Moonlite CR2 Slipping

[Peje]

Hi Folks,

I've encountered a slight issue with my now 4 year old CR2, I noticed that the inward travel seems to be slipping. Oddly it seems to slip more when the adjustment bolts are facing downward than when they are upward.

I use the motorised kit and noticed that my last two session as the night grows colder that I start to have focus problems. I have adjusted the lifting capacity screws but this doesn't help, when I release the motor clutch and manually focus with the coarse wheel it works as expected but when I use the fine wheel I have problems with it slipping.

Something that I may be remembering incorrectly was that when the motor clutch was engaged, you could not move the focuser using the manual focus knobs. Currently you can.

Has anyone had problems like this before? I'm wondering if it needs stripped down and cleaned. I have emailed Ron @ Moonlite for help.

Pete

[markse68]

I think they recommend not using the geared fine focus knob for motor driving- it’s a ball friction reducer and i guess it can wear out 🤷‍♂️

Mark

Edited October 26, 2020 by markse68

[newbie alert]

Have you tightened the clutch?

[Peje]

Ron replied immediately after I posted this topic... excellent support as always. He confirmed:

- You can't use the fine focus wheel with motor kit fitted (even if the clutch is disengaged)
- You can use the coarse focus knob when the motor clutch is engaged.

So this was a red herring!

I went back out and tightened up the lifting capacity bolts, tightened to the point I could feel the focus knobs were harder to use and also as tight as I dared using metric allen keys! Then some tests:

> I marked the manual focus knob and moved the focus in and out by 1000 steps, 20 time... no focus slip on the knob.
> I lined up a spec of dust on the focuser tube and moved the focus in and out by 1000 steps, 10 time... no focus slip on the focuser tube.

So, either adjusting the lifting capacity resolved the problem or I haven't figured out what the problem is yet!!

Will have to do some more testing the next time we get some clear sky... see you in 2021

Pete

[Starflyer]

Be careful of tightening them too much, the bearings quickly wear through the anodising on the drawtube leaving you with very rough movement. Not that I've done this of course 🤥

[Peje]

36 minutes ago, Starflyer said:

Be careful of tightening them too much, the bearings quickly wear through the anodising on the drawtube leaving you with very rough movement. Not that I've done this of course 🤥

For my tightening, I used a metric Allen key and stopped at the point where it was about to slip. Hopefully this isn't excessively tight...

I priced replacing the focuser... I'd forgotten how expensive they were!!