Flextube 200p Tracking Problem

[littlebeagle]

Recently noticed I'm having problems with tracking on my flextube, if it's down low below 20 on the height it won't go back up unless I put weight on the bottom of the scope. With no eyepieces in this surely shouldn't be something I should have to do.

I've read there is a clutch nut that I can adjust, so took off the cover and this is what I can see.

I can't see a clutch nut as shown in pictures I've seen from the net, any idea's? I've just e-mailed the place I got it from as well to see what they say.

[SeedyF]

Littlebeagle - try this link. I have saved the PDF and read it but not tried any adjustments yet. Hopefully it will help you solve your problem.

Dropbox - FlexTube Auto Slipping Clutch.pdf - Simplify your life

When it's alow angles the nose of my 250 flextube won't come up if I have my solar filter on the front so I know I need to make a tweak.

If the link doesn't help you go to this thread and have a read through. Dr Robin and Mindburner posted a lot of information about adjusting the tracking nuts

http://stargazerslounge.com/discussions-scopes-whole-setups/159938-skywatcher-az-goto-alignment-accuracy-3.html#post2121598

[littlebeagle]

Hi,

Thank's for taking the time to post those links, unfortunately read through both.

The pdf file, if you look at the picture I have provided then the design appears to have changed, there is no clutch nut that they talk about or show in their pictures.

It's also not an issue with tracking. The tracking is actually fine as long as it's not an object low in the sky that is rising.

The scope is having trouble going from a low position back up, if I put a weight on the bottom end of the scope (where the primary is) it fixes the problem. I don't see why I should be doing that though when the scope has nothing in the eyepiece and the finderscope that came with it at the top end.

[Tribal-Wolf]

The clutch nut is under the black cover between the large encoder and the mount.

[littlebeagle]

That's the area I have taken a picture of.

[telesto]

Hi my Dob was doing the same when i put the light shroud and dew shield on, just followed the instructions in the PDF file SeedyF put on and it was spot on, so thanks for the link, done and working fine cheers

clive

[littlebeagle]

Did yours look different to the pictures I have taken?

[telesto]

Hi is that a picture of whats under the black cover that the hand set sits in on the panel of the base ??

[littlebeagle]

The one on the side that the handset sits on.

[telesto]

Mine looks simlier but the nut on mine has'nt got a hole in it and yours looks as if the bolt is sealed

[telesto]

Ill put a picture on of the same view then you can compare (give me half hour)

clive

[littlebeagle]

Thank you, waiting for a response from FLO as only had the scope in December it's the synscan model rather than the auto-tracking one. Will obviously update when I find out what needs to be done to fix it. That "nut" with a hole in doesn't look like a nut to me it's certainly different to what's in that pdf.

Oh that hole has a alumn key headed bolt in it. Don't want to mess with it as like I said only had the scope in December.

[Space Cowboy]

I'm sure the problem will be easily fixed these scopes are nose heavy and need a counter weight but obviously you need to know how to adjust the tension nut as clearly yours is a different design.

[telesto]

Here's the same shot

[littlebeagle]

Thank you, it's similar but that nut is definitely different, will have to wait for FLO.

[telesto]

Iv had my scope about 14 months but about 6 weeks ago the tracking packed up i took it back and they sent me another base,so only had this base 5 weeks and the shop said it had the new stepper motors in it (whatever that means )

[Tribal-Wolf]

The nut with the 'holes' in is the clutch adjusting nut for the azimuth. I have been having some problems with mine so I've had it to bits today to fix it. That very nut was solid tight meaning there was NO clutch slip at all. I took it all apart and the clutch was almost stuck together because of being compressed for so long but once apart it was fine. The 'nut' yo're on about has two small allen grub screws to stop it coming loose, you must slacken both these quite a bit before putting a spanner on the two flats and turning the nut. When I took the nut off the threads were coarse so when I rebuilt it I put some grease on the threads and turned the nut back and forth until it could be turned by fingers. To adjust that clutch I noted where the 'flat' on the shaft is in relation to the scope base then screwed the nut on as tight as I could with fingers, I then nipped it up until I could just turn the toothed cog by hand with some force. I lined up the nearest of the allen grub screws to the mark I had made for the flat on the shaft then nipped the grub screw till is just touched. I then backed the nut off untill it stopped due to the grub screw against the flat and then tightend both grub screws.

