New kit setup (Esprit 100 ), First light Report and Issues

[LightBucket]

34 minutes ago, RayD said:

That bit that is overhanging the edge is a problem mate.  If the felt is 1mm thick, then that is 2mm you are losing off the closing distance.  This is why I said earlier cut that bit off, it shouldn't be there.

To my point you are referring, what I was trying to say, is if the new felt is thicker then the rings won’t be closing as far and the overhang may not be an issue, and just to try it first, unless you need that space to full tighten, then remove..mine have about a 3mm gap when fully tightened down so mine do have the felt all the way to the end, as it’s not an issue...

Putting new felt on about a mm thicker does make a big difference to how much the rings will then close up..

Hope that explains better..

[RayD]

2 minutes ago, LightBucket said:

To my point you are referring, what I was trying to say, is if the new felt is thicker then the rings won’t be closing as far and the overhang may not be an issue, and just to try it first, unless you need that space to full tighten, then remove..mine have about a 3mm gap when fully tightened down so mine do have the felt all the way to the end, as it’s not an issue...

Putting new felt on about a mm thicker does make a big difference to how much the rings will then close up..

Hope that explains better..

I got what you were saying.  All I noted was to cut the overhang off first before changing the felts as if that is stopping the rings closing fully, which is possibly is, then it could be a simple fix.  It may not be and, in fact, it may need felt 0.5mm or so thicker, but had to be worth a try so was merely a suggestion 

[souls33k3r]

2 hours ago, RayD said:

PS hope you feel better soon old chum 

Cheers Old China. Am now on antibiotics now so the only road is now recovery. I got so sick of staying in bed the entire time that even though I'm not fully recovered, Mrs. soul let me play with the scope

2 hours ago, RayD said:

That bit that is overhanging the edge is a problem mate.  If the felt is 1mm thick, then that is 2mm you are losing off the closing distance.  This is why I said earlier cut that bit off, it shouldn't be there.

Done! Used the Stanley knife and the scope does indeed seem to grip better.... For now... Real test will be when I take it out for a spin the first chance I get. 

1 hour ago, FLO said:

Yes please. It can't do any harm and it might even improve things. 

I might be wrong but I am guessing a few weeks from now the replacement felt will also compress and we'll need to fit something better. 

Steve

Done Steve. You're right, it can't do any harm. I'll let you know how it goes. Given my working hours, a few weeks is when I might get a chance to test it all any way

@AbsolutelyN, can you keep us posted here too how you get on with the new felts? You seem to be getting better skies than I do here in London any way mate

[AbsolutelyN]

Will do, I have it setup already as seems to be giving potential for reasonable clear periods tonight. So far it's holding it in place really well but I guess it could start slipping again over time. 

[souls33k3r]

8 minutes ago, AbsolutelyN said:

Will do, I have it setup already as seems to be giving potential for reasonable clear periods tonight. So far it's holding it in place really well but I guess it could start slipping again over time. 

Cheers mate, top man. I hope it doesn't mate especially during an imaging run when you go to sleep and it offsets the tube balance and you lose a good night data ??

[souls33k3r]

1 hour ago, RayD said:

I got what you were saying.  All I noted was to cut the overhang off first before changing the felts as if that is stopping the rings closing fully, which is possibly is, then it could be a simple fix.  It may not be and, in fact, it may need felt 0.5mm or so thicker, but had to be worth a try so was merely a suggestion 

Doh! Too late, I've done that with the newer felts ?

Also, taking the felts off for me was much easier. So can be done again if needed but I'm hoping I don't ever end up doing that. 

[Jarvo]

It’s a testament to this groups resourcefulness that a workaround solution has been found to this issue. I ended up getting new rings from OVL. 

I still think Skywatcher need to step up here. They are at the end of the day supplying kit that could fail catastrophically (this kit ain’t cheap). 

The stockists are great (Rother VO sorted me out) and FLOs reputation goes without saying.  

FLO - can’t you feed this back to Skywatcher? 

