Hello to the group and Gene Hays in partcular;

FOR SALE: USED DEC AXIS NYLON BEARINGS FROM LX200.

I have been the proud owner of an 10' LX200 since April 92. As all of you
know, it was cloudy the day I got it so I set it up inside and within 5 min.
the motors were both locked up. I called Meade and UPS was here the next day
and the scope was back in 2 weeks. Turns out some of the first ones had
gearbox's with aluminum and steel gears and the steel gears just had the
aluminum gears for lunch. Since then the scope has worked flawlessly and
given me much pleasure.

About a year ago I noticed that the dec axis was tight. Even when out of
balance the scope just sat there when the dec lock was off. As time went on
the dec motor even sounded slower. When I found this group and the dec
bearing mod by Michael Hart, I knew what I had to do.

After taking the scope apart it was off to the machine shop. Mike was right
about the bearing, I paid $4.95 each. However the machine shop was another
story. No freebes here. $48.00 per hour and since Meades orginal holes were
off center by .001in., it took then 1 1/2 hrs. They also pressed in the new
bearings.

After getting it all home I then cleaned out all the old grease and using a
pin point oiler with DuraLube Teflon based oil, I oiled all the gear shafts
and bearing points on the motors and gearbox's. This action alone made the
motor assy. run much smoother and somewhat quieter. I then lubed up the spur
and main gears with SuperLube Teflon gear lube. I also used this grease on
the new dec. bearings. I then put it all back together and Mike you were
right, that dec axis is nearly friction free. I also preformed Mikes
alignment check and had to make small corrections. So now the tube will
swing with the lightest touch and as Mike said, you best be hanging on to it
when you release the dec clutch. Now the dec motor drives the scope up/down
much more smoothly, with less noise and faster (due to the decrease in
friction). It was clear outside Sunday so I set it up and found the planets
and six stars in the daytime. The scope tracks perfectly, and even with a
sloppy setup, objects were in the field of a 20mm Nagler. I am confident
that with a precise setup, they will be in the center every time.

Would I do it again or tell you to do it?? YES. I spent $82.00 total and if
it means never having a dec assy fail due to friction or load on the motor
then it was worth it. Actually just seeing how much better the axis moves is
worth it. I would recommend that anyone who is comfortable with tools and
doesn't turn pale when thinking of taking apart the scope--DO IT !!

One last thing. Sorry this is long but please bear with me. Over time I have
noticed an increased grinding sound in the RA axis. When I had the scope
apart I took the base apart also to clean and relubed the RA motor/gearbox.
This is what I found. The manual RA knob turns a gear in the base which
turns the main manual RA gear. This small gear pass's through a shaft in the
base which has an off center hole drilled in it for the gear shaft to pass
through. The outer shaft can be turned by loosining the set screw and
turning the outer shaft with a pair of pliers. Doing so will determine how
the small gear mesh's with the big gear. In my case they were making to much
contact and grinding and eating each other up. Now they mesh properly and
are very quite. Please note-this can only be done with the base taken apart
as you need to hold the small gear in place with a finger both while you
make the ajustment and when you put the manual RA knob back on.

A ton of thanks go out to Michael Hart for his daring to be first with this
mod and to Doc G. for putting this mod on his web site for all to see.
Please-take the time to do this mod, you won't regret it. If not, at least
take the scope apart and clean it and re-lube it. That alone will extend its
life.

Thanks for reading this and clear sky's for all.

John Thomas President
Central Montana Astronomy Society
Great Falls, Mt

View index by [date] [author] [subject]
Previous message: Re: [M]: 216XT download times, Graham Warrellow
Next message: Re: [M]: Meade 12" LX-200, Balthasar Indermuehle
Next message in thread: Re: [M]: LX200 dec bearing mod, ragreiner