Lubricating EQ6 worms!!

[deanm]

Hi All,

I'd like to re-lube my NEQ6's drives with a better quality, low temp grease (having heard of both low quality & quantity as shipped).

I've seen the break-down + pull-apart videos, but was intrigued by the presence on the mount casing of what appear to be screw-threaded access ports (see red arrows in pic) adjacent to each driven axis.

[1] Is it possible to re-grease via these?

[2] If not, what are they?

Cheers!

Dean

[peter_4059]

1 no
2 one end retains the worm bearing and the other end provides access to the ring that tensions the worm bearings

Check out this thread for photos showing whatthey are for:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=55025&highlight=hypertune

[deanm]

Very many thanks, Peter!

So, it looks like the full pull-apart is needed: your link provides invaluable info.

Cheers!

Dean

[peter_4059]

No problem and yes - you need to pull it apart to change the grease.

[bojan]

Do you REALLY need to change the grease?
Your mount looks like pretty new one.. I obtained mine 3.5 years ago (black, no-goto) and the grease inside was of good quality (not black tar-like stuff - the valid reason to go through the re-greasing process) so I didn't have to re-lubricate the worms.
I dismantled it for other reasons (I changed the motors and replaced gear transfer mechanism with timing belts and pulleys, and that significantly improved the performance)

All this hype about bad lubricants in EQ mounts was warranted when they used that black stuff (this was actually kind of "damping grease", widely used to lubricate joints that do not move much.. for example Toyota use something with similar properties for their ball joints in steering mechanism, and it is excellent stuff to deal with a lot of vibration and high pressures on the joints).
They (Synta) used it to smooth the mechanical roughness and in-precisions of worms and worm gears at the beginning, but their quality improved significantly since then.

What problems/issues you have with the mount that lead you to conclusion you need to do it?

"No need to fix something that already works OK..."

[2stroke]

Herd there have being a few finds of metal shavings which could effect P.E. and cause other issues, its got me tempted to do my heq5. Would love to hear if they have cleaned up there act at synta or if this is a myth? I was also going to do mine as RA balance is a problem with it being to sticky on the heq5.

[deanm]

Bojan - your point is well made: my mount is but a week old.

However, on first powering it up & hearing the wince-inducing sounds of high-pitched metal-on-metal (and bearing in mind the repeated comments re. metal shavings), I think it needs looking at!

Dean

[bojan]

Dean,
High pitched sound is generated in motor coils, as a consequence of micro-stepping. Or, sometimes it could be generated in transfer gear. All this is quite normal.
The worm rotates very slowly (once in 8 minutes while tracking) and is definitely not the source of any sound you are hearing.
I wouldn't worry about it.

[stephenb]

Or if you're worried, speak to the place of purchase. I personally wouldn't be pulling apart a 1-week old mount worth nearly 2K.

For what it's worth, mine makes a similar sound to what you're describing and it seems to operate fine.

[Tandum]

Mine too and I've had it apart several times now.
If it don't go "Whirrr Clunk" you know somethings wrong :)

[stephenb]

Mine makes an interesting and unique whineing on speed rate 6 - but no other speed. A tad disconcerting at first but BinTel tell me it's normal and others have also said the same to me.

[deanm]

OK folks: I'm of reformed opinion - the quite distinctive & differently-pitched sounds associated with each rate setting are now more musical, rather than disconcerting, to my ear!

Thanks to you all for your contributions!

Dean

[bojan]

Another saved EQ-6 life :P..