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I have largely completed the rebuild of the heavily modified RA worm/motor housing. The new, 260T belt now fits perfectly without an idler.
I
carried the heavy drive unit upstairs to fit it onto my massive,
home-built mounting. Then realised that the changed, worm offset needed
new mounting holes for the drive assembly. I shall attend to that after
lunch. I hope it has all been worthwhile.
The pre-loading on the worm bearings is applied by washers over the bearing retention screws. The bearing having been made to protrude very slightly beyond its housing with a thin shim [washer] on the worm axle. I had made an angle section brace for that end of the worm. Which no longer fitted after the worm was offset relative to the motor. I shall soon find out if I need another one.
I had to remove the main motor plate from the mounting to make new slots. Then rebuild the bottom end of the Polar Axis. This required leaning on a long length of brass tube pushed onto the RA shaft to help to balance the mounting.
The increased, clearance problems between the motor housing and the pier required more, time consuming woodwork. It would have been quicker to remove the motor assembly.
The RA feels much "stiffer" now as the telescope is manually rocked up and down by the focuser. Without the previous sponginess. It was too late to try the drives by the time I had to call a halt.
The noise from the gales up in the dome was unbelievable! Mostly from the rubber skirt being violently shaken or slapping hard against the structure. There was zero sign of the dome itself lifting or moving. I shall avoid having a soft skirt on the new dome.
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