1 - Synta HEQ5 - Stripping & Cleaning the Declination (DEC) Axis This procedure will guide you in stripping down and cleaning the HEQ5 Declination axis. Re-assembly of the Declination axis is covered HERE. To carry out this procedure you will need a good assortment of tools including cross head and Phillips screwdrivers, a rubber or nylon mallet, a soft toothbrush, degreasing agent, metric Allen keys, long nosed pliers, lots of lint free cloths and lithium grease. I found commercial degreasing agents somewhat ineffective and resorted to using good old hot soapy water. Lithium grease is easily available from shops selling bicycles. Its also advised to have a large soft towel or similar to lay the mount on while working on it to protect its external finish. I would strongly advise you do not attempt this procedure without reading it through a few times in advance to understand the process. The procedure takes around 2 hours from top to bottom unless you are very confident of what you are doing and have exactly the right tools. Its definitely best to have someone around to help you with some elements of it - remember take your time and when in doubt STOP and think. Take a break when tired because you dont want to bodge anything. The DEC and RA worm gear adjustment process required after re-assembly can be quite lengthy as its very much trial and error so bear this in mind before starting and allow plenty of time to carry out the procedure - it will pay dividends in terms of smooth and precise running and longevity of the mount. Stage 1 - Stripping the Dec Axis Remove the silver Phillips screw in the declination lock lever. Remove the lock lever. You may need to prise this up by using the tip of a flat bladed screwdriver and gently twisting the tip. Remove the brass declination lock bolt. You may need to use a small spanner or pliers to loosen it.       Remove the small 'button' if this didn't come out with the lock bolt. If you cant get this out don't worry it can be removed at a later stage. Unscrew the 6 Phillips screws around the plastic motor cover. Remove the motor cover and lay it aside with its screws.       Loosen the 3 set screws in the dovetail carrier. These are located closest to the dovetail. Remove the dovetail carrier. You may have to twist it back and forth and gently rock it off. Note: You can at this point remove the counterweight bar by pushing it up and out of the DEC axis after removing the knurled safety nut on the end. Loosen the deep set screws in the Declination barrel. On my mount these screws do not hold anything as the barrel is a single piece of machined metal. But some mounts are two piece.       Unscrew and Remove the round 'nut' at the top of the Declinationshaft. You can use either a pair of Allen keys, two small Phillips drivers or a pair of strong snipe nosed pliers as shown here. At this stage you may be able to remove the Declination barrel if its in two pieces (mine appears to be a single piece) . If not don't worry and carry on - it will be freed up later. Loosen the three set screws in the counterweight collar. Unscrew the counterweight collar. It may be quite tight.     Remove the tapered bearing behind the counter- weight collar. Mine showed very little lubrication as can be seen here. Remove the Declination scale from the counter- weight collar. If the mount is to be GoTo apply a small smear of grease otherwise clear any grease from the collar. Loosen the worm adjustment set screw located just in front of the power panel. This will need to be loosened a lot.       Loosen the opposing worm adjustment set screw opposite the screw on the previous step - as shown above. This will also need to be slackened off a lot. Remove the three cap head bolts. They are usually silver coloured located on the top of the worm carrier. Now lightly tap the end of the Declination shaft which is exposed (after removing the counterweight collar) with a rubber mallet or block of wood.     Slide out the Declination shaft and set it aside. On my unit the Declination barrel refused to budge from the main shaft - this isn't important. Note: If you had been unable to get the lock lever 'brass button' earlier - it will now be easy to remove from inside the Dec barrel. Remove the brass Declination gear carefully. Take care to note and remove the small clear washer andremember to replace it later.       Remove the worm drive carrier. Remove the roller bearing from the main housing. My bearings showed poor lubrication from the factory. Remove the two roller bearings from the Declination gear. The gear showed swarf contamination from the manufacturing process in my mount.       Stage 2 - Stripping the Worm Carrier Remove the brass drive gear from the end of the worm. This has two set screws and may need to be pulled off using some blunt nosed pliers on its central raised area NOT on the teeth. Do not lever this off as it can be easily damaged. The worm is held into the carrier by two 'float' adjusters. These require a special tool BUT can be removed by using a pair of small screwdrivers. Inser the drivers into the small slot and rotate using even pressure. Remove only ONE of the float adjusters. Remove the worm itself. You will notice it has two small bearings, these can be removed. One of the bearings is shown in the picture in the bottom right hand corner. Note the worm adjustment set screws. You will need to adjust these at the end of re-assembly.       Stage 3 - Cleaning & Lubrication With a clean lint free cloth now wipe all the oil from the components. On my mount the roller bearings were sealed and appeared to be well lubricated so were left alone. The tapered bearing had almost no lubrication and so was cleaned and relubricated with lithium grease. To lubricate bearings put a blob of grease onto the palm of your hand and press the bearing into it and then rotate the bearing around forcing the grease into the inside of the bearing. The brass worm gears and steel worm should all be cleaned in a degreasing agent. I personally find really hot water and a basic detergent works best. These were cleaned with a soft toothbrush and then rinsed and left to dry. All of the gears showed either little lubrication and/or engineering swarf though none of the legendary black 'goop' that is supposed to be used in Synta mounts. The picture to the left shows all of the gears and bearings cleaned and awaiting lubrication and re-assembly.     That completes strip down of the Declination Axis. If you wish to go to the re-assembly guide click HERE or go back to the main page HERE