White or black lithium grease for EQ6

BC · #1 05-06-2009, 02:35 PM

Hi,

Many of the articles on the web talk about greasing a mount's bearings with white lithium grease. I could only find black lithium grease. Is this a nothing issue or is the white substantially different?

Thanks,
Bruce

Tandum (Robin) · #2 05-06-2009, 03:31 PM

It's a nothing issue, the white grease was developed for the automotive industy so it wouldn't stain clothing.

pmrid (Peter) · #3 05-06-2009, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BC

Hi,

Many of the articles on the web talk about greasing a mount's bearings with white lithium grease. I could only find black lithium grease. Is this a nothing issue or is the white substantially different?

Thanks,
Bruce

I don't have an answer but would be interested to know where you sourced lithium grease - of either colour.
Peter

BC · #4 05-06-2009, 04:59 PM

Tandum,

Thanks for the info; black it is then.

pmrid,

I got it at Super Cheap in little cardboard cylinders.

Bruce

pmrid (Peter) · #5 06-06-2009, 05:38 PM

Hey Bruce, the question I should have asked "How do you know that it is necessary to regrease your EQ6?" Is there a risk/reward equation in doing this?
Peter

Glenhuon (Bill) · #6 06-06-2009, 09:07 PM

Speaking from a fitters point of view, no funny noises, not giving you problems, no need to regrease. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

Bill

Hagar (Doug) · #7 06-06-2009, 09:22 PM

I don't know what the diference is between Black and white Lithium grease is but have also been looking for a grease replacement for my G11. I settled on a lithium based PTFE grease from auto Barn. The inclusion of PTFE (Teflon) should make the grease very slippery and should make for a great mount. When I get some clear skies I will let you know how well it has worked. The point in any regrease is o firstly totally get rid of the old dry grease and replace it correctly, only getting it where it should be.
Good luck with the job ahead.

Tandum (Robin) · #8 06-06-2009, 09:34 PM

I believe the white lithium they use is prone to break down and it tends to seperate into individual components over time, which I guess, is why they use it. As doug says, a teflon based grease would be far better and you can get it from bicycle shops and hobby shops that sell RC Nitro cars. But, if it ain't broke don;t fix it

BC · #9 06-06-2009, 10:38 PM

I convinced myself to work on the mount because from new it was pretty stiff in RA and made fairly harsh noises at the start and end of higher speed slews. It took a push to move it manually in RA with the clutch backed off and it would stop with a stiff motion. There are so many sites around with people telling how easy it is to improve the mounts, I convinced myself to do it. My advise would be to leave it alone. I may have suffered from "if it ain't broke, fix it until it is" because I currently have a dec axis that jams, despite now having too much backlash, and the GOTO will not align at present. When I look back and see what has currently become of my 5 month old EQ6 Pro...... well, I'm sure you get the picture. It may become a learning experience after I have it all sorted out; I hope so. So, my advice is if you have a fairly new mount, leave it in one piece and enjoy it. Oh, and any Canberra region folk who know these mounts inside out........

Bruce

Tandum (Robin) · #10 06-06-2009, 10:58 PM

Stop right there .... 5 months old = warranty. These mounts have a 5 year warranty!!!

Ring em up and send it back, if there is a real problem. If you bought it off andrews, good luck.

Glenhuon (Bill) · #11 06-06-2009, 11:06 PM

Ahhh! sounds like it does need a little TLC. The teflon grease Hagar refered to is very good, regreased my EQ5 with it and it certainly makes a difference. Just don't overdo it, too much is as bad as too little. Adjustments to the worms/gears seems to be called for too if its making nasty noises and jamming. If your not mechanically minded and used to making fine adjustments, I'd say return to base for repairs.

Bill

BC · #12 08-06-2009, 08:07 PM

I think the thing was not so much a real problem (ie not a warranty problem), as the reality of mass production where things are not set up quite as nicely as they could be. Subsequent to my last post, I have dismantled again and tweaked a few things. I removed excess grease from my earlier work. I found the Dec worm shaft was not spinning smoothly, and that by removing the black end cover of the worm shaft, (which was VERY tight) it allowed the worm shaft to spin freely. The cover was actually pressed against the bearing or shaft. I have refitted it securly, but not binding. I then adjusted the worm mesh very carefully. The real cracker was checking out the motor / transfer gear mesh. The little silver screws in the casing give a tiny window to the gear mesh. Nothing was very apparent with the mount switched off, but looking through the little holes with a torch with the mount running was very interesting. At slew speed 2 and driving in one direction and then the other, I could actually see the amount of backlash get taken up. The Dec backlash was very noticeable but the RA gap was simply huge. The teeth were only just catching. I ended up loosening the motor mounts and took up the slack. The mount is now doing what I had hoped for when I began the learning experience; I can barely hear it. There is a tiny hum instead of the "brrr brrr brrr" sound before and the high speed slews don't start and end with the harsh sounds.

Bruce (sleeping a little better)