Tampering with an EQ6

[astro mick]

Hi.

I,ve just recently got myself an EQ6 Pro mount,i have,nt used it yet as i,m still putting to-gether the looky through bits.

I,ve been alarmed by the number of threads saying it should be stripped down and regreased.

My own take is :

a) I,ve no wish to do this.

I dont know how to do this.

c) You should,nt have to do this.

D) This must invalidate the warranty if done within the first 12 months.

There must be people out there who have used this mount straight form the box,and never taken a scewdriver or allen key anywhere near it.

I would appreciate any feedback from you as how you find the mount,especially in the cold weather,as this must effect the thickish grease the manufactures use.

Regards.

Mick.

[George]

Well the poor grease problems were dealt with ages ago by all accounts so my advice would be if its giving no problems don't touch it and enjoy this great mount

[Dave S]

Totally agree.

Grease degredation occurs after a length of time of use, which of course doesn't apply to you yet. As George says the poor grease issue appears to have been sorted now.

Enjoy your new mount.

Dave...

[BlueAstra]

I've had my eq6 nearly two years now, and have not had any inclination or need to take it apart. I'm sure it could be made a bit quieter, or the gearing more accurate, if I followed one of the online guides, but I've not had any issue where I feel I need to do it. Yet.

[ollypenrice]

Ditto above. I have two in commercial use and have yet to attend to either of them after three years. One is a bit stiif so is about to get a look-see but you have to remember how often my mounts are running and in what extremes of temperature. They live permanently in roll offs, too.

Just get cracking and worry no longer! As has been said, the grease thing is in the distant past.

Olly

[astro mick]

Thanks eveyone.

[Black Knight]

Having just got an EQ6 this thread puts my mind at rest as well

[Astro_Baby]

As someone who has stripped and rebuilt two HEQ5s and two EQ6 mounts the main reason people take them to bits it's equipment hypochondria which is very common with most astronomers

I had to take my own HEQ5 to bits to find out why the GoTo upgrade didn't work. After upgrade it had gear binding something chronic and was unusable. Largely due to the factory setting the gears too tight. That was ok with the slow high to rue motors of a non-pro or Syntrek version but with the stepper motors of a GoTo the gears were way over tight. In the course of having to take the wretched thing to pieces which was pretty hairy as there were no online guides for the HEQ5 I was able to improve the mount enormously with better tuning, better lubrication etc but it was also a very useful learning exercise. Likewise the second HEQ5 had to be stripped because it was performing so badly thanks to a bodge artist owning it. The second one likewise was hugely improved by a bit of fine tuning and better lube.

The two EQ6 mounts I stripped and rebuilt both had excessive play, backlash and generally poor performance. The third EQ6 had excessive play in it's RA axis which I was able to tune out. It's owner, understandably, didn't want the cost of my time for a full strip and rebuild because I would have had to charge a fair amount.

Was it worth it ? Absolutely yes in that all the mounts were improved by better performance, quieter operation and probably better longevity ( one of them was almost devoid of any lube ) would I recommend you do it ? Absolutely not unless you are;

A) dissatisfied with the mounts performance in respect of PE, backlash, play.

bored to tears and seeking a challenge

C) have a lot of engineering nous and tools and don't mind using up two days of your life.

Mostly these things work fine out the box but some people ( me for instance ) are obsessive about having stuff work EXACTLY perfect or at least as perfect as humankind can achieve.

For me I learnt a lot, the astro world got two guides on how to do it for comfort if they want to try it themselves and I have been rewarded with cash, kudos and a warm glow of glory I also have the smoothest running HEQ5 you will ever see .....you won't hear it cos it's whisper quiet. All right apart from at SSP where it failed altogether but they all do that sooner or later and at least with my huge bump for these mounts I could fix it in the field.

Do you need to do it ? Probably not with a new mount unless you really in your heart of hearts feel it's not working.

The EQ6 I tuned up a bit in RA was new but it's owner wasn't happy with the play in the RA and to be honest it was a bit excessive.

If and when you feel it's a good thing, a useful thing, or even you become obsessive about mount performance it's something to do on long nights of cloud but you sure shouldn't need to out of the box.

So if you have a new one that works ok for you stop worrying, avoid hardware hypochondria and just enjoy your new equipment.

[steppenwolf]

I have had my [black] EQ6 for 5 years now so it must surely be one of those with 'glue-grease' but it has always had zero backlash, is very quiet in operation and doesn't 'rattle' when it slows down after a slew. Maybe one day I will have to work on it but I hope not as it is no simple task!

Unless you find its operation below par, I'd forget about the bad reports and just enjoy the best value mount on the market!