Calling all LX90 owners !!

[Guest]

Hi all,

I recently bought a brand new LX90 8" and while using it for the first time i had a DEC motor issue where it was grinding and slipping.

TH kindly arranged pick up and off to Opticstar it went. They said it was a mother board issue and replaced it, i received it today and immediately

unboxed it and tested....guess what....same problem. Not fixed at all.

Does anyone else have this grinding / jumping noise from their DEC motor while pressing down on the controller ?

Attached is a video of said noise, Meade first pointed the finger at my power supply and wire so i have videoed this proving it was fully charged

and then with brand new batteries.

I have lost all confidence in this scope unit now and feel a new replacement is fair to which i will discuss with Kerin at TH first this Monday.....your thoughts are most appreciated.

Lee.

Batteries.mp4

[xtreemchaos]

I dont have the scope, but anyone can hear and see theres a problem with the mount gearing, it sounds like there not meshing properly. hope you get sorted soon. charl.

[Cjg]

Reject the goods under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act#30-day-right-to-reject

As which states, the law is clear that the goods must be "must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described."

You've given the retailer a fair opportunity to correct the problem, they've not remedied the problem.

Good luck,

Chris

[Guest]

Thanks peeps, i have every faith in TH to be honest so i am sure i will get sorted i just wondered if i was the only one with this issue or if it was

a common DEC noise for the LX90 models ? i am sure it isnt i just thought that after the top guy who looked at it said it was sorted and clearly it

isnt then maybe this noise is sorted !! if you follow.

This is the 3rd time i have had DEC issues with 2 different Meade scopes, i am jinxed lol

[ollypenrice]

Ouch, the Dec drive can't be right. Something isn't engaging. Our LX200 sounds pretty alarming to anyone with a sensitive ear for mechanical things but it is nothing like that!

Olly

[Davey-T]

Sounds like the drive isn't engaging with the worm wheel, unless they've altered the design there is a tensioning spring that holds them engaged and the whole motor drive pivots on this spring tension, it is adjustable but usually fixed with thread lock.

Could be just a grub screw come loose on one of the dec gears.

If you want to have a look you can remove the dec locking knob and the cover plate, replace just the knob and drive it up and down, you can then see what's happening.

Dave

 

 

[Wardr77]

I have an LX90 and no, it does not sound like that! Obviously something not right. From my perspective I would not expect to have to repair a brand new scope on day one, that would not sit well with me at all. As such I would be requesting from TH either a full replacement or refund. They're good guys at TH and I'm sure they'll remedy the issue to your satisfaction.

[Grotemobile]

It seems to me that , they have just sent the scope strait back to you ,with out doing any thing. All the your time,

& money wasted on batteries . I am just wondering,  if you have got a scope , that someone else has sent back.

  

[steppenwolf]

Sounds mechanically awful - replacement required without a doubt.

[Guest]

Thanks everyone.

I did indeed remove the setting circle and tried again, the worm is well engaged although tried to move away from the wheel when pressing down on the

controller, it only moves about 2mm but is still plenty engaged.

My scope was sealed and new when i first got it and i secretively marked it before sending for repair and it is the original one i got back.

There is no obvious slipping at the worm / wheel end that i can see, its sound more like its coming from the motor side but i am not about to take it apart

as i dont need anything to give Meade a reason for voiding the warranty so i will speak to Kerin at TH first thing Monday and then post back to keep you

all in the loop.

Many thanks for all your input, its truly appreciated.

Lee.

[Grotemobile]

Hi Lee. Don't do any thing to the mount. Just let them sort it out. I still don't understand

why you got the mount back, with the same problem you sent it off for . Best of luck

getting this all sorted out. Has taken the shine a bit , off of getting a new scope. 

[Guest]

Hi Steve,

Thanks...yer, to say i was gutted was an understatement but to then having to wait nearly 2 weeks scopeless to get it back with

the same issue was soul destroying.

TH have arranged for a swap over tomorrow with a brand new one so fingers crossed this is finally sorted. I havent had any luck

with Meade since i bought an LXD75 8" many moons ago, that came with a dead DEC motor !! how do these things leave quality

control ??? another issue i had with the LX90 was the tripod, the bubble level was a MILE out, laughable !!! another sloppy bit

of workmanship, i drilled it out and bought another off ebay and have set it in perfectly level. So glad its only the scope and mount

getting swapped as i wont part with the tripod now i have sorted it !!

I always dreamed of owning a Meade from being a kid but my experience thus far has been utter disappointment.

