SW Esprit 100ED Focuser

[AZAFATO]

Hello All,

I'd appreciate if somebody here could help me with the following:

I own a SW Esprit 100ED which I acquired in 2016 through a local dealer here Canada. Well, I am now considering to add a motor to the original focuser however, I have a concern about the focuser. This is the deal:

When I rack-in or out the focuser, I can feel a rough contact in two spots (around reading 1.5 and another one around 6). Once the drawtube overcome these positions it moves smoothly. Of course, in those two rough spots, I need to apply a little more force (torque) to the knob.

I think the tension in the drawtube (adjusted through the four screws located at each side of the focuser body - 90° apart) is ok because I don't see any slipping even with my DSLR pointing to the zenit.

Would you consider this normal? If not, I wondered if any of you know or have a method to adjust the focuser to ensure a smooth movement of the drawtube along its total travel distance. At the end of the day, I want to ensure that whatever motor I add to the focuser will work properly even if those "high spots" are still present.

Thanks in advance,

Diego

[timwetherell]

My 100 SW esprit has a slight stiffening on the manual focuser at 7mm and 67mm

[ollypenrice]

Does the separation of the tight spots correspond with one full rotation of the pinion? If so the drive shaft my be slightly bent.

Olly

[timwetherell]

23 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Does the separation of the tight spots correspond with one full rotation of the pinion? If so the drive shaft my be slightly bent.

Olly

yes, it does on mine, though it's only a very slight effect, nothing that would in any way affect performance in actual use

[AZAFATO]

Thank you guys for your comments. Unfortunately, I screwed up the stock focuser while trying to adjust it ?. One of the tension set screws (located at the lateral of the focuser body) fell off inside the focuser and now the focuser can't hold its position unless I use the locking device. I've contacted Sky-Watcher to see if it can be repaired however, I am still waiting for an answer.

Based on this, I am now considering to upgrade the focuser with a Feather-Touch 3.0" R&P. Does anyone here have done this? What model of focuser has you used?

Thanks in advance, Diego