350P side ALT PAD MOD

[Daniel-K]

the reason I done this mod was because when I was using the dob in the up & down movements it was "STICKY" and it was making a horrible creaking noise probably from the tension on the handles.

I bought some 1.5mm pfte from ebay and used the original pad as a stencil. not the easiest stuff to cut neatly.after  getting the pads to fit i realised the 1.5mm wasn't thick enough as it was sitting flush with the alt bearings instead of sticking out 0.5m but it was easily over come by using some double sided no nails tape used to stick the pads to the bearings. Now the tape was on i had my 0.5mm clearance which gave me good contact when i tightened up the handles on scope.

Last night i got to test it out and it is sooo smooth and those really fine adjustments are really easy to make,there's no more creaking sounds either. well worth the £10 I have enough left over so I may redo the circles to try and get them neater.

Dan

[emadmoussa]

Good one, Dan.

I'm just curious it is an inherently consistent problem with the 14"? With my 12" which uses exactly the same technique it was pretty smooth..

[Daniel-K]

Good one, Dan.

I'm just curious it is an inherently consistent problem with the 14"? With my 12" which uses exactly the same technique it was pretty smooth..

those red pads are utter garbage they warp over time when exposed to dew. I don't know if anyone else has had the same problem as me but it was driving me nuts when trying to get the DSO in the middle of the EP and it would jump rather than glide.

[emadmoussa]

I guess I haven't had mine long enough to see this happen. I'll see when the 14" has arrived..

[michaeldurban]

i have the same problem on my 10"

those red rings are rubbish...

will try some other material..it can't get any worse !

[Avocette]

I tackled the problem in reverse - I left the red fibre washers in place but glued a teflon pad about 10cm square on the 'white' side of the bearing so the red fibre now rubs against teflon. I did this only on the side with the tension control thrust bearing. Better than before but I'm sorely tempted to do a proper job i.e. as demonstrated by Moonshane and most recently Steppenwolf.

[michaeldurban]

ok..i solved my problem earlier..

if you are interested, I removed the white rollers and replaced

them with bearings..

have a look at my topic : 'SW dob mod, new Alt bearings'

in the DIY forum