Hello there and thanks for reading my guide to stripping the AZEQ6 mount down enabling you to clean and relubricate the all important worm gears and other bits and pieces.

I am not by any stretch of the imagination professing to be an expert in pulling things apart (although I do enjoy it), nor an engineer or mechanic or anything like that. However, I have successfully stripped the AZEQ6 down, managed to clean it all up and put it back together again and have no left over bits and pieces. Given the lack of AZEQ6 specific guides for stripping and relubricating available on the net, I thought it would be worthwhile sharing my experiences to assist other AZEQ6 owners out there who wish to tackle this task.

The first question that springs to mind is this: “If you have spent $2500 on this mount, why would you want to risk ruining it by pulling it apart?” The answer is simple – “To improve its guiding performance”. The AZEQ6 is an excellent mount, quite capable of producing excellent 30 minute guided 1150mm fl images with 25kg of Newtonian telescope balanced on top of it, but I found that it tended to jump around a lot (ruining a great many 30 minute subs in the process) with a pretty yucky looking periodic error curve in my guiding program. I had read again and again of people stripping their mounts down, cleaning the bearings, drive gears and worm gears, replacing the black gunk that is apparently lubrication with better lubrication and then putting it all back together again, and LO! Their guiding has improved and they were producing far superior images. So I scoured the WWW for guides to do this. I could find plenty of advice on stripping down the EQ5, NEQ6, but not the AZEQ6. With the general design of all three mounts being “generally” the same (with some big differences), I based my process on the Astrobaby NEQ6 guide.

There were some AZEQ6 specific guides available, but they lacked pictures explaining what everything was and where it all fitted, and thus (to me anyway) were no not very helpful. So, this guide, which will contain LOTS of pictures, was born to fill the gap.

Anyway, enough prattling on – into the fun and confusion of stripping the AZEQ6 down!

PART 1 – PREPARATION

As with any task as complicated as this, preparation is key. Read this guide through thoroughly before you start. Once you have fully understood what is suggested and you think you are ready to start, STOP, re-read the guide again and THEN think about starting. Make sure you have everything you need at hand, plenty of room and, most importantly, plenty of TIME! To reinforce the other EQ5 and NEQ6 guides out there, DON’T RUSH, THINK, THINK SOME MORE, and most importantly, THINK. I took close to 18 hours, over three nights, in total completing my strip back and reassembly.

TOOLS

You will need the following tools and equipment

x Plenty of table space – I used 2 large tables and 1 small table. One large table for the tools, one large table to lay all the mount components on and the small table for the mount itself. I covered the tables with towels.

x Hex keys – you will need a range of them. As I said, I am NOT and engineer, so I will not be providing you with the size or whether or not they are metric or imperial. I have a plastic container full of them, and just tried various ones until I found one that fit.

AZEQ6 Strip Down

x A small phillips head screwdriver – again, I can’t tell you what size. I have a set of precision screwdrivers like the ones in figure 1 (below)

Figure 1 - precision screwdrivers

x Good quality lubricant – most people out there recommend Lithium grease, available from good bike shops. Other people suggest grease with Teflon™ in it, which is what I ended up using as it has a wider temperature range.

x A large vice in which to place the mount when removing the right ascension (RA) locking nut x A specially manufactured tool with which to remove the RA locking nut (more on it later – this is the

hardest part of the whole process! I MEAN IT – it is HARD) x Plenty of lint free cloths to wipe dirty grease etc on (I used my wife’s old undies [because I don’t wear

any] and pyjama pants. You can use my wife’s as well if you wish, but I suggest talking to your OWN wife/husband/partner/significant other first!)

x An old toothbrush with which to clean things x A tub or something similar in which to clean things x Soap and water to assist with cleaning

PART 2 – DISASSEMBLY

The objective of this exercise is to pull the mount apart, enabling you to access the mechanical components to clean and relubricate them.

The AZEQ6 is comprised of 4 main components (please be aware that I may be naming these incorrectly, but I will ensure that you know what I am referring to – a name is but a name):

x The main HEAD, which has passing through it: o RA axis o Declination (DEC) axis; and

x Mounting bracket

Here’s a picture to put this into perspective… (Figure 2)

Figure 2 - The mount and its main components

What we are planning on doing is to firstly, remove the DEC axis from the main head, then remove the main head from the mounting bracket. Both of these components are held in place by locking nuts of some description. Once those nuts are removed the axes can come out. Let’s start with the DEC axis

DEC Axis

RA Axis

Main head

Mounting bracket

DEC AXIS REMOVAL

Sitting on top of the DEC axis is the mounting saddle, onto which you place the dovetail bar of your telescope. This needs to come off. To do this, loosen the three grub screws located in figure 3 below

Figure 3 - location of grub screws

Once the three grub screws are loosened the saddle will come off, as seen in figure 4 below

Figure 4 - saddle removal

Inside the DEC axis head itself is the counterweight bar (Figure 5). This will need to be removed, as shown in Figure 6 (obviously you will need to loosen its locking screw at the bottom the DEC axis.)

