HEQ5 Pro maintenance

toryglen-boy (Duncan) · #1 13-05-2009, 01:45 PM

Howdy

I have a HEQ5 Pro and am loving it, however the noise the gears make when slewing is loud, and i have noticed as new as the gears look, there doesnt appear to be much lube on there.

Would putting some lithium grease on the gears be a good idea, or a recipe for disaster, has anyone tried to "service" thier mount, or are there any good guides around?

sorry if this has been asked, i did do a search before posting.

cruiser (Brett) · #2 13-05-2009, 02:26 PM

Hi Duncan,

Hope this guide helps.

http://www.adur-astronomical.com/heq...ld/heq5-m1.htm

Brett

toryglen-boy (Duncan) · #3 13-05-2009, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruiser

Hi Duncan,

Hope this guide helps.

http://www.adur-astronomical.com/heq...ld/heq5-m1.htm

Brett

Thanks for that Brett

Its appreciated

TJD (Trevor) · #4 13-05-2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toryglen-boy

Howdy

I have a HEQ5 Pro and am loving it, however the noise the gears make when slewing is loud, and i have noticed as new as the gears look, there doesnt appear to be much lube on there.

Would putting some lithium grease on the gears be a good idea, or a recipe for disaster, has anyone tried to "service" thier mount, or are there any good guides around?

sorry if this has been asked, i did do a search before posting.

grease should be just fine i did it to my 6 se

marki · #5 13-05-2009, 11:56 PM

Duncan, I stripped mine down completely the day I got it (new). I didn't even bother to turn it on. I cleaned all the factory grease (goop) out and carefully put it back together using lithium grease and set all the gears and worms up properly. These mounts are fairly simple devices and anyone with reasonable mechanical skills should have few problems. The mount has run very well for the last couple of years and I have not done any work on it since.

Mark

saturn c (Leo) · #6 15-05-2009, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruiser

Hi Duncan,

Hope this guide helps.

http://www.adur-astronomical.com/heq...ld/heq5-m1.htm

Brett

great link brett, thanks.

JohnH · #7 15-05-2009, 04:23 PM

[QUOTE=marki;443926 I cleaned all the factory grease (goop) out and ... and set all the gears and worms up properly....anyone with reasonable mechanical skills should have few problems....[/QUOTE]

OK I am not a diy-er but am interested how do remove the grease - soak in petrol/solvent?

On reassembly - how do you set nad measure the tolerances?

marki · #8 15-05-2009, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnH

OK I am not a diy-er but am interested how do remove the grease - soak in petrol/solvent?

On reassembly - how do you set nad measure the tolerances?

Any suitable degreaser will do the job just be careful with rubber bits (remove them) as they tend to swell and don't use anything that will damage paint (Kero is good).

Setting clearances is an art and takes a bit of practice (I used to own a 900SS bevel drive Duke which I rebuilt often to avoid having the big ends shatter into the crankcase. These motors have shims everywhere so you soon get used to setting clearances).

The transfer gears on the mounts are involute gears and to cut a long story short need to be as fully engaged as possible without any binding present due to the shape of the teeth (see involute curves). As these are difficult to measure using tools (fine teeth) it has to be done by feel or as I often do fold a rolley paper in half and work it into the teeth of one gear then simply set the other as close as possible without cutting the paper. This brings them close together but ensures that they are not binding and comes out when you rotate the gears. You also need to make sure that the grub screws holding the gears in place never meet (ie should always be on the opposite side as the gears turn) as they pull the gear off centre and this will cause binding. The worms are set by feel e.g. too much backlash or movement tighten them up evenly a little bit at a time, bad noises or sticking loosen them up in the same manner. Don't try this if you are not confident, get someone who is to do it for you.

Mark

BC · #9 15-05-2009, 09:27 PM

Ah, now we're talking, Ducati 900 shims. Oops, off topic. The pics in the link are excellent but I'm wondering how similar it is for the EQ6 Pro. Mine is still pretty new but it certainly makes a few unpleasant noises at the end of higher speed slews. There's also some backlash in RA which causes a bit of movement. Maybe we need to do a Canberra workshop.

Bruce

marki · #10 15-05-2009, 09:49 PM

Well they certainly have lots of adjustment available in them so its just a matter of taking the time to set them up.

Mark

White Rabbit · #11 19-05-2009, 04:28 PM

Duncan, apparently they all make that noise. If you have one that doesnt then you're lucky. Mine makes a hell of a racket and I've sent mine back three times.

anthony.tony · #12 19-05-2009, 06:52 PM

Where can you buy a suitable Grease to Lube the EQ6 and EQ5 Mounts, Tony..

saturn c (Leo) · #13 21-05-2009, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthony.tony

Where can you buy a suitable Grease to Lube the EQ6 and EQ5 Mounts, Tony..

Bunnings is one option tony.

RobF (Rob) · #14 21-05-2009, 03:27 PM

Ok Duncan - what's with the HEQ5 for sale?
You didn't get the maintenance horribly wrong did you?!

saturn c (Leo) · #15 23-05-2009, 01:35 AM

might think about removing this thread, if you want any1 to buy it!