Anybody repairing Meade LX200’s?

[catburglar]

As many of you- I’ve managed to get 4 long observing sessions with my scope (Alt-Az mounted LX200GPS) over the last week or so.

On the last two sessions I’ve noticed a bit of noise when it slews in Az- not the coffee grinder sound of the motor, more like some slight rubbing together of parts leading to a ringing sound. It doesn’t cause the motor to strain, and the slews are as accurate as ever, but I’d like to get it sorted before it becomes an issue.

I’ve had a look at SCTelescopes, but none of the links work, so it looks like they may not be in business. Orion Optics offer a ‘fettling service’ but it seems more focussed on optical cleaning and basic mechanical tweaks- so not sure if they look at this sort of thing.

I could have a lash at it myself…but let’s just say…that’s the option of last resort😬.

Any ideas/suggestions- or should I just wait to see if it persists when things warm up a little?

[michael8554]

What is the balance like ?

Try slewing in Az with the OTA pointing straight up.

Unscrew the base cover and have a look for grit or swarf in the worm and worm wheel.

Clean and re-lube may help.

The worm carrier is spring loaded to the wormwheel, check there is a tiny amount of free-play at all points of normal Az use.

Michael

Edited January 22, 2022 by michael8554

[catburglar]

Michael- thank you.

I think the balance should be OK- it's in pretty standard trim with just the autofocuser, diagonal and 8x50 finder , but I'll double check the slewing with the OTA vertical.

It sounded like a metal object was "ringing" as a result of unwanted vibration rather than anything related to the worm / wheel- but since that looks to be an easy thing to investigate I might as well have a go at it (I'm unlikely to break it if I'm not going in to the guts of it...).

Regards

John

[michael8554]

In "standard trim" the OTAs are often front-heavy.

Loosen the Dec clutch with a firm hand on the OTA and see if it swings !

Michael

[catburglar]

I haven’t taken it off the pier yet, but I’ve just deleted in RA with the OTA vertical…and I get the same noise…but only when I slew from SW through S to East….going in the reverse direction it’s silent (we’ll apart from the coffee grinder motors). I’ll have to take it down at the weekend and have a proper look

[catburglar]

I’ve had a look this morning…the worm and wheel look nice and clean…

But I found this inside…couldn’t find where it came from…It’s machine at one end but not the other, so it looks like it’s broken off something …everything still seems to be working…so it may not be ‘serious’…but will see how things go