GSO dob azimuth motion

[StarLane]

I am looking at a way to make my dobs azimuth motion abit smoother.

I have tried everything accept Ebony Star and that is my last resort. I would prefer to try other things first. I have tried nylon furniture sliders and polishing the opposite side, first with car polish then with furniture polish. It worked well when moving, really smooth, but at the beginning of the movement there was a big jolt-slip. I applied pressure more and more to get it to move and then it moves too fast and I over shoot the target. It was really sticky with a jolting motion, impossible to move slowly at high magnification. I then removed the nylon sliders and added some felt sliders, the motion is the best it has ever been but still not perfect. I have heard Armourall works good for a while but then gets sticky also.

Would a powder lubricant like graphite dust work better????
I want something that is low maintenance not needing too much attention to keep it working smoothly.

Cheers.

[Starkler]

I use a combination of plastic milk bottle washers, and pimply laminate buffed with turtle wax running on the stock teflon. Moves beautifully.

[StarLane]

Oh, I forgot, I have also added some milk bottle washers to the centre bolt to take some pressure off the teflon pads but I am still not 100% happy with the motion. It's still not smooth, especially when moving slowly.

[iceman]

I've used a few dobs with ebony star laminate and they are very nice, very smooth. It might be worth doing that extra effort.

[erick]

On a recommendation, I tried Mr Sheen for two months, but still "stiction" ruled. Did lols of reading of threads here and internet - conclusion - new teflon including central washer and "bumpy" laminate would be the best solution. So I did the EbonyStar addition to Az and Alt, put in new teflon washers - no lubricant of any type - it's superb.

Example - last night had a complete newbie on the scope - never moved a dob in her life - in no time she was tracking Jupiter at 266 magnification, no worries!

I've had to put the friction springs back on the Altitude motion - just too free otherwise.

However, it is only an 8" dob - not as heavy on the Az bearing as bigger ones.

Look for the threads - moderate handyperson skills and a few power tools will get the job done. And about $100 in parts.

Happy to answer questions. Eric :)

[monoxide]

try polishing the base with carnauba wax, its all ive used on my dobs and it works very well since its actually applying a hard coating (also no chance of dust gunking it up). you may need to do it a few times but you'll notice the difference straight away. no more stiction.
works extremely well on skywatcher dobs/smoother laminate also

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnauba_wax

[RAJAH235]

StarLane,
For the best results, go the 'Ebony Star' route.
You have the 'milk bottle washers' fitted correctly if there's just a little play in between the 2 base boards, (FWIW. I have approx.10 mm play & it positively rattles when shaken/moved), so do not tighten the centre bolt too much.
The t'scope should move O.K. with no lubricant at all applied, so remove any traces with Metho., & try to do the 'mechanical' set-up first.
(I run mine completely dry, but I do have Ebony Star fitted with the original Teflon pads).
That way, it will not collect 'crap'. Just dismantle 'bout once/year n dry clean.
HTH..:D L.

[Tannehill]

Hi,

Only thing I'd add is to emphasize that the Ebony Star laminate solution is the only real way to improve that stiction, that or adding roller bearings in place of the teflon pads. And that (rollers) is actually equally problematic because they are more prone to break/stick/ etc, and sometimes have TOO much freedom. A touch of friction is useful...just a touch...

An interim solution may be to increase the SIZE of your current teflon bearings. If you can find some and have the tools and skills, that has worked for others I've read on other forums. But the stiction problem is due largely to the too-fine texture of the cheaper stock laminates used on these scopes. As said, you want somethign a bit "pimply" so the adhesion forces and mini-vacuum effect of the teflon-on-laminate is broken up.

I upgraded to Ebony Star, and, like Eric, I noted improvement. But it wasn't until I just recently increased my teflon pad size that I really appreciated the improved AZ motion. Now it's Obsession-like.

Armour All, paste wax, work well and can get you thru a few hours, BUT seems to gum up and collect dust, with resultant WORSE friction usually by the end of the night. Even more so in very cold temps, I've noted.

If you have no tool skills (me :P ) you can probably find some scrap Ebony Star and pay a kitchen laminate place to glue on your laminate. I did that here in Mel and liked the result.

Good hunting!

Scott

[StarLane]

Thanks guys for your input.
Looks like Ebony Star is the way to go for reliability and low maintenance.

Will the teflon pads I already have in the base be good enough??
Do I stick the Ebony Star on top of the existing laminate?? or should I totally remove the old laminate??

Cheers.

[StarLane]

Thanks mate. Yeah I have abit of play between the base boards. The centre bolt is not done up tight at all. It's just tight enough to keep the base together. I reckon I'll get some Ebony Star. Did you apply yours yourself?? or did you get a kitchen laminate shop to stick it on??

Cheers.

[erick]

Paul, I did it myself. Here is my story here, in this thread:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=20612

I put the EbonyStar over the existing laminate. I did it myself, using contact cement. An extra pair of hands was helpful when it came to placing the EbonyStar circle in place on the baseboard after the contact cement had set to touch dry.

Eric

[StarLane]

Thanks Eric,

The link to your previous experiences with Ebony Star was good reading.
I reckon I'll have a go at sticking it down myself, with a spare set of hands.
You've given me some confidence to have a go.

Thanks,
Paul.