On Thu, Apr 24, 2025 at 06:31 PM, fetoma wrote:
I'm doing a deep dive into my G11 and replaced all the bearings. One thing I noticed is while replacing the inner needle bearings is that one end of the RA and Dec axis housings have enough room to fit two needle bearings. See photos. Do you think it would help in any way to add another bearing in this space?
Hi Frank,
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Just as Laurel, I added a third bearing to a G11 more than 20 years ago, when I was planning to put a 10" SCT on it side-by-side with a small refractor. The thinking was to stabilize the axis, fix it so there's little chance of a wobble. It took some effort to install the third bearing -- I didn't have any specialized equipment to do so.
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What was worse was that it became nearly impossible to push the axis through the three bearings. With three bearings that are properly sized, you'll need to make sure that all three are aligned very precisely, that none are even slightly tilted relative to the others. Any slight tilt of the new bearing will surely help secure the axis better, but will also make it nearly impossible to get the axis threaded through all three of them! :( It took me nearly a day to rectify a slight tilt I introduced with the new bearing. The one I installed fit very snuggly into the axis tube, so making adjustments to its position was not easy.
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I can't say for sure that it improved anything with the mount, but after all the pain and suffering, the G11 performed well for years, and I still have it and use it on occasion when I need a portable set up :)
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Regards,
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? ?-Paul
Paul Kanevsky