Newb here; need help with selecting new eye pieces for my Zhumell Z10 Dob

[BradO]

Hello all! So over the weekend I picked up a used Zhumell Z10 Dob, I had it out the first night and was thrilled to actually see the rings around Saturn! That's a 1st for me.  I also enjoyed looking at Jupiter and could see 3 moons around it. However during my gazing I realized the prior owners must have smoked a ton in their house and the scope reeked like old tar and tobacco! I took a look at the primary mirror and realized it had a film of cig smoke all over it. Long story short, I took it all apart, washed it down with dish soap. Cleaned the mirrors based off a youtube video. However, I did make one dumb mistake. I put the 8 x 50 finder scope, the 30mm 2" eye piece, and 9mm 1.25" eye piece into a bucket of soapy water to allow them to soak. Well as you probably have already concluded, my scope, and eye pieces appear to now be ruined, soap suds inside the lens. I also have the Zhumell eye piece and filter kit that is here https://zhumell.com/collections/telescope-accessories/products/zhumell-125-eyepiece-and-filter-kit

So my question that I am hoping you can help me with, rather than replacing these items with the standard Zhumell pieces, can you recommend replacement items that would be an upgrade to what I had previously? Then I won't feel so bad about ruining them and having to spend money to replace them. Is there an alternative to the finder scope  than a traditional finder scope? Thanks everyone!

[Geoff Barnes]

Oh Brad, I don't know whether to laugh or cry! You must feel such a chump! (friendly English way of saying fool if you're not from UK).

Need to know your budget really to get an idea of what to recommend.

Best in the budget line that I know of I would say BST Starguiders, Celestron XL or Skywatcher Planetary.

Middle market I think Vixen SLV's or Explore Scientific 68 or 82 degrees.

For value upmarket I would not go past Baader Morpheus, my favorite EP's.

Top range then Televue are considered the best money can buy, I've never used them myself but those that do seem to keep them forever!

I've only used a SW 9v50 finder which I like, others will advise different types.

HTH.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Geoff Barnes

[Demonperformer]

Hi, BradO, and welcome to SGL.

We;'ve all done silly things ...

As Geoff says, your budget would help. Don't worry ... you will find us very efficient at spending your money

Enjoy the journey.

[BradO]

In terms of the budget, I was thinking a few hundred, and at this time the only two items I think I need to replace is the finder scope and that large 30mm 2” piece that had a nice wide angle view. I still have the eye pieces that came in the zhumell eye piece accessory kit. My laser culminator arrived from amazon yesterday, so I really need a finder scope to get back up and running! As far as feeling like a chump, yeah, all be it, I had already begun having a few beers that after noon, and knew I was taking a chance, looking back with a clear head, it is obvious what the outcome would be! Lol! Thank you

[Ricochet]

Before you go buying a new finderscope, why don't you have a go at dismantling and cleaning the one that you have? From the images online it looks like you should have a standard Synta RACI 8/9x50 finder and they are quite simple really. Everything just unscrews and the worst that can happen is that you end up needing to buy a new finder. See the image below:

1. Don't drink any beers.
2. Hold the diagonal and rotate the eyepiece as shown by the red arrow.
3. Inside of the eyepiece is a crosshair that you will have to carefully unscrew. This is may also be the spacer that holds the eye lens in position. If the lens comes out make sure to note which way around it goes.
4. Hold the main tube and rotate the diagonal as shown by the yellow arrow. This will give you access to both faces of the prism. Alternatively, the back plate of the diagonal can be removed and you should be able to remove the prism completely.
5. Turn the lock ring a small amount in the direction shown. This will release the objective lens cell.
6. Unscrew the lens cell as shown by the blue arrow. You can now clean both sides of the objective lens. If it is an air spaced doublet and water has seeped between the two lenses there will be a ring inside that you can unscrew to remove the lenses. Again, note which way around these lenses must go.

Good luck.

[BradO]

Thank you Sub Dwarf, I'll give that a try this evening after work! That would allow me to get back up and running quickly! Thanks for the graphic too. 

[BradO]

Anyone have any thoughts about a nice replacement for the 30mm 2" wide angle view lens?

[Ricochet]

2 hours ago, BradO said:

Anyone have any thoughts about a nice replacement for the 30mm 2" wide angle view lens?

Well, if you have success with cleaning the finder you might decide to have a go with the eyepiece too, but this will have several lenses and spacers and so is a more difficult task. 

If you just want a like for like replacement then I think the eyepiece supplied with your scope might just be a GSO Superview so you can search to see if you can find one of these. An alternative that is about the £100 mark and pretty well reviewed is the Aero ED eyepiece. If you want to spend more money on a better eyepiece then the 28mm 68° Explore Scientific (previously Maxvision, Meade SWA) would be a good choice, or the APM 20mm/100° or 30mm Ultra flat, but these are both large, heavy eyepieces.