Good News and Bad News,,

[wobbly]

3 weeks into my new hobby, not been too many clear nights but tonight's was perfect

Just had a couple of hours star gazing in the freezing North, first 30 minutes with my newly purchased used Helios 6" Refractor and Meade CG5 5 EQ Mount and Tripod, last hour with my also newly purchased used LIDL Bresser

Bad news is that the Meade plastic tripod leg clamps suddenly 'shattered' and lucky to save the Helios 6" from crashing to the ground, all 3 clamps have broken away I guess due to the plastic going brittle due to the freezing cold forced by the stress on the tightened locking bolts :crybaby:

Good news is that I not only avoided damage to my best scope but then 'found' Saturn for the first time on my cheapo LIDL Bresser and spent the past hour staring in wonder at it, still thawing myself out having just back inside

The Meade Mount is 8 years old so looks like a DIY repair to the clamps, anyone any ideas?

They are broken WELL beyond repair

Cheers

Dave

[John]

Sounds like you need a new tripod - something like the Celestron CG5 with the 2" tubular steel legs would be good and should provide a better platform for the big refractor as well. It's just whether the Meade EQ head would fit onto them ? - perhaps others can advise on this.

John

[rusirius]

The authorised distributor for Meade in the Uk is Broadhurst larkson & Fuller Ltd. Their website is on:

http://www.meade.uk.com/

It might be worth contacting them to see whether the clamps can be replaced.

Their phone number is at the bottom of the web page.

It may well turn out that replacements are not available or that the cost is such that you are better off putting the funds towards a new tripod but its an option to consider.

[TheThing]

If it's just the plastic clamps that extend the legs, these can easily be replaced by U bolts - the sort used for mounting TV aerials on chimneys. You can get them from DIY stores and aerial suppliers. Replace the nuts with butterfly ones and they are much sturdier.

[wobbly]

If it's just the plastic clamps that extend the legs, these can easily be replaced by U bolts - the sort used for mounting TV aerials on chimneys. You can get them from DIY stores and aerial suppliers. Replace the nuts with butterfly ones and they are much sturdier.

Cheers, it was the plastic clamps

Fixed them OK now, went down to the local hardware shop to have a look around for something to 'invent' as a fix, decided on 3 x 3" Jubilee Clips @ £0.83p each, put them just above the plastic clamp and torqued them down so that the legs JUST slide up and down with force so I dont have to keep adjusting the jubilee clip, far more stable than it was before as now both 'outer' legs are forced against the 'inner' sliding leg from both sides, even though the legs do retract with force individually I can almost force my entire upper body on the mount and it doesnt collapse, may try your U Bolt Method tomorrow though

[661-pete]

I see what you mean: I would be wary of having the jubilee clips not tight enough as you propose: the last thing you want is a leg to suddenly give way just as you're adding a bit more loading to your 'scope....

I had a problem of a similar nature with my Vixen GP wooden tripod. No problem with the tripod itself, it's sturdy enough and rock-steady, but the original leg adjustment screws with wingnuts were just too feeble: they either broke or seized up, and the head of the screw turned as you tried to tighten them. I replaced them with coach bolts (so they wouldn't turn) and ordinary hexagonal nuts bearing on big washers. It means I need to have a small spanner in my pocket when setting up, but it's now quite easy.

In reality a German equatorial without GOTO doesn't need to be spot-on level, just that it has to be spot-on polar aligned!

[wobbly]

I see what you mean: I would be wary of having the jubilee clips not tight enough as you propose: the last thing you want is a leg to suddenly give way just as you're adding a bit more loading to your 'scope....

I had a problem of a similar nature with my Vixen GP wooden tripod. No problem with the tripod itself, it's sturdy enough and rock-steady, but the original leg adjustment screws with wingnuts were just too feeble: they either broke or seized up, and the head of the screw turned as you tried to tighten them. I replaced them with coach bolts (so they wouldn't turn) and ordinary hexagonal nuts bearing on big washers. It means I need to have a small spanner in my pocket when setting up, but it's now quite easy.

In reality a German equatorial without GOTO doesn't need to be spot-on level, just that it has to be spot-on polar aligned!

Looked around on the internet last night and today and it seems this problem is commonplace on all similar tripod legs, including Skywatcher's, so maybe made in same factory?

Seems neither Meade nor Skywatcher provide just these plastic clamps as parts so you need to buy the entire legs or a new tripod :crybaby:

[John]

That looks is if it would work as a temporary fix but, with a 6" refractor (I'm assuming the F/8 version ?) you would gain a lot more stability if you move to tubular steel legs.

I had a Helios 6" on an EQ5 with the aluminumn legs and it was decidely shakey at all but low powers. I put the same mount on a really solid wooden tripod and it was much more stable.

John