How to SUPER TUNE the Skywatcher EQ 5 mount Part 3

[@Daneoid81]

Thanks for doing videos on such specialized subjects, you are criminally underviewed.

[@MPAstro]

Thanks Daneoid81 for support. I know what you mean I know that there are talented Astro KZbinrs like myself and Astrobiscuit which are coming up with fantastic ideas all aimed within budget Astronomy delivering outstanding information. I get it that our American and Canadian channels get the biggest views and subscribers but we in the UK seem to get very limited coverage within Astro community. It seems my videos might be too long which puts a lot of viewers off from watching. Hence why I made these into parts now. Unfornately you cannot condense this kind of info into a 5-10 minute video is simply just not possible, with the sheer amount of work and recording involved. From the results from my NEQ-6 mount, I am glad to say my SUPER-TUNE project has worked superbly, after 3 clear nights of imaging the SUPERTUNE performed and I can reliably achieve 10 minutes with rough Polar alignment without question. I have at some achieved 30 minutes but in process I totally washed my image out due to my night sky location not being great at all. There will be part 7 for the NEQ-6 Super tune project and Part 4 for the EQ-5 super tune will come shortly unfornately with 3 nights of non stop imaging I'm pretty tired from the sessions and the recording. Being a Astro KZbinr is pretty hard I can tell you. But again viewers like yourself want to see the results and so that they too can have the confidence to try out the projects themselves, so it's our job as Astro KZbinrs to deliver the goods to you the viewers see the stats and hopefully save a ton of money in the process. Thanks your kind words please support me by liking, subscribing and hitting the notifications so that it helps my videos to get pushed out. This in turn will help me, the viewers want better content that is the way it works in KZbin. Just these simple things viewers can do make these channels more popular. It's totally different content to some channels you see, at least these channels do contain excellent information for the viewers to get some benefit from Astronomy and achieve their first astro images hopefully they develop and strong interest into Astronomy.

[@herblapp]

Hey Mate you've a good job taking folks thru this operation....looking forward to viewing your future vids for newbies....l'm not been at this since 1958...but interested in stuff for new folks to astro...taught astronomy for a decade, one year at Tyneouth College in North Shields! After all tgese years l am finally thawing out!! lol

[@backpackmc]

Excellent, very helpful and detailed. A couple of suggestions: (1) at the very start, set out the main stages to help folks understand what's coming, (2) set out any gotchas in advance, e.g. the replacement bearing is 4mm longer, so you need a dremel to cut material away. (3) dont be afraid to fast forward through some video footage, with either a voice over or text explaining what is happening. Keep up the great work!

[@MPAstro]

Thank you backpackmc I really appreciate the constructive comments, this is good feed back, which I am willing to take note and keep on improving myself, and try hardest to improve the video content onto my channel. So good videos like this will continue to show viewers that Budget Astronomy should be in everyone's eyes and shouldn't based around expensive equipment when there is no need, Astronomy is hobby for everyone to enjoy and not just a few.

[@michal_king478]

I love this series. I have the celestron cg 5 which is mechanically the same as the skywatcher eq5

[@MPAstro]

Totally true my friend, even though the Celestron is meant to be a better quality product, all of these are assembled in the same factory, just rebadged. Don't get me wrong Celestron are a trusted brand, but I cannot see the justification of spending a little bit more for something that is designed the same!! However please Michal give this super-tune a go, And trust on me on this one!! If you follow the series and carry the tune-up carefully, you'll will notice a real difference on it's performance!! My EQ-5 mount is being running like a dream for 2 years now, and it's not missed a beat yet, plus it's performed much better than what it used to be when it was brand new!!!

[@benben341]

When you tap the bearing - trying warming the housing up and freezing the new bearing. Metal expands when hot and shrinks when cold. As such putting a cold bearing into a warm housing(slightly wider due to heat) should be easier to fit.

[@Bills_APCh]

You must love this hobby so much! I can not imagine doing this and find I have broken the parts, or unsble to re-assemble. How the guiding and tracking works is miraculous! Does anyone service/repair EQ3 Pro mounts for a reasonable price?

[@MPAstro]

Thanks Bills_APChannel, There is Dark Frame that could do it for you, here is the link to their website. www.darkframeoptics.com/

[@jamesdougan8789]

g`day martin another top quality video mate looking forward to the next installment cheers james D

[@bramisheu8933]

Great detailed Vid as always... awesome content

[@johnmichalopoulos687]

Nice video! All parts I can say! Question! If we don't can find these baader greases, can we use different grease? What we should notice? I saw that are based at lithium!

[@MPAstro]

You can use Lithium bike grease, though once it ages in a year it becomes tacky. The Geoptik and Baader grease are much better for mounts and they last a long time, since my supertune from EQ-5 3 years ago, the grease is still pretty fresh, so it pays off to buy the best grease for you mount, even though it's expensive!! Here is a few links of the mount greases: www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/geoptik-equatorial-mount-grease-kit.html www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/baader-teflon-white-machine-grease-from-25c-up-to-40c.html

[@syberand]

Just found out I have a huge dec-backlash. So really studying your videos

[@MPAstro]

Go ahead keep watching, I've took a considerable amount of work and planning to get these videos going. Once you Super-tuned EQ-5, tell us how you got on and did it make a real difference in performance on your mount?

