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.

Remove ScrewsRemove the silver Phillips screw in the declination
lock lever.

Remove Lock LeverRemove 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 Declination Lock BoltRemove the brass declination lock bolt. You may
need to use a small spanner or pliers to loosen it.

Button RemovalRemove 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.

6 Philips ScrewsRemove 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.

Remove Motor CoverRemove the motor cover and lay it aside with its
screws.

3 Set ScrewsLoosen the 3 set screws in the dovetail carrier.
These are located closest to the dovetail.

Remove Dovetail CarrierRemove 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.

Deep Set ScrewsLoosen 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.

Declination Shaft NutUnscrew and Remove the round 'nut' at the top of
the Declination shaft. 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 Set ScrewsLoosen the three set screws in the counterweight
collar.

Counterweight CollarUnscrew the counterweight collar. It may be quite
tight.

Remove Tapered BearingRemove the tapered bearing behind the counter-
weight collar. Mine showed very little lubrication as can be seen here.

Declination ScaleRemove 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.

Adjustment Set ScrewLoosen the worm adjustment set screw located just
in front of the power panel. This will need to be
loosened a lot.

Worm Set ScrewLoosen 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.

Cap Head BoltsRemove the three cap head bolts. They are usually
silver coloured located on the top of the worm
carrier.

Tap Declination ShaftNow lightly tap the end of the Declination shaft
which is exposed (after removing the counterweight
collar) with a rubber mallet or block of wood.

Set Aside Declination ShaftSlide 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.

Brass Declination GearRemove the brass Declination gear carefully.

Clear WasherTake care to note and remove the small clear
washer and remember to replace it later.

Worm Drive CarrierRemove the worm drive carrier.

Roller BearingRemove the roller bearing from the main housing.
My bearings showed poor lubrication from the
factory.

Remove BearingsRemove the two roller bearings from the Declination
gear. The gear showed swarf contamination from the
manufacturing process in my mount.

Brass Drive GearRemove 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.

Float AdjustersThe 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 WormRemove 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

The picture shows all of the gears and bearings cleaned and awaiting lubrication and re-assembly.

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.

• Lubrication and Reassembly of the Declination Axis
• Strip Down and Cleaning of the Right Ascension Axis
• Lubrication and Reassembly of the Right Ascension Axis
• Adjusting Worm Gear Engagement – Motor Gears
• Adjusting the Altitude Thrust Bearings
• Appendix – Hardware and Software History