how did you polish the gears?

With whatever I've found in the kitchen cabinet, used some Bio-mex surface cleaner and a cloth.
Nothing special there really.

I was debating today about the need of replacing the bearings within the brass dec/ra gear, they are metal sealed and therefore near impossible to open up and inspect.
One of the four was almost locked, it took me a bit of force to get it going.

Now, one of them is clearly not happy...



so, I will replace all of them with some SKF bearings.

Good idea to get all new bearings. Probably would do that if I did it again. But I'm pretty sure they come un-greased so you will have to pop the seal and pack with grease. Still popping the seal is easy, you just pry it open with a small screwdriver but careful not to cut the rubber - once again, youtube has the answer. A thin bit of rubber is keeping the seal on the bearing, its not a strong seal.

This is not a rubber sealed bearing, it's metal sealed...

There’s a metal ring with a rubber trim. At least it was like that for mine. If it’s all metal. I imagine it’s unserviceable.

I have now placed my bearings order... it's not cheap when you go with SKF bearings...

is it possible to post the specs/Part numbers of the bearings you bought? i want them for future reference

I took the sizes from this post stargazerslounge.com/topic/233261-sizes-...ment&comment=2758657 and they seemed to be correct.

Here's the list, as per my first post.

I have just received my new bearings, wow you can really see and feel the difference. These SKF bearings are top notch quality. Well worth the money.
Awaiting the new grease "Loctite 21030 Super Lube Grease" to arrive.

I have now finished re-assembling the mount.


I am not quite 100% happy, but hey this is the first time I do this.
It was quite simple to put it back together, the bearings can be tricky to install. There is a night/day difference with the old bearings.
The hardest and longest thing to do was to adjust the worms, it takes time and patience....
But, all the issues I had before are now gone, no sticky points, everything is nice and smooth.

I would recommend it if you do have an old HEQ5 pro mount.