Anti-Vibration Pads

[Dave In Vermont]

These are the things you can put under the legs of a tripod. The commercial ones - Meade, Celestron, maybe more - cost about $49 (£32) for a set of 3. Don't want to spend that much? I don't blame you.

I got some Sorbothane® pads off Amazon for far less. I use 2 under each leg of the tripod, and the dampening of vibrations when I intentionally knock the scope is less than 1 second. They work as well, or better than,  the Meade or Orion brands.

Here's a link to them on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Isolate-It-Sorbothane-Vibration-Isolation/dp/B0042U8P9C/ref=pd_sim_469_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0PY7DA0DT8ZSTTFZ0804&dpSrc=sims&dpST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_

No Vibration Zone,

Dave

[John]

I use the Meade ones with my refractors. They do work. They don't stop vibrations starting completely but they ensure that they dampen down much more quickly than without the pads in place.

If the above pads are of the 3 piece construction they are the same as the branded astro ones which use a hard outer shell, a Sorbothane-type dampening material liner and then a hard cup "floating" on the dampening material which the tripod leg sits in.

I think my Meade ones cost around £20 ?.

[L8-Nite]

................... I use 2 under each leg of the tripod  .................

Dave

IMG_0854.JPG

Can Sorbothane pads be glued together ?

[Dave In Vermont]

Can Sorbothane pads be glued together ?

I was wondering that myself. The Sorbothane® is pretty gummy in it's pure state, so it wouldn't truly be needed to glue them together. They rather stick to each other. I put them in the plastic-bags so they wouldn't collect debris. Stuff sticks to them. I had a set of the commercial ones, and these work as well or better.

As for the commercial offerings having a sort-of well ("...a hard cup...") in the center, these make their own well as a tripod-leg will make an indentation into them. The well springs back after removing the tripod-leg. They won't be going anywhere.

Dave

[John]

As for the commercial offerings having a sort-of well ("...a hard cup...") in the center, these make their own well as a tripod-leg will make an indentation into them. The well springs back after removing the tripod-leg. They won't be going anywhere.

Dave

It's not the cup shape of the inner part of the commercial ones that matters Dave, it's the sandwich construction that isolates the end of the tripod leg from the ground with the layer of Sorbothane in between the leg cup and the base.  But if yours work fine then - job done !

[Dave In Vermont]

It's not the cup shape of the inner part of the commercial ones that matters Dave, it's the sandwich construction that isolates the end of the tripod leg from the ground with the layer of Sorbothane in between the leg cup and the base.  But if yours work fine then - job done !

It would matter if the tripod-leg could somehow slip off while imaging. This could feasibly occur with the hard, outer shell. So I imagine that's why the commercial ones have an indented center-area. With the raw Sorbothane it's not an issue.

Dave

[John]

It would matter if the tripod-leg could somehow slip off while imaging. This could feasibly occur with the hard, outer shell. So I imagine that's why the commercial ones have an indented center-area. With the raw Sorbothane it's not an issue.

Dave

Yes, the cup shape of the inner section has a security role as well as an isolation one.

Putting the tripod leg directly into the raw Sorbothane, I'd have thought that, with a heavy rig (some of mine have been 50 lbs or more), the tip of the leg could sink through to contact the base plate and thus remove the islolating / damping effect of the Sorbothane ?

The Sorbothane I've seen has been pretty soft and malleable material - I guess it has to be to do it's job ?

[ChrisLX200]

Personally I think you're better off with a solid/stable contact with the ground (for imaging anyway). I have tried them in the distant past for a visual setup but TBH couldn't see the benefit.

ChrisH

[John]

Personally I think you're better off with a solid/stable contact with the ground (for imaging anyway). I have tried them in the distant past for a visual setup but TBH couldn't see the benefit.

ChrisH

I was sceptical about my Meade ones Chris but I've found that they do actually reduce damping times by at least 50% from experiments I've done with my setups. I find them more effective with heavier setups than light ones.

Maybe it's a case of them working better with some setups than others ?

I can't comment on imaging though as I'm only a visual astronmer.

[beamer3.6m]

Could you use washing machine vibration pads.

[Dave In Vermont]

Yes, the cup shape of the inner section has a security role as well as an isolation one.

Putting the tripod leg directly into the raw Sorbothane, I'd have thought that, with a heavy rig (some of mine have been 50 lbs or more), the tip of the leg could sink through to contact the base plate and thus remove the islolating / damping effect of the Sorbothane ?

The Sorbothane I've seen has been pretty soft and malleable material - I guess it has to be to do it's job ?

I had thought that same thing about the Sorbothane when I first got the pads. But they didn't puncture through with my 12" LX-series behemoths. If I had found they did with my scopes, I was prepared to pancake them with a top & bottom pad of plastic or wood. But it wasn't needed. I was surprised and amazed at how well they work, too. On the LX-scopes they were as good as the commercial offerings. With lighter weight scopes they seem to work better than their more expensive cousins.

It was my loss of one of the commercial-pads that drove me to this solution. I just didn't like being gouged for $49 for such a simple product. It reminded me of an old friend who bought a Mercedes. When the light-bulb in the ashtray died, he brought it to the shop for a replacement. They presented him with a bill for $400. "What the &$%*!!! is this for!?" said he. It turns out they had to remove the entire dashboard to get to the bulb.

He sold the Mercedes.

Dave

P.S. beamer: Absolutely. My extra 2 pads are under my 'fridge. These are designed for use under large equipment like a washer. If they sold them with astronomers in mind, I'm sure the price would go to the stars!