On a plus however for the one night i used the LX90 before shipping it back i did get some AMAZING views of Saturn and other

bright DSO even in a full moon sky so i am really excited to see what dark skies brings for this grab and go, i will still always

have my 12" Orion beast but this new scope was meant to bring opportunist viewing into a speedy result if that makes sense?

[alan potts]

I have always found TH very good and Kerin has always been helpful to me. There is clearly something very wrong here and as said sounds like the drive has not engaged correctly. The Meade power connector is a size that no others have and that should have been known, it is not possible to connect any other like Skywatcher.

alan

[Guest]

Ok, so brand new scope arrived as per date set. Opened box, all seamed ok, sat mount and OTA on tripod and an issue arises !

As i moved the scope around 360deg there is a loud clunking and then a not so loud clunking 180deg apart ! so off came the inspection

plate and low and behold a great blob of cast was fouling on the battery compartments.

See videos attached.

I have managed to rectify this snag quite easily but how did it pass quality control ?? there is a label (see attached) proudly stating

"Meade instruments quality assurance seal" !!! this clearly means nothing as any self respecting engineer would of sorted that clunk

before sending off for sale surely ????

Also the bubble level in the tripod was set in off level ! another half hearted installation, i dug it out and bought another of fleabay and

now it is perfectly set in as it should of been.

So my experience with Meade thus far is :-

1 Bought LXD75 8" Sct......DEC motor dead on delivery....TH send new one i had to fit........sorted. (long time ago this)

2 Bought LX90 8" Sct ACF GPS.....Dec motor issue....returned to Opticstar, top man for UK Meade mended it.....came back with same issue

plus a squashed hand controller cable near one of the plugs !?

3 Said scope was returned and replaced with a second LX90....mount has un-snagged casting issue.....i sort it, tripod is off level, i sort it.

Not had chance to visually test new scope yet but if im honest im not filled with faith....i remain optimistic that it will perform.

When your spending best part of £2000 on a precision instrument i sort of set my expectations high....this was a mistake, in my experience

Meade are as hit and miss on depending who puts it together and if it was Friday teatime

I am sure there are more totally satisfied customers out there then not but jeezzzz i have had a bad run eh lol

I will be putting all this in an email to Meade in the USA as its pointless contacting Opticstar as i have even less faith in them.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks for looking in, sorry its a lack lustre post but i just hope the optics put everything behind me and blow me away.

Lee.

 

 

 

 

Cast mended.mp4

Inspection.mp4

[Davey-T]

Meade optics have always been good so you should be happy with the views, shame their mechanical engineering doesn't keep up.

I doubt if every scope gets fully tested in a mass production environment, never been the same since production moved out of the USA.

The level bubble is more decoration than useful, I didn't bother replacing mine just marked the level position with a marker pen.

Good luck

Dave

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

The level bubble is more decoration than useful

I sort of got that response from TH but it doesn't have to be decoration if its set in correctly surely ? now mine i s spot on so no need for

extra sprit level to be carried. Note to Meade....If its meant to be level then just make it level, its a simple task clearly not achieved...sloppy

Thanks for the positive vibe on the optics Dave (Y)

[Dave In Vermont]

Send it back. New scope. Period.

I have the 12" LX90ACF - and that's what I'd do. One other thing about the LX90, LX200's is their declination-clutch is terrible and should be replaced by using a kit from Peterson-Engineering. It's not something that breaks - it was designed by an idiot! Take a look here:

http://www.petersonengineering.com/clutch_kit.htm

I also suggest reading his website about the other mechanical problems designed into these optically excellent scopes. Regards the optics - these are beyond compare! Mechanically though.....

http://www.petersonengineering.com/index.htm

Fortunately, Pete Peterson's kits are available and are quite simple to install. Let me know if you need any help. I'll be glad to lend you whatever assistance I can. I've done this on several scopes thus far.

Best Wishes -

Dave

[Guest]

Thanks Dave, cant keep sending them back lol this casting snag was a doddle to mend so i am happy at the moment, i wasnt about to send it back

to the main guy at Opticstar Meade UK as he clearly has no clue. I just hope this is an end to it and the scope now does what it was intended to do

before i had to finish the job

 

[Dave In Vermont]

I really do suggest you learn about those kits. They will solve a plethora of sins from the Meade mechanical-engineering fools. Meade has known about these problems for at least 20 years - and haven't lifted a finger to correct them!

Good Luck,

Dave

[N3ptune]

I remember why I bought a basic EQ5 mechanical mount, no complexity, no gadgets no electronics, reliable.

