Celestron X-Cel Barlow not gripping other make eyepieces?

[Peter Turvey]

 

Hello 

Have just acquired a 2x Celestron X-cel  Barlow, with compression ring fitting. Unfortunately it does not firmly hold my BST Explorer  eyepieces.

Anyone else had this issue or found a solution . I suppose I could simply buy  a couple of Celestron eyepieces  to fill the gaps in my eyepiece range, and  ensure a good fit, or sell  this Barlow  on......

https://www.celestron.com/products/x-cel-lx-2x-barlow-lens-125in

[Louis D]

Try removing the compression ring to see if the screw alone will do the job.  Just tighten the empty eyepiece receiver thumbscrew to push the compression ring inward until you can flick it up and out with your fingernail.  To put it back, just loosen the thumbscrew and squeeze the ring back into its slot with the gap opposite the screw.

It could be that the ring gap is too narrow and needs widened by snipping off some of the ring material.  If the two ends meet before it compresses enough to hold an eyepiece, it simply won't work properly.

[Elp]

You could also try packing the compression ring with insulation tape or something to reduce its diameter. Doesn't need to be on the whole ring, just in three places. Or do it on the EPs to increase their barrel diameters.

Edited Sunday at 08:51 by Elp

[Peter Turvey]

Thanks everyone,  realised I  could  also make a thin split ring of plastic to fill the shallowest part of the barrel diameters