Re: G11 dismantling and cleaning
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I avoided trying to remove the cylindrical needle bearings.? I was worried about getting them back in skewed off axis.?? Instead, I removed the 1.25 inch shaft, and corked up the bottom of the 1.25 inch enclosure, and poured in some Berryman B-12 chemtool solvent, to clean them in situ.? That freed up the gummed up needle bearings.? This was done outdoors as this solvent is very strong toxic stuff. Other parts were placed in a metal bucket and soaked with the same solvent. After drying out the solvent, I relubed and all was rotating smoothly. Best of luck, Michael On Mon, Apr 27, 2020, 2:27 PM ellis.nick via <ellis.nick=[email protected]> wrote: After giving my GM-8 mount a service and freeing up bearings and re-greasing, I thought I would also give the even older G11 mount the same treatment which is permanently setup in an observatory (GM-8 is kept indoors when not in use). Dismantling most of it has been straightforward, but the two needle bearings in the RA axis don't rotate and need to be soaked in solvent to free them up. They certainly do not look rusty, so I think it is just hardened grease. I would like to remove the RA tube from the saddle and immerse it in solvent and at the same time dismantle the saddle to clean it and re-grease the threads and surfaces. I have undone a few of the bolts and screws but it looks as if I will have to resort to a mallet to tap off knobs and tap out the brass altitude pivot. Nothing just pulls out easily after undoing the bolt or grub screw. Has anyone done this before and able to offer advice? |
Michael Herman