Figure 5 - Counterweight bar

Figure 6 - Counterweight bar removal

Next the counterweight bar locking nut (CBLN) and the DEC clutch mechanism need to be removed.

To remove the CBLN, loosen the three grub screws (Figure 7) and then unscrew and remove the nut (Figure 8).

Figure 7 - CBLN grub screws

Figure 8 - CBLN removal

The next step is to remove the Clutch mechanism. Be aware that there is a thin bearing and 2 thin metal “washers” (shims) within the mount head once the DEC clutch is removed (Figure 9)

Figure 9 - Clutch, shim and bearing

The DEC axis can now carefully be removed from the main head (Figure 10)

Figure 10 - DEC axis removal

Shim

Bearing – the other

shim is under the

bearing

(Note the hole in the DEC axis shaft – this allows you to see through the shaft when aligning with the polar scope.)

Here is the clutch with both shims and the bearing (Figure 11)

Figure 11 - DEC Clutch, shims and bearing

Now it is time to remove the main drive and worm gear housing – “Here’s where the fun begins”!

This is what you should see (Figure 12).

Figure 12 - DEC gears housing

1

2

3

1: Encoder and circuit board (CB) cover

2: Housing bolts

3: Main drive gear

And hidden from view, directly underneath the encoder is the all important worm drive. (Figure 13)

Figure 13 - Worm drive

The first thing to remove is the encoder cover. There are two little phillips head screws keeping this attached. (Figure 14). Remove them to reveal the CB. (Figure 15)

Figure 14 - Removing Encoder CB cover

Figure 15 - CB and encoder

Now remove the little wire plug from the CB. Take careful note that this wire goes through a hole in the housing when you are replacing it. Then remove the CB itself.

Next remove the main head side cover (the side with all the Patent numbers on it – NOT the side with the power stuff) (Figure 16) to reveal both sets of belts and gears etc. (Figure 16a)

Figure 16 - Remove side cover Figure 16a – Drive belts and gears

DEC belt

RA belt

Next, loosen the worm gear adjustment screws located at the front and rear of the housing (Figure 17 & 18)

Figure 17 – Worm adjustment grub screw

Figure 18 - Worm adjustment grub screw

Now completely remove the four (4) large hex bolts on top of the housing and carefully remove the housing along with the drive belt. (Figure 19)

Figure 19 - DEC housing and belt removal

Turn the housing over to see the worm. (Figure 20)

Figure 20 - Worm gear

There are some guides out there that explain how to remove the worm completely. To me, that seemed way too complicated, and, really, unless you are replacing any of the gears as a part of a hyper-tune, and if all you are doing is cleaning the worm, then there is no need to disassemble this any further. When cleaning the worm you will soon work out why it was necessary to remove the CB.

Now you can remove the main drive gear (Figure 21), which is turned by the worm gear.

Figure 21 - Drive gear

Looking at the main drive gear and having a good look at the worm gear in Figure 22, you can see the black gunk which apparently passes for lubricant. I am certain that there was a whole range of various bits of grit mixed in with this. My DEC axis had a SEVERE backlash problem, and I think this explains it.

Figure 22 - Worm gear close up

Now the housing and the main drive gear is removed, you should be left with something a lot like this…

Figure 23 - DEC axis head

I think it is worthwhile pausing here for a second to explain how the worm gear adjustment works. It is a counter-intuitive concept.

If you can imagine in the above picture the main drive gear and the worm gear in place, with the worm gear positioned at what I have called the “Back” of the head. When they are tightened (turned clockwise), the two (2) grub screws in the housing cover push against the Worm Gear adjustment points, physically moving the housing cover itself along with the attached worm gear to suitably align the worm gear with the main drive gear.

Here’s how it works…

Loosening (turning anti-clockwise) the BACK grub screw (pulling away from the BACK adjustment point) and tightening (turning clockwise) the FRONT grub screw (pushing against the FRONT adjustment point), pulls the housing towards the front of the head, moving the worm CLOSER to the main drive gear. (Figure 24)

Loosening the FRONT grub screw (pulling away from the FRONT adjustment point) and tightening the BACK grub screw (pushing against the BACK adjustment point), pulls the housing towards the back of the head, moving the worm AWAY from the main drive gear. (Figure 25)

Worm gear adjustment points

Bearing (second shim underneath)

Figure 24 - Bringing the worm gear closer

Figure 25 - Moving the worm gear away

Main drive gear

Worm gear

Anyway, back to the task at hand…

So far, hopefully, it has all been pretty straight forward. Nothing should’ve been overly difficult to remove.