Jarvo

[FLO]

44 minutes ago, Jarvo said:

FLO - can’t you feed this back to Skywatcher? 

Not directly. Here in the U.K. feedback must be relayed to Synta/Sky-Watcher via their distributor. The distributor is aware so I am confident Synta/Sky-Watcher will be too. From what I have seen over the years they do respond positively to feedback. 

Fortunately this is a minor issue confined to a small number of telescopes that is easily solved. 

Steve 

[souls33k3r]

I'm happy to report that last night when i was out, i did not see the scope slip since the new felts have been put on. But i'll keep a close eye on this and will report back if i do happen to see it slip once again.

[AbsolutelyN]

I balanced mine up last night with the rings all the way down at the focusser end. When I covered it this morning the rings were about 1cm further up the tube so suspect there is still some slight slippage, will also keep an eye on it. 

[souls33k3r]

Resurrecting and old'ish but still very much an issue thread. Over the weekend I went out and balanced my scope and was getting ready for the clear night on Sunday (last night). When I brought the scope back in on Saturday, I noticed the scope had slipped from its tube rings, about a good inch. I thought that maybe I accidentally did it or maybe the tube rings were slightly loose so left it as it is for the day. Last night was going to be the first night in 3 months that I was going to image. So before I went out, I moved the scope back to a position that I now know is where I've left my scope, tightened the locks for the rings and took the scope out. Apart from battling the issues with the new kit, I started to notice that my stars were getting elongated. I put that to bad polar alignment (separate issue for a different thread). At the end of the session when brought the scope back in, it had slipped again.

@FLO were great at getting me the new felts on time but did fear that this might happen again and now it did. I don't know what else to do now. It's pointless if my scope slips and with such sensitive mount if not in perfect balance will start to pick up on these issues. 

 

[souls33k3r]

@FLO, can you kindly assist? Thank you. 

[FLO]

No problem, please email us 🙂

Steve 

[Hallingskies]

10 hours ago, souls33k3r said:

Resurrecting and old'ish but still very much an issue thread. Over the weekend I went out and balanced my scope and was getting ready for the clear night on Sunday (last night). When I brought the scope back in on Saturday, I noticed the scope had slipped from its tube rings, about a good inch. I thought that maybe I accidentally did it or maybe the tube rings were slightly loose so left it as it is for the day. Last night was going to be the first night in 3 months that I was going to image. So before I went out, I moved the scope back to a position that I now know is where I've left my scope, tightened the locks for the rings and took the scope out. Apart from battling the issues with the new kit, I started to notice that my stars were getting elongated. I put that to bad polar alignment (separate issue for a different thread). At the end of the session when brought the scope back in, it had slipped again.

@FLO were great at getting me the new felts on time but did fear that this might happen again and now it did. I don't know what else to do now. It's pointless if my scope slips and with such sensitive mount if not in perfect balance will start to pick up on these issues. 

 

I bought a set of Primeluce rings for my Esprit 100 and had exactly the same slippage problem, so it’s not just confined to the Skywatcher rings.  I had an auto focusser mounted on a dovetail below the scope and the slippage bent up the coupling, which I was less than happy about.   Rather than faff about sending them back I just cut two strips of butyl rubber (left over from a pond liner) and stuck them in the bottom halves of the rings with double-sided tape.  Was a bit worried the rubber might give rise to a bit of flex, but not a bit of it.  Absolutely rock solid now, sorted.

[Davey-T]

Not confined to Sky Watcher, I can rotate WO Star 71s in the rings when tightened, they don't slip though probably because they're only light, the WO110FLT on the other hand is hard to move with the rings loose 

Dave

[souls33k3r]

34 minutes ago, FLO said:

No problem, please email us 🙂

Steve 

Done sir. Thank you

21 minutes ago, Hallingskies said:

I bought a set of Primeluce rings for my Esprit 100 and had exactly the same slippage problem, so it’s not just confined to the Skywatcher rings.  I had an auto focusser mounted on a dovetail below the scope and the slippage bent up the coupling, which I was less than happy about.   Rather than faff about sending them back I just cut two strips of butyl rubber (left over from a pond liner) and stuck them in the bottom halves of the rings with double-sided tape.  Was a bit worried the rubber might give rise to a bit of flex, but not a bit of it.  Absolutely rock solid now, sorted.

