Getting Started

				CG-5 INFORMATION
				Introduction
				Preparation
				Getting Started
				Declination Axis
				Right Ascension Axis
				Tripod Tips
				ASTRONOMY INFORMATION
				Barn Door Camera Mount
				Equatorial Mount Animation
				Comet Hale-Bopp Photos
				Constellation Portraits
				Home Page

Start the disassembly by removing and setting aside the manual slow motion knobs and the plastic RA motor cover. Remove the counterweight shaft.

Next, separate the RA and Dec sections of the equatorial head. I refurbished the Dec assembly of my CG-5 while it was still attached to the RA assembly. This was before I realized how much easier the job becomes when the two sections are separated.

To separate the sections, remove the two large hex head screws which pass through the Dec housing and into the RA housing on either side of the opening for the polar alignment scope. The entire Dec assembly can now be removed from the rest of the equatorial head.

A Note About Plastic Washers
The inside of my CG-5 equatorial head contained more than a dozen friction-reducing clear plastic washers (or spacers). Your CG-5 may contain more or fewer of these parts.

Most of these washers are coated with grease. This makes them difficult to see, and also causes them to adhere to other parts. So check very carefully at each step to be sure you've found all the washers, removed them, and noted their locations for later re-assembly.

For the refurbished equatorial head to work properly, it is important that each washer be replaced in its correct location when you reassemble the head. So be sure you have some means for identifying the washers. This is a good reason to make notes and to keep several containers on hand for storing parts.

To separate the two parts of the head, remove the indicated screw and the matching one on the other side of the Dec housing.

The equatorial head can be further subdivided by detaching the RA assembly from the azimuth/latitude assembly, but I did not do this.