Ding in OTA tube

[stuffedhaggis]

Guys

Just moved my OTA out of the cupboard. And managed to wack it off the door. There is a small ding in the better of the OTA tube. Roughly 2 cm across and 2 mm deep. Not that notable inside or out.

Will this affect the scope at all.

[nightfisher]

should be okay, what tube is it?

[LukeSkywatcher]

I seriously doubt that a dent in the OTA will mess with the view. Its the Optics that give the views.............not the tubing.

A pic of above mentioned dent would be nice.

[dtr42]

if it bad you can push it out with a wood piece but chances are it wont affect the light path, if you look your mirror is smaller than the tube so a few cm's will make little difference

[John]

I had one like that on my Orion Optics 10" newtonian - my Telrad finder fell off one day and hit the tube on the way down !. It made no difference to the performance of the scope at all although it might have knocked a few quid off the sale price when I sold it.

[stuffedhaggis]

Just tried to take a few pics . Does not seem to show up on them.

Thanks for the quick responses. Stopped me having a heart attack .

[LukeSkywatcher]

I had one like that on my Orion Optics 10" newtonian - my Telrad finder fell off one day and hit the tube on the way down !. It made no difference to the performance of the scope at all although it might have knocked a few quid off the sale price when I sold it.

A Telrad can dint a 10" scope?

A dint in my OTA would upset me to no end, but it wont mess up how the scope works.

I'd know it was there though and that would be enough to annoy me.

Thats just me.

Optically the scope would be as good as it was.

I hate dust gathering on my OTA. Been a lot of that this year.

[stuffedhaggis]

O

should be okay, what tube is it?

Its a Explorer 200p

[John]

A Telrad can dint a 10" scope?

A dint in my OTA would upset me to no end, but it wont mess up how the scope works.

I'd know it was there though and that would be enough to annoy me.

Thats just me.

Optically the scope would be as good as it was.

Orion Optics tubes are quite thin - easily dented I've found

Their mirrors are good though

[LukeSkywatcher]

Orion Optics tubes are quite thin - easily dented I've found

Their mirrors are good though

I know OO are a fine quality company. Are the OTA on OO scopes so thin that if a dint happened that it would cause a breach and allow rust to set in etc? or is it still just a superficial crack in the paint of the OTA?

[John]

I know OO are a fine quality company. Are the OTA on OO scopes so thin that if a dint happened that it would cause a breach and allow rust to set in etc? or is it still just a superficial crack in the paint of the OTA?

No, the paint did not break or crack, it flexed. It was just a shallow dent about the size of the one described by stuffedhaggis in the original post. I could probably have pressed it out from the inside if I had long enough arms - it was just a bit too far down the tube to reach easily.

[JamesF]

Orion Optics tubes are quite thin - easily dented I've found

I was just wondering if Telrads used to be made from lead or something

James

[VigdisVZ]

Should be ok. Check collimation however.

[Moonshane]

OOUK tubes are aluminium which makes them light and relatively rust proof (although exposed ali can oxidise to some extent).

the thin materials though does make then prone to dents. they also make the tubes very tight on width and there's maybe 15mm max either side of the mirror. in some cases a dent can intrude on the light path; the further up the tube (toward the focuser) the less the chances of intrusion). I agree that cosmetic damage is unlikely to affect the view but will possibly affect selling values a little. depends on the buyer, if the price is right, it's the optics I am after not the tube.

[John]

I was just wondering if Telrads used to be made from lead or something

James

Well I'm just glad it wasn't my 9x50 RACI finder

[Mr Fiery Jack]

I know OO are a fine quality company. Are the OTA on OO scopes so thin that if a dint happened that it would cause a breach and allow rust to set in etc? or is it still just a superficial crack in the paint of the OTA?

My Europa is 8 years old and is well used both as a Newtonian on an EQ and as a dob, not a mark on her. Either the earlier ones were made of sterner stuff or myself and the previous owner have been lucky, the optics are still wonderful.

[LeeB]

The oo tubes are thin but do the job well. It also makes for a nice light ota. my 10" weighs approx 9.5kg even with a 2 speed retrofit focuser and red dot finder, and is perfect on an eq5 for visual. A dint of less that 10mm depth is unlikely to cause an issue other than the bang that caused it ,leading to a misallignment needing a colli check.

[TonyD]

I don't know if this helps but I always philosophise. These things are supposed to be used and they will be occasionally knocked and banged. I don't have any scopes yet, but I have done plenty of damage to other delicate hobby-related instruments (guitars, trombones, LP records, clocks, ...) that have annoyed me no end. But the alternative is have them in a glass museum case being looked at (or, as in the case of Spinal Tap, not even looked at LOL)... If the scope still works perfectly then you've given it a bit of character ;-)

Take care,

Tony