I refitted the top half of the mount and then fitted the motor (at this point I had not fitted the bearing and hex nut to the top of the shaft). You will see that the motor is situated in an alloy cup which screws to the mount with two small allen screws, there are elongated holes in the cup where these go through, this is your backlash adjustment. When you fit the motor you need to push it toward the centre shaft and hold it while you tighten the allen screws, this will give you the minimum backlash. When you have done that you can try turning the scope side to side and you should NOT hear the motor being forced but there should be some resistance. The scope should swivel smoothly. If the motor makes a noise while you push the scope you need to take it all apart again and back the flat side weird nut off a little. When you eventually get it right you should have a very small amount of backlash, if you do then you can fit the top bearing with some grease to the shaft and fit the nyloc nut, tighten it but don't go mad as this only tightens the top bearing and has no effect on the clutch. you should then rebuild the rest but be careful where your wires go under the black cover, if when you try it you hear a strange whine then the wires are most likely touch the encoder motor. If all is quiet the scope should turn smoothly with the handset and also push smoothly like a manual Dob. You should also find it moves almost at once either way with very little backlash or hesitation. You can adjust the backlash the same way for the alt motor too but I stripped mine down and cleaned it all up putting grease where it was needed and removing some that shouldn't be there. The alt clutch is different in the fact that the nyloc nut is the adjustment. To adjust this clutch you need to back the nut off until the scope tube is very free then slowly tighten it until you just start to feel resistance while moving the tube up and down. When you get to this point make sure the scope is fully extended and fit something like a barlow and your heaviest ep. push the scope until it's horizontal and the nose will try and drop. You need to tighten the clutch nut a tiny bit at a time and try the scope until it stays horizontal without dropping. With the cover still off you then need to connect everything up and try the handset moving the scope up from horizontal, if it does not lift then gradually tighten the clutch nut a tiny bit until it does lift the scope. Once you get it to here you might still find it does not stop quickly when moving the scope back to horizontal with the handset, if it slips with no noise then the clutch needs a slight bit more tightening. If it drops slowly but you hear the motor turning then that's fine as this is a different fault altogether so you can pretty much put it all back together adjusting the backlash before you refit the cover if you haven't already done it beforehand. to stop the nose dropping now you will need to find some kind of weight to attach to the rear of the scope this will balance it out. You may find you don't need it as you rarely have the scope that horizontal in normal use. Incidentally I have tried my scope tonight after setting it up via the normal instructions again ie: set to zero and north switch off, then setting latitude etc. My scope tracked great for the first time ever.

Sorry if this is long winded but I was a bit shocked to find my scope had been put together so badly and thought I'd share my experience in the hope it helps.

[littlebeagle]

Thank you for the reply, but the nut in the picture with the holes in it is on the alt, my scope doesn't have that clutch nut show in the picture taken by telesto or in the pdf document from SeedyF.

My concern with going to those lengths is that the scope is only just 3 months old and I shouldn't have to be doing that kind of thing (not that I would I'm nowhere near good enough at that type of thing). If it's a simple case of adjusting a nut then that's fine, but I won't be stripping it down and putting it back together to get it working, that will be the resellers problem.

[SeedyF]

Thank you for the reply, but the nut in the picture with the holes in it is on the alt, my scope doesn't have that clutch nut show in the picture taken by telesto or in the pdf document from SeedyF.

My concern with going to those lengths is that the scope is only just 3 months old and I shouldn't have to be doing that kind of thing (not that I would I'm nowhere near good enough at that type of thing). If it's a simple case of adjusting a nut then that's fine, but I won't be stripping it down and putting it back together to get it working, that will be the resellers problem.

I have to say I agree with you. When the motor on my mount was not performing as it should I did some tests so I could be sure it wasnt me being a Noob and so that I could describe the problem then put it in the hands of the reseller. They were great and sorted it very quickly. You wouldnt think twice about returning a £20 toaster if it was playing up so why accept it with several hundred pounds of telescope.

[Tribal-Wolf]

Looks like the top encoder is on backwards too. If my scope was anything to go by I think 5 year old kids build them during playtime and it's a lucky dip if you get a good one or not. Send it back.

[littlebeagle]

Thanks again for your help, as I said will update when I can as hopefully will be useful for anyone else who gets a similar issue in future.

I'm really intrigued to know whether it has the wrong type of nut on now as it seems odd that it's not matching up with everything I've seen here and on google.

[SeedyF]

Littlebeagle - for what it's worth I tightened that nut (the one with the alan key grub screw and the only one you can see that a spanner will fit on) and it cured my problem. The scope will now start from zero in ALT with the solar filter on the front and rise up just using the handset. Last week it wouldn't go up and in fact trying the up key sent the nose diving below zero. I hardly turned the nut at all and now the ALT motor will move the scope up and down exactly as it is supposed to.

So if a loose clutch is your only problem you should be OK to give it a minor tighten.

Hope you get it sorted soon though

[Tribal-Wolf]

Strange to see as mine only has that nut on the azimuth and it's what the top half of the mount sits on. When I stripped mine down that was the nut that was tightened too much meaning the clutch was clamped tight and not able to slip at all so turning the scope turned the motor which is not good at all. I had my scope out last night and it had virtually no lag when switching direction. The only concern is there was a bit judder on the alt movement so I need to smooth out the ptfe bearing. Maybe the goto is slightly different.

[littlebeagle]

Thanks guys. SeedyF do you have to loosen that screw to tighten the nut?

[SeedyF]

Thanks guys. SeedyF do you have to loosen that screw to tighten the nut?

Littlebeagle - no, the only thing I did was tighten the nut. Best to stay well away from things that I don't know what they do - it could be dangerous.