Focuser broken? Help, its clear night tonight!!

[Night Hawk]

I think I've damaged my focuser( SW 200p), knocked it slightly when taking out of the garage!! It winds out 0.5cm then it drops back in by itself. You can pull it out all the way and it falls back in under it's only weight

Is there a quick fix or something I can do, like stripping it apart and putting it back together?

Any help appreciated.

[Bruce Leeroy]

Hi there, look at the bottom side of the focuser and you should see 4 screw heads they keep a spring in place which pushes up against the focus winder/knob which in turn keeps tension upto the barrel. Also on the top side of the focuser you should see a large round knob which when screwed tight pushes onto the top of the focus barrel there's also 2 very small allen key heads visible  which also keep the top of the barrel pushed down.

I'm no expert but i think your problem may be fixable using the adjustments that can be made there...you may have to completely remove the 4 screws to view the spring plate, be ready to catch the spring and make sure to make a mental note of its orientation.(its a flat metal spring not a traditional spring).

[Night Hawk]

Cheers Bruce,

Was fixing as you were typing. Quite simple really. Focuser is quite simple. I thought there would be more to it.

I unscrewed as you said. Basically what had happened. When I knocked it, it had depressed the rubber that the focuser winder sits in. I just removed the rubber, packed it out with a thin strip of plastic, added  the rubber back it came from.  Put everything back together again and attached back to scope. Works a treat. Better than before.

Thanks