teflon to make it slippier!

Or you could go all in for powder coating and run everything dry https://www.ws2.co.uk/

 

 

[Steve Ward]

And don't forget that the mount has to withstand the tremendous forces exerted by the mindblowing "One revolution per day" that it's subjected to so don't skimp ... 🤣

Edited June 23, 2022 by Steve Ward

[johninderby]

AeroShell 33 is the best grease available but only available from an aircraft parts supplier. It’s what the airlines use on airplanes. A 400mil tube will be about £15.00 if you shop around. Being an aircraft grease it has to perform at -50c.

 

Just don’t buy a 747 pack by mistake. 😁

Rowan uses it for their mounts.

Edited June 23, 2022 by johninderby