Old mach1 stiff axis
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Woody Schlom
Chris,
My 100% Silicone grease is very thin and soft. Almost liquid.
My experience with light-weight white Lithium grease has been that it can be very light (some brands and grades even lighter than my 100% Silicone – and much less sticky), but depending on brand, that it can separate over time and weather conditions – leaving a liquid and solid component. The liquid part can make a mess, and the solid part is – well solid and useless as a lubricant.
But that was my experience decades ago – mostly with bicycles. I’ve mostly switched to synthetics and Silicone grease now.
Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you.
Woody
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> On Behalf Of Chris White
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2022 3:19 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Old mach1 stiff axis
On Mon, Nov 21, 2022 at 05:32 PM, George wrote:
Excellent. Thank you George |
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I'll chime in with another thought learned the hard way with my red mount from Colorado. If you mix two different lubes, depending on their make-up at the molecular level, they can conflict and push each other away. The mount I had trouble with came with Lubriplate 105 and I thought I was being clever (being a retired DuPont employee) in using some fancy Krytox(tm) lube and a short time after applying the Krytox I discovered I had NO lube on the worm and gears. NONE. What the heck? Then a chemical engineer told me about these conflicting lubes and said you should really always try to use what was there before. Stuart Heggie On Tue, 22 Nov 2022 at 13:42, Woody Schlom <woody_is@...> wrote:
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Chris White
I picked up a tube of White Lithium Grease from lowes. It has an almost silky smooth creamy texture. I applied this to the required areas of the clutch assembly.
Magic. Went from requiring 5 lbs of force with a fish scale hooked into the end of the couterweight bar to move in either direction, to rotating under it's own weight. I also cleaned out all the tired grease from the gears and regreased with AP's special sauce. The mount is whispering,"ahhhhh... thank you." :-) |
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Roland Christen
Sounds delicious.
 Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris White <chris.white@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Tue, Nov 22, 2022 6:14 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Old mach1 stiff axis I picked up a tube of White Lithium Grease from lowes. It has an almost silky smooth creamy texture. I applied this to the required areas of the clutch assembly.
Magic. Went from requiring 5 lbs of force with a fish scale hooked into the end of the couterweight bar to move in either direction, to rotating under it's own weight. I also cleaned out all the tired grease from the gears and regreased with AP's special sauce. The mount is whispering,"ahhhhh... thank you." :-) -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics |
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Who needs a companion robot when you have an AP mount.
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midnightsnacks
Hello, Is there documentation available that would help guide me through a clutch re-grease on my Mach1? Thank you, Kevin. On Nov 22, 2022, at 9:04 PM, Emilio J. Robau, P.E. <ejr@...> wrote:
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Chris White
Kevin,
I don't know if there is a document, but it is SUPER easy to do. See the photo below: Remove the saddle mounting plate from DEC axis. You will see 4 bolts in the center. Remove these 4 bolts and the clutch assembly comes apart. It's not really complicated and there are not too many pieces so there is no worry about confusing things. Just be careful as there are 4 small brass washers between the ring gear and the central pillar where the 4 bolts are. I didnt realize this and a couple fell into the axis and I had to fish them out. Once you separate everything, just clean up all the old grease and reapply grease on the top and bottom of the big brass washer, as well as the tapered section of the central pillar. Then reassemble. Thats it. You will see the same configuration for the RA axis once you remove the DEC axis from the mount. Its easier to reassemble if you orient the mount so that the 4 bolts are perfectly vertical. Once you grease it the pieces will slide around a little, and a vertical orientation will help keep it all where it belongs.  |
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Chris,
Why a Mach 1? I see you have owned a few AP mounts, 900 1100. Why did you choose to seek out and rehab a Mach 1? |
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Chris White
On Wed, Nov 23, 2022 at 12:36 PM, Emilio J. Robau, P.E. wrote:
Chris,I never had an 1100... I had a 900, wonderful mount. I sold it though when my name came up for a Mach2. The mach2 is setup in a small obsy, but I have a limited horizon due to trees. A nice northern view but I cant go below Dec 10 really. So Orion is out, etc... I wanted a small portable mount I could move around my yard for better views, but I didnt want to disturb the Mach2 so I bought a 400GTO this summer. Unfortunately, I couldnt get it to work for me despite a trip back to AP. Unresolvable backlash in DEC. Great for visual but not for imaging. I considered the new strainwave mounts, but I just don't trust them yet and not willing to be an early adopter. Plus, I'd REALLY like to image unguided if possible. I already have a spare copy of APCC and I trust AP mounts and the company.... So that left me with finding a Mach1. |
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Okay,
I thought you also owned an 1100. Too bad on the 400. |
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Joseph Beyer
Good luck! My late model Mach1 will do 3 minute subs all night unguided with my FSQ-106 on top. I’ve run it to 5 minutes several times and still have nice round stars but with a guidescope on it already it’s easy to just start it and leave it. With a good Dec arc sequence running in the background there aren’t that many corrections made in a 5 minute stretch though.