[@omulet29]

Can the DEC worm gear be damaged?The mount have 1 year.When I try to adjust the backlash in DEC, there is only one rotation in the worm gear, after which the whole DEC locks and I have to loosen all the screws,and try again to adjust backlash.In RA I don't have this problem, I can adjust the backlash without problems.The mount is EQ5PRO GOTO

[@MPAstro]

The DEC axis is the worst part on the EQ-5 mount, I have no idea why Celestron and Skywatcher adopted for bushes, it really beats me?? The only reason is that it's to keep costs down, it would make sense to manufacture the DEC axis with taper roller and ball bearings, it could have been done that way. The solution is to strip down the DEC components and investigate the bushes and gears, you will see damage if teeth are broken, if so trying to find replacement parts for the EQ-5 are difficult. Personally if the mount still has warranty, send it back to Manufacturers for repair, don't strip it down as you will invalidate the warranty.

[@omulet29]

@@MPAstro I found the problem, the worm dec has a 2mm error, it is ovalised, I used a comparator watch,i will try to buy a new worm gear

[@omulet29]

Ty for your reply :)

[@SirgeItalia]

@@omulet29 did you find a new worm gear? i tryed many times to improve the backslash, but it's so difficult, because, half rotation is ok, the other half is too LOOSE or too LOCK (used the 3 screw like the video)

[@omulet29]

@@SirgeItalia I found it, but all the orders come in August :(

[@alphaorionis9395]

Excellent videos Martin, are you aware there is a custom mod to belt drive the EQ5? (It's not the Rowan Engineering kit for the HEQ5, though it does use some sprockets from them)

[@MPAstro]

Thanks for watching Alpha!! No I am not aware of this one?? Do you know where you can find such link to a website?? Very interested to know??

[@alphaorionis9395]

You're very welcome, it's all good useful info! There's a pdf download here: astroheartuk.com/2020/11/04/eq5-pro-belt-modification/ Once I've got the belt mod up & running, I'll be doing at a full strip down as per your videos & I've had a word with a friend who has a metal workshop about machining the dec axis parts so we can fit some angular contact bearings. If we can do it, it should allow a reasonable increase to the load capacity.

[@MPAstro]

Amazing blog page!!! A belt mod for the EQ-5, I've asked Rowan Engineering quite a few times to do this!! And they never bothered with my reply!! I've always said this!! And I gonna say it!! They should listen to the views of their customers, If they want to make it big time, they should consider making belt mods for other mounts, there are so many people out there wanting to do this, all they have to do was design it and trial it out!! Here your design looks professional and let me know how you get on, I could make a video on this and I will defo give you the a big mention, end of the day we share the knowledge to help others!! Amazing work indeed Very Impressed Alpha!!

[@alphaorionis9395]

Don't credit me Martin, I think the fella who did the design is called Martin Douglas (his email is in the pdf somewhere) & checkout his PHD2 history graph after fitting it!! I quite agree with what you're saying though, I searched really hard to find this but given how relatively simple it is & the number of EQ5s out there, I'm surprised that Rowan haven't bothered to build a kit. It may be that they just don't sell enough of the HEQ version so don't think it's worthwhile, or that there's a requirement to remove some metal from the sprocket end of the dec worm drive. They charged me £35 for the two 9 tooth sprockets, which is a tidy amount for what they are, but they're the only people who make them & I'm still waiting on the 44 tooth pair from Beltingonline, as there is a lead time on production. I've also changed the fasteners to something a bit smaller too. Once I've completed it, I'll send you a couple of pictures.

[@MPAstro]

Thanks for letting me know who is the founder of this project, he'll defo be credited for his work, though there are changes which is required, as he has not included sizes and dimensions of the mounting plates, but other than that it's a good write-up. Totally agree Rowan should have considered making this design, though they sold you the smaller 9 tooth pulleys at a high price, which I find is too expensive to be honest!!! The 44 tooth pulley set, I'll try and see if there is alternative!! Do you know what diameter and size of the shaft you need for the 44 tooth pulley by any chance???

[@TerraeChannel]

I found needle bearing that could fit the same space as the hold groove bearing. Would it be good too?

[@MPAstro]

It might work and fit too, but the it's a different type of bearing, which acts on a completely different load. But give it try it could work out for you!!

[@TerraeChannel]

@@MPAstro I meant a thrust needle roller bearing. Isn't it working on the same load as a bush?