Because the scope is still under warranty, I didn't want to mess about with it otherwise sounds like a great idea and one I'll keep in mind

2 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Not confined to Sky Watcher, I can rotate WO Star 71s in the rings when tightened, they don't slip though probably because they're only light, the WO110FLT on the other hand is hard to move with the rings loose 

Dave

Ouch! Well I wouldn't mind if it rotates but my scope slips within the rings and makes the scope slide backwards

[FLO]

5 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

Because the scope is still under warranty, I didn't want to mess about with it otherwise sounds like a great idea and one I'll keep in mind

Adding felt, cork, etc to the inner surface of your tube-rings won't affect your warranty (you'd be surprised how many people do this) so if you have something suitable to hand go right ahead 🙂 

Steve 

[souls33k3r]

22 minutes ago, FLO said:

Adding felt, cork, etc to the inner surface of your tube-rings won't affect your warranty (you'd be surprised how many people do this) so if you have something suitable to hand go right ahead 🙂 

Steve 

Wasn't sure so didn't think of it but one to keep in mind. Cheers Steve Maybe I might try and find an interim solution while I wait for the proper fix

[AbsolutelyN]

I got new felts for the Esprit 100 at same time as you with same issue. They gripped it for a couple of months but it now slides down the tube again. I resigned to putting a lens cloth between rings and tube and it holds it again but not ideal and looks a bit messy. 

[souls33k3r]

2 minutes ago, AbsolutelyN said:

I got new felts for the Esprit 100 at same time as you with same issue. They gripped it for a couple of months but it now slides down the tube again. I resigned to putting a lens cloth between rings and tube and it holds it again but not ideal and looks a bit messy. 

Oh wow, yes I remember you and I both had the same issue and got our felts around the same time. Seems like these felts do have a life of only a few months. I'm sure I would've noticed this issue sooner if I hadn't been out of the game for the last few months. Lens cloth idea sounds really good, as long as it works. I don't mind it being messy because it will be a temporary fix while I await for the proper fix which whatever it might be. 

[AbsolutelyN]

It certainly works. I use a Lee lens cloth doubled over and it grips the tube really well.  

[souls33k3r]

19 hours ago, AbsolutelyN said:

It certainly works. I use a Lee lens cloth doubled over and it grips the tube really well.  

Cheers mate, what I ended up doing for the interim is use a very thin rubber with a pattern which I placed a piece each on the top side of the tube ring (couldn't use two pieces because the tube ring wouldn't close) and it looks like it might work but I wouldn't know unless I test this out which God knows when we'll be blessed with clear skies. But like I said, this is an interim solution and I would want a permanent fix. 

@FLO Steve, did you guys get my email?

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by souls33k3r

[FLO]

1 hour ago, souls33k3r said:

 

@FLO Steve, did you guys get my email?  

No. I don’t think so. Couldn’t see it this morning and searched for words ‘Esprit’ and ‘Rings’ this afternoon but didn’t find anything. When you sent it did you receive our usual auto-response saying your email had been received? 

[souls33k3r]

28 minutes ago, FLO said:

No. I don’t think so. Couldn’t see it this morning and searched for words ‘Esprit’ and ‘Rings’ this afternoon but didn’t find anything. When you sent it did you receive our usual auto-response saying your email had been received? 

That is seriously weird. I sent yesterday at 12:34pm. Yes I did receive the auto reply. Let me forward it once again 

[StarDodger]

23 hours ago, FLO said:

Adding felt, cork, etc to the inner surface of your tube-rings won't affect your warranty (you'd be surprised how many people do this) so if you have something suitable to hand go right ahead 🙂 

Steve 

But should you really need to on a new item, it seems to me that at at the  prices of these scopes, everything should fit properly right off the bat, without the need for faffing about with bits of rubber of cork... just my opinion..