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Chris White
Thanks! I'm looking forward to testing it out!
I'll be using with epsilon (3 to 5 min) as well as the GTX (5 to 10min) . On the GTX I have space for an oag. Trickier with epsilon. |
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Bill Long
Fresh PEC, good model, and I bet it'll do well.
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Chris White <chris.white@...>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2022 2:20 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Old mach1 stiff axis Thanks! I'm looking forward to testing it out!
I'll be using with epsilon (3 to 5 min) as well as the GTX (5 to 10min) . On the GTX I have space for an oag. Trickier with epsilon. |
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Pamela Morgan
Hi Chris.
Sorry for jumping in on this so late. I'm also in the process of cleaning and re greasing my first generation Mach1. My first time taking it apart. It has been quite a learning experience. This thread has been really helpful. I just wanted to clarify which part of the clutch you are applying the white lithium grease to. Isn't the tapered part where the clutches make contact? Seems like they would slip, but I am NOT mechanically inclined....at all. Is this the tapered part you are referring to:  Thanks in advance. pam |
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Roland Christen
You can grease that part too. The clutches won't slip when they are tightened.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Pamela Morgan <pfmckee@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 3:52 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Old mach1 stiff axis Hi Chris.
Sorry for jumping in on this so late. I'm also in the process of cleaning and re greasing my first generation Mach1. My first time taking it apart. It has been quite a learning experience. This thread has been really helpful. I just wanted to clarify which part of the clutch you are applying the white lithium grease to. Isn't the tapered part where the clutches make contact? Seems like they would slip, but I am NOT mechanically inclined....at all. Is this the tapered part you are referring to:  Thanks in advance. pam -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics |
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Pamela Morgan
Thank you for clarifying, Roland. Should it be just a thin coat like on the washers? I can't wait to run it all clean and fresh again.
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Roland Christen
Put as much as you want, the grease will spread itself out.
Roland
-----Original Message-----
From: Pamela Morgan <pfmckee@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 4:05 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Old mach1 stiff axis Thank you for clarifying, Roland. Should it be just a thin coat like on the washers? I can't wait to run it all clean and fresh again.
-- Roland Christen Astro-Physics |
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George
…and grease both sides of the brass ring that that clutch plate sits on.
Regards,
George
George Whitney Astro-Physics, Inc. Phone: 815-222-6538 (direct line) Phone: 815-282-1513 (office) Email: george@... Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/astrophysicscorp
From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io>
On Behalf Of Roland Christen via groups.io
Sent: Thursday, December 1, 2022 4:18 PM To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Old mach1 stiff axis
Put as much as you want, the grease will spread itself out.
Roland
-----Original Message----- Thank you for clarifying, Roland. Should it be just a thin coat like on the washers? I can't wait to run it all clean and fresh again.
On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 1:59 PM Roland Christen via groups.io <chris1011=aol.com@groups.io> wrote:
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Pamela Morgan
Will do. I had only lightly greased one side of the rings and washers, basically just to make them stay put. George, does it matter which grease I use on the ring? I have the AP grease kit also. Thank you both:) On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:46 PM George <george@...> wrote:
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Chris White
On Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 06:36 PM, Pamela Morgan wrote:
Will do. I had only lightly greased one side of the rings and washers, basically just to make them stay put. George, does it matter which grease I use on the ring? I have the AP grease kit also.Pamela, I used this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lucas-Oil-Products-8-oz-White-Lithium-Grease/50353744 It's nice and light. The AP special grease will be too heavy per Roland. The white lithium grease made a big difference for me. |
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