[@MPAstro]

Is this for the DEC axis, it might work, as the needle bearings are designed for carrying loads where one force is acting on. On the RA axis there are loads which all forces act on all angles hence why taper and ball bearings are used. Just to note if you are using Cylindrical needle bearing, there will be no free movement where the telescope is mounted, bushes are not the best, but they do provide load capacity at all angles. Even on the more expensive mounts there are ball and roller taper bearings used on the DEC axis, never needle roller bearings.

[@TerraeChannel]

@@MPAstro it's for both the DEC axis in place of the bush and the RA axis in place of the original thrust ball bearing. I dont know whh but I thought the forces acting upon those parts were mostly axial. Maybe I got a bit over enthusiastic

[@TerraeChannel]

@@MPAstro So after trying to fit needle roller bearings, I came to the conclusion that it did not work very well, as you said. It feels like the needles are getting constricted when turnong, either ond DEC or RA axis. For the RA axis I put back the old roller bearing with some new grease. Thanks to the main bearing change, there is quite an improvement. But the needle roller bearing on the DEC axis definitely make it worse in terms of torque needed to turn the axis. Quite a bummer.

[@nihalmirza8864]

Martin great videos, my eq5 behaves exactly as shown in first video and I was surprised that it even moved when clutches were released (mine did the same in RA axis), is there any benefit in putting ceramic bearings for worm gear and deep groove bearing (not thrust bearing)? They are a bit dearer not sure if they’d be any better.. also thrust bearing do you know what is the width of the original bearing? I don’t have any machining equipment or access but would like to have everything fit back as original. Again thanks for the video, hope to get a reply... cheers

[@MPAstro]

Ceramic bearings will make it smoother, but these are not cheap, personally I stick to SKF bearings they work great, good price and will last a very long time, so much better than the crappy Skywatcher bearings, which are so cheap indeed. The width I don't know to be honest, As I need to strip the mount down to find out, I have looked at machining grooves where a taper roller bearings could be mounted on the DEC axis, which now I believe the newer EQ-5 mount (green Setting circles model) has the new roller bearings on the DEC axis now!! It just shows that Skywatcher have been taking more notice of my videos, but I don't get any thanks from them!! But still who cares, my content is there to put Manufactures on their toes, they need to up their game, if they want to keep their customers happy!! Next time they need to listen to their customers and deliver decent high quality gear, instead of cutting corners, making stuff cheap, and barely perform out of the box, instead off making a quick buck or two!!! Get it Right the first time and sell good gear!!! In that way customers will give more positive feedback!! Apologies for the Rant LOL!!

[@tiagosousadias]

Hi Martin. Great job here. I don't think I did it right though. I regreased everything with the baader instead of the Geoptik brown one. Now both axis are harder to move than before. The baader grease itself feels gluey at touch. Is it supposed to be like this? Just so you have an idea, after reassembling both axis do not move and I need to apply some strength to move them. When I pick a bit of grease between my fingers my fingers are not slipery but get a bit glued together. Is that normal?

[@MPAstro]

The green Geoptik grease is sticky so that lubricates the worm and wheel drive, though only apply a thin film, just enough to do the trick.The brown grease is really for the shaft, bearings and for the inside of the aluminium drive gear where I found this grease to be too stiff , So I went for a better altenative which was this Baader grease www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/baader-arctic-cool-machine-grease-from-55c-up-to-30c.html Though it depends where you live too, the grease can vicosity could change in different environments. Also when I put my mount together, try not to overtighten as this can introduce stiffness, allow mount to operate first get moving parts, use on the night and if there's any freeplay then re-adjust, tio be honest I find EQ-5 much harder to tweak than the NEQ-6, and so I had to redjust mine on several attempts.

[@tiagosousadias]

@@MPAstro thank you. Regarding the reassembly, that part of the process went well and I even found that I had huge backlash which I was so used to that I didn't even care. Now it is gone. So thank you for that 😊. Regarding the grease. Yes. I completely bathed it in green grease (in the parts where the green is supposed to go). So I guess I will remove some. The Baader one though feels too gluey even to the touch. So, I start the whole process again and use the brown one instead. Even if in a year I have to do it again, it will certainly work better as it is much more slippery. Thanks man. Great job with these videos. Ah. You might want to do one for a motorised camera rotator with Onstep. Camera rotators are extremely expensive but very useful for anyone that wants to take panels.

[@anthonysaab1186]

What type # was that green grease you used? I just used the #2 grease for the ring gear, the same one that I used for all the rest of the parts.. does it matter?

[@Bills_APCh]

Can you make dec axis smoother without disassembly?

[@MPAstro]

My apologies but there is no other way to do it I'm afraid to say Bills_APChannel

[@richardwesson4106]

I noticed on my mount that when | disassembled the RA axis, that the main bearing was not stuck in the housing but rather held fast on the shaft. I couldnt find a way to remove it. Does anybody have any advice as I would like to remove and replace it.

[@MPAstro]

Try a a 2 jaw or 3 jaw puller, it may get it out

[@herblapp]

Where in the UK do you live?

[@tiagosousadias]

Just asked RHNutal for a quote on the shims and they're asking what type of material is it. Can you help?