Today I just returned a North Face raincoat, a 2012, it was a replacement for the 2009 revision, both coats had the same delamination problem of the inside membrane, bad engineering.. I asked for a 3rd replacement today (lifetime warranty) but honestly if I could have my money back and buy something else, that's what I would do. 

[Guest]

Hi all,

Just a follow up on events.

I managed to take the new LX90 on holiday last week, I went to Praa Sands in Cornwall, the weather was incredible. 4 out of 6 nights of clear skies !!!!

Unbelievable  cant remember seeing the milky way as stunning as i did since i was a boy.

Firstly, scope set up on mended tripod thanks to me and and then proceeded to align.

What a doddle, GPS found new position in a nano second, 2 star alignment done in literally 1 min and off we go, tracking perfect even after leaving it for 1 and half

hours while i went in for extra wine and warmth. Upon return object was still bang on central...and i mean bang on so i guess my bubble was spot on on the tripod lol.

Saturn .................. OMG ! Cassini easy, surface banding evident. WOW this will live with me for some time.

Jupiter !!!! cant see this up in Hull, i actually had to point the scope at it cos i didn't know what the bright star was !! lol again, stunning, even at low altitude in a sun set.

Neptune and Uranus both had obvious disks and colour.

M13....every star to the core, wild duck, ring neb, dumbel, M51, M31,M33, M1, Double cluster, the list was endless thanks to the "tonight's best tour" among my own findings.

The crème del a crème though was waiting till 4:30am for the majestic M42 to rise above the trees........i didn't think i would see this till a month or

2 to be honest so what a treat and OMG what a treat it was... tenuous gas expanding beyond the trapezium like a ghostly hood. Incredible.

After all the problems i have had this scopes visual feast has made up for it all. Simply outstanding.

Star test also revealed that the 425mile journey hadn't moved it at all....no collimating needed.

I also sent all my videos and pics along with my Meade story to the main guy Carlos in USA, he was very concerned with my quality control issues

and assures me he as had meetings addressing them, he also offered me some compensation and i will soon receive my chosen gift.

Customer care 100% satisfied.

So finally a happy ending, my dream grab and go is a exactly that a dream and no longer a nightmare.

Thanks for all the input peeps.

Clear skies,

Lee.

P.S. only complaint i have is who the hell is the guy telling you about the object you chose to view on the hand controller ???? talk about over dramatic

Volume to zero in an instant (y) 

 

[Davey-T]

Told you the optics were good

Dave

[michaelmorris]

Quality control at Meade has been pretty awful for years.  I friend of mine used to sell Meade scopes and said that he ended up getting back close to 100% of them for repair or a refund.

It's such a shame as the optics tend to lovely.

[Guest]

On 09/09/2017 at 06:06, michaelmorris said:

Quality control at Meade has been pretty awful for years.  I friend of mine used to sell Meade scopes and said that he ended up getting back close to 100% of them for repair or a refund.

It's such a shame as the optics tend to lovely.

Well this statement was never a truer one !! Back to the Meade quality control issues. Since posting this thread sometime ago I have actually had a lot of great nights with my 8" with no other problems i have had to rectify so this year I decided to build myself an obsy ("A dream come true" in the obsy section) so thought I would upgrade my scope to have a perminant mounted one so because I am now actually pleased with my LX90 performance the natural upgrade was the 10" version so off to TH I went and sure enough scope dropped on my door 2 days later, not literally lol... so fab !!

All other issues like Dec motor working, castings rubbing and cables squashed seemed to be non existent but to my horror I noticed a circular scratch/mark on the inside of the corrector. Meade UK immediately said it's a polish mark and quite normal and wouldn't degrade any visual or photographic performance ? I said isn't the objective of polishing to get rid of marks ? #fobbedoff #paidforflawlessoptics

So back it goes for a replacement as I don't take the same view. This will be my 5th scope in a row due to the previous 4 having issues. 

When this 5th scope arrives I now have zero confidence in it's quality so i will video myself opening etc.

Has anyone else had optic marks and accepted them as the norm ?

??

[Davey-T]

Carry on quote comes to mind " Infamy, infamy Meade have got it infamy " 

Never had any QC issues as such with my Meade apart from the hand controller packing up and being told that it didn't like getting damp 

Some of the pointing / training routines never worked and updating using the Meade updater was a bit of an adventure 

I did take the whole thing to pieces and rebuild it to get rid of as much backlash in the gears as possible.

Dave