[allan gould]

Some months ago I purchased second hand EQ6 as I wanted to run a higher payload than my HEQ5-Pro. Tracking and guiding were within performance limits '(not as good as the HEQ5-Pro) but the mount had been abused somewhat by being left outside in the weather or not maintained/cleaned properly as the tripod and some areas of the mount were suffused with a white powder which looked like wind-blown material but also there was some Al corrosion and rust present in the head.
So, being encouraged by Peter_4059 who was hypertuning his EQ6 I decided to do the same.
Thank heavens I did as when I started pulling apart the mount it was immediately obvious why it wasn't performing. The whole worm gear, spur gear and moving parts were a mash of small ants and crappy grease. The chitin had hardened almost to a shiny lacquer material which made parts of the RA and Dec hardly move. Took some thorough cleaning to remove the ants and bad muck in the mount and then regrease the whole thing. There was even a mound of ants and vegetation in the bottom of the mount that really took some effort to get rid of. Some bearings had rollers which had completely siezed and wouldnt move at all. All bearings were replaced with SKF as well new ceramic ones for the worms. Now the gentlest of touches moves the mount in RA and Dec if the clutches are undone, its quieter and moves very smoothly.
So if you are thinking of doing a hypertune I can recommend it - but replace all the gears etc with new.
Lastly, Im amazed had how some people abuse their equipment and then wonder why it don't perform very well.