NOW that all changes.

RA Axis removal

This is the hard bit, where delicate, precise, yet sheer brute force is required (at least it was for me – hopefully, your experience will be far less troublesome).

You now need to remove the RA axis from the mounting bracket (refer to Figure 2 for a reminder).

The first thing you should do is use the altitude adjustment to make the polar scope as close as possible to horizontal as you can. This will assist with the RA locking nut (RALN) removal.

DISCLAIMER: It is possible that the next part of the process is going to cause damage to the mount. However, this SHOULD only be the holes in the RALN. It is quite possible (likely) that the following process (in fact all of the things you do in this guide) will void any warranty you have on the mount.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN PERIL!

(Abandon all hope, ye who enter here/ Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate)

Now, CAREFULLY place the main head in the jaws of a vice using whatever protection you think necessary to prevent scratches etc to the paintwork of the mount. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN. You only have to prevent the main head from moving as you loosen the RALN.

Once secure, remove the Polar Alignment scope by turning it anti-clockwise.

Figure 26 - Polar alignment scope

This is what it should look like

Figure 27 - Polar alignment scope

What you should now see is this

Figure 28 - RA clutch and locking nut

Next remove the clutch lever. PLEASE NOTE – there is no need to remove the clutch ring. I am not sure what will happen to its operation if you do. Your choice…

Next you have to loosen three grub screws contained in the RALN. These fasten the RALN to the RA axis. You MUST loosen these off, otherwise you will ruin the thread on the RA axis. Figure 29 shows you their location.

Figure 29 - Location of grub screws

To find these grub screws, look through the holes on the edge of the clutch ring, Rotate the mounting bracket until you see the hole in the RALN. Loosen that grub screw then move on to the next one.

Now come the task of removing the RALN

BEFORE YOU START TO LOOSEN THE RALN, ASK YOURSELF, “HAVE I LOOSENED THE GRUBSCREWS?!”

If you are lucky enough a fairly large and sturdy pair of circlip pliers will suffice to remove the RALN. Like most normal screws, it loosens with an anti-clockwise turn. As you loosen, tighten by half a turn, then re-loosen a bit further. You will (should) find that as you go it becomes easier and easier to undo.

Unfortunately a large pair of circlip pliers did not do the trick (in fact I broke mine).

So I needed to manufacture a special tool to assist.

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world”.

This tool was a long piece of Al angle with 2 short bolts (just large enough to fit into the holes in the RALN). I placed the bolts in 2 of the holes and carefully and firmly held the bolts in place as I turned the lever in an anti-clockwise direction. You may need 2 people to do this. Figures 30-32 show you the general principle.

Figure 30 - my big tool

Figure 31 - putting my big tool in the holes

Figure 32 - See how big my tool is

Figure 33 - Removal of the RALN

Anyway, enough dick jokes…

Now that the RALN is removed, the mounting bracket should come off the main head, leaving you with something reminiscent of the T800 CPU access port

Figure 34 - Interior of clutch etc

Figure 35 - T800 CPU access port (They kinda look similar don’t they?!)

Anyhoo…

Under the RALN are 2 shims and a bearing. Remove these. Be aware that one of the shims might be stuck to the bottom of the RALN.

Now the RA gear housing cover needs to come off. This is the exact same process as with the DEC axis EXCEPT that there is a second encoder hidden within the housing cover (Figure 36). You need to be aware of this so you don’t damage the wiring when you remove the housing cover.

Figure 36 - second hidden encoder (Also note the black gunk on the main drive gear!)

As with the DEC axis, there are 2 shims and a bearing under the main drive gear.

And now, if all has gone well, you have successfully stripped back the AZEQ6 far enough to enable cleaning and relubrication of all the important gears and bearings. This is what my table looked like

Figure 37 - disassembled AZEQ6

You will see that there are internal bearings in the main head that haven’t been removed. I personally feel that additional lubrication is all that is needed with them. It is the worm and main drive gears that need your close attention and care.

Now, using warm soap and water, a toothbrush and some care, clean all the gears, shims and bearings. As you reassemble the mount, lubricate each part. I am not sure that there is a concept called “too much lubrication”. I used almost the entire tube of lithium grease I bought.

All that remains to be done is reassembly.

Be careful to thread encoder wiring through the right places and reconnect the wiring.

As with the disassembly, when reassembling, take your time, think and stop when you feel you need to.

Oh, by the way, the final picture is what clean gears look like…

Figure 38 - Clean worm and drive gears

If you have any questions, feedback or want something added to the guide (I have lots more photos that I didn’t feel were needed) please feel free to contact me on (+61)0422 690 380.

Once again, thanks for looking

Scott Cunnington