My G-11 mount is about two years old. I keep it on the pier in a weather protected enclosure, but it sees alot of temperature extremes (0 to 90F), and I think its time to clean and regrease. Anyone have any links or sites with recommendations on grease, cleaning fluids, procedures, etc.?
G-11 maintenance
Started by hvacguy1, 03/02/2008 02:27AM
Posted 03/02/2008 02:27AM
Opening Post
Posted 03/02/2008 03:14PM
#1
SOunds a bit early to me. What makes you think it is necessary? DOes it still move around freely?
And, by the way--it is really very easy to do......Just disassemble, clean off any old grease with whatever works well with you (wd-40 among other things) regrease with white lithium all purpose grease, and reassemble. Make sure you get nothing on the bearing surfaces. (Wipe the bearing surfaces with alcohol before reassembling.) Make sure the needle bearings inside are really turning before reassembly.
Alex
And, by the way--it is really very easy to do......Just disassemble, clean off any old grease with whatever works well with you (wd-40 among other things) regrease with white lithium all purpose grease, and reassemble. Make sure you get nothing on the bearing surfaces. (Wipe the bearing surfaces with alcohol before reassembling.) Make sure the needle bearings inside are really turning before reassembly.
Alex
Posted 03/02/2008 06:52PM
| Edited 03/02/2008 07:00PM
#2
Agree with most of the other advice. 90F is not
too bad, but if you just throw an unvented cover
over the mount it can reach 120F or 130F and grease
will migrate and dry out. Two years is probably
a little early, but does not hurt to check.
One test is to pull out one of the axes, and then
reach into the housing with a finger (maybe use a
glove) and see if the needle bearings rotate freely
and the races go around. If its very gummy (or all
glued solid with dry grease), then its high time
for a re-lube.
Pay careful attention to the assembly order of all
the washers, bearings, spacers, etc. on the end of
the shaft. I think the Losmandy web site has some
diagrams.
On mine I cleaned out the old grease with WD40
and lots of running the bearings around and
wiping with paper towels. Get as much of the WD40
out as possible. (There are automotive degrease
chemicals that can also be used, but I figure WD40
is probably not very toxic.) Then re-lube with
some synthetic grease -- I used Slick 50 One Grease
which was recommended on some other forum. You
want something that will not sieze-up at cold
temperatures.
The teflon (or whatever the plastic) clutch pads are
need to be completely free of grease. Clean them with
alcohol as someone else suggested.
There is a good website with info on cleaning G11 here:
http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~mischa/mounts/g11_tuning.html
http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~mischa/mounts/g11_disassembly.html
too bad, but if you just throw an unvented cover
over the mount it can reach 120F or 130F and grease
will migrate and dry out. Two years is probably
a little early, but does not hurt to check.
One test is to pull out one of the axes, and then
reach into the housing with a finger (maybe use a
glove) and see if the needle bearings rotate freely
and the races go around. If its very gummy (or all
glued solid with dry grease), then its high time
for a re-lube.
Pay careful attention to the assembly order of all
the washers, bearings, spacers, etc. on the end of
the shaft. I think the Losmandy web site has some
diagrams.
On mine I cleaned out the old grease with WD40
and lots of running the bearings around and
wiping with paper towels. Get as much of the WD40
out as possible. (There are automotive degrease
chemicals that can also be used, but I figure WD40
is probably not very toxic.) Then re-lube with
some synthetic grease -- I used Slick 50 One Grease
which was recommended on some other forum. You
want something that will not sieze-up at cold
temperatures.
The teflon (or whatever the plastic) clutch pads are
need to be completely free of grease. Clean them with
alcohol as someone else suggested.
There is a good website with info on cleaning G11 here:
http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~mischa/mounts/g11_tuning.html
http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~mischa/mounts/g11_disassembly.html
Posted 03/03/2008 01:50PM
#3
I have one of the earliest G11’s, it has Celestron on it, the most important maintenance for this mount is de-greasing the clutch discs. The clutch design is the weak point of this mount and when it gets greasy it loses what little grip that it has. The grease will somehow find its way to the plastic clutches and when that happens you must clean up the assembly.
With my mount I generally clean the clutches twice a year, it really makes a huge difference in the holding power of the mount particularly if you are using a longish refractor with heavy accessories hanging on its tail.
Vahe
With my mount I generally clean the clutches twice a year, it really makes a huge difference in the holding power of the mount particularly if you are using a longish refractor with heavy accessories hanging on its tail.
Vahe
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