Mount cleaning & regreasing

[luka]

I stripped and cleaned the DEC axis of my EQ5 as it was getting "sticky" and greased it with superlube (lithium grease with PTFE as recommended on several places). The DEC axis is much, much smoother now but there is considerably more resistance to turn it compared to the RA axis (which I did not touch yet).

I did put lots of grease on the moving parts of the DEC axis which may have been a mistake. Or is the resistance to turn normal to expect because the grease is thicker?

To rephrase the question, how much grease to use on the cleaned mount parts? Is a thin film enough?

Thanks in advance
Luka

[glend]

Bearing drag can be created by over greasing. This results in a stiff feel to movement.

[luka]

Thanks Glen. I forgot to mention that I did not touch the bearings. I have read lots of bad stories about people washing the grease out of them so I decided to leave them.

Also my EQ5 only has bearings on the DEC worm shaft. The rest is metal cylinders inside metal cylinders and also things being supported on plastic washers.

And during the assembly it was hard to turn even before I added the worm drive.

Edit:
Thinking more, if over greasing can cause bearing drag, then most likely too much grease is causing my problems. I may disassemble it tomorrow and remove some grease. Thanks again!!!

[glend]

If it has sleeve bearings on that axis then a thin substance (or even none) might work best. Nylon bushing sleeves don't like grease as the close tolerances don't allow for it. The low friction surfaces are restructed by grease. What do other HEQ5 owners do?

[casstony]

Only a thin film of superlube is needed and it should result in less resistance to turning since it's less viscous than the original grease.
Superlube worked really well on a Skyview Pro (EQ5 variant) I had and a Tak CAA - both items were stuck regreasing.

[luka]

Thank you all :thumbsup:

I will clean again and reapply a thin layer of grease.

[Hodur]

Only this week I redressed and tensioned my NEQ6 Pro. Grease only so that the point the grease film "travels"..... When the motor is engaged you will observe a fine film of grease moving back on itself as the gears turn.
This is a great opportunity to assess how well tensioned the mounting screws are, you may even be able to reduce the dreadful startup and slow-down noise.
Cheers

[luka]

Confirming that it was too much grease.

While I did not have time to do the job properly today, I wiped some of the grease with a cloth and reassembled it - it turns much easier now.

Thanks to everybody for their suggestions!!!