Hi
all of a sudden, my EQ8 developed a 3 arc sec RA spike when guiding. The PE curve showed a step transition in the PE that was not there before, so something had changed. Rather than wait 4 months for Tasco to maybe fix it, I took a deep breath and disassembled the RA mechanism. The worm and wheel both looked (and felt) very good, with plenty of clean lube, but there was a tiny bit of black dirt that could have been the remains of an ant on the belt. There was also a superficial nick in the edge of the belt that could possibly have come from rough assembly and the belt was also a bit sloppier than it should have been (according to the belt manufacturer's website).
Cleaned it all up, tightened the belt a little and it now works fine again.
