EQ6 Dec stiff in one direction

[codemonkey]

I noticed when I first bought my mount that the Dec axis was stiff in one direction and moved freely in the other. It's not jerky, it's still smooth, but it just doesn't move as freely in the other direction. For example, if I load the scope on front-heavy, I can't tell it's out of balance when the scope is on one side of the mount, but if I rotate the RA in the other direction I'll see Dec swing freely due to the imbalance.

Initial tests under the stars didn't seem to suggest any issues, so I didn't worry about it. If it's not broken don't fix it, and all that...

I've since been having some issues with Dec that I thought was a combination of backlash and balance, but I'm questioning whether that's actually the issue.

Anyone have an idea what might cause the Dec axis to be stiff one way, but not the other? If it's a simple tweak I'll do it myself, rather than having to go through the effort of returning it.

[Shiraz]

might just be a tiny bit too much pre-load on the bearings. try backing off the nut at the lower end of the axis - you need to undo the grub screw first. Just back it off enough to swing freely (won't be much). You might need to re-adjust the worm after, but mine was still OK after minor pre-load adjustment.

[codemonkey]

Thanks Ray :-)

To confirm, did you mean the slotted nut under the black cover?

[Shiraz]

It's the nut that the CW shaft goes through - I just had a look and it actually has 3 grub screws. undo them a turn or two to unlock the thread and the whole thing (including the CWshaft) rotates on the threaded shaft while you hold the puck at the top of the shaft - you should be able to adjust the endplay to get it smooth but not sloppy (hopefully).

[AlexN]

My Heq5 was the same but in RA. Scope on the eastern side was silky smooth, on the western side was also stiffer and I was unable to balance it. Preloaded adjustment fixed it.

[codemonkey]

Awesome, thanks guys :-)