EQ disassembly help

[dannat (Daniel)]

am most of the way pulling apart my old vixen polaris mount (was getting sticky, 25yr old grease). followed astronomy boy cg5 proceedure but am having trouble getting thr RA worm ger out - there are no notches on the bottom thread?? see pics i undid a screw in the notch but its still stuck

[dannat (Daniel)]

here is the top pic of the gear

[Ian Robinson]

Try contacting Vixen (in Japan) - directly (not through a dealer) , they might have the assembly drawings still and you might be able to get a copy of them so you know exactly what you are dealing with.
I've asked Vixen Japan questions directly on a few occasions and always got a helpful response from them.

May be it's a very tight fitting bush , are you on very friendly terms with a motor mechanic or do you know a fitter and turner , they will know how to deal you such problems and have the right tools to do the deed.

My old Vixen Polaris is a bit stuff but still works fine .... my addage is if it aint broke don't fix it.

Question : what RA and Dec drives did you put on it (if it's driven) ?

[dannat (Daniel)]

Ian, i have an original vixen RA drive - no dec, apparently a normal EQ3 drive will do the deed, or you can buy from jmi in the US, though they are costly

[Harpspitfire]

dont follow this advance, but i remember something on my CG5 when i diassembled it, it had a little sure-pin that needed removed

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by dannat

am most of the way pulling apart my old vixen polaris mount (was getting sticky, 25yr old grease). followed astronomy boy cg5 proceedure but am having trouble getting thr RA worm ger out - there are no notches on the bottom thread?? see pics i undid a screw in the notch but its still stuck

Daniel, I've stripped a CQ5 and and LXD75 and they are plysically indistinguishable from the mount you're struggling with. So I thinik I can help. But can you just clarify, you can't actually get the RA shaft out of the mount housing? Is that the problem?
Assuming it is, you start by removing the setting circle - there may be a grub screw or 2 to loosen. When you've got that off, look around the rim of the mount housing and you should see a small hole or rebate close to the rim which, if you look down it as you rotate the RA shaft, you should see another grub screw that you have to loosen off. Then there is a compression collar holding the whle thing in place and you'll see two small holes on opposite sides of the shaft. I use a couple of small Allen Keys inthem and use them to gently turn the collar and loosen it. This ought to free the whole shaft and allow you to remove it.
Be very careful to note - as you pull it apart, the presence of any washers. These are usually clear plastic and often get a bit lost in the grease but they are important and need to be cleaned and returned to their position.
When you get the shaft out, you'll still have to remove the worm gear from the head. That can be tricky. Don't use asny brute force. Get a hair dryer and heat up the mount head and let it expand a little. That out to create enough of a gap to allow the worm gear to slip out.
Good luck.
Peter

[Astro78]

Originally Posted by pmrid

I use a couple of small Allen Keys inthem and use them to gently turn the collar and loosen it. This ought to free the whole shaft and allow you to remove it.
Peter

You might have to make a simple tool, if the Allen keys don't work of course. A peice of dowel with two small nails did the trick for me.

Got stuck in the same spot btw. Wasn't the quality Jap mount like yours but what a stark difference it made getting it all back together. Good luck