urgent help needed

[amateur stargazer]

ok, i tried to clean my primary mirror by removing the primary from the telescope, the only thing is the screws at the side of my telescope have a nut on the inside of the scope, and now i dnt know how to gt the nut up inside the scope to tighten the screw again, does any one know how, or have i just competely banjacks my scope, help me plz urgently thanks

[Doc]

What scope do you have?

[amateur stargazer]

shud ave mentioned that, its a celestron 114 short newtonian

[skye at night]

Ahh... Ye Sinner...

Needs to be well dirty to risk cleaning.. Better a bit of dirt (that would cause little effect to light gathering power) than risk damaging coatings and having to put all back together correctly...

Anyway... deed done.. you should list the scope type and a photo or three and the more technical members will help...

Steve

model posted while i was composing!!!

my reply .. not a symphony..

[amateur stargazer]

well i was trying to collimate it aswell well, other forums sugessted placing a mark on the primary but the only way to do so was take of, prob shudve bothered now if this is whats hapens

[Doc]

Not knowing the scope that well are you saying you removed the lower optical tube assemby casing. In other words the metal tube which would be connected to the mirror cell with screws around the perimeter.

[amateur stargazer]

i think so yea i try to gt pics up mit make it more clear

[amateur stargazer]

ok some pics hope you understand

[Doc]

By looking at this it seems the nuts are spot welded inside the tube for the screws to tighten into.

How many screws were there and how many have you tightened? Or how many nuts have come adrift.

[Doc]

I gather your arm isn't long enough to go down the tube to hold the nut in the right place.

How about a pair of long nose pliers to get you that added distance then get someone to tighten the screw.

[MikeP]

Or poke the nut down there held onto a piece of wood with a bit of double sided sticky tape.

Mike

[amateur stargazer]

i losened all three but only removed the one which was the one that came out, there not welding on they all loose when unscrewed i had to use my finger nail to pull the other screws up to tighten them which worked, no the secondary mirror is in the way for my arm, iv been loking 4 sometin big enough just have found ne tin yt

[Doc]

I bet it's still pretty secure with two so if you cannot do it, you still have a workable scope.

How about a length of wore such as a coathanger undone so it's long enough to reach screw. Then bluetack the nut onto the end.

[amateur stargazer]

im trying these bt the screw is level with the mirror, and i dnt want to scratch r damage the mirror

[dark knight]

Could always replace the nut and bolt with a slightly bigger self tapping screw.

Carl

[amateur stargazer]

nouts working, if 2 screws or ok then ill try some things l8r on, if things spring to mind

[amateur stargazer]

quick update, thanks to the smart thinking of my dad, the screw is back in place and tightened, iv learnt my lesson, dont tinker with something if you dont know what to do if it all goes horribly wrong, thanks for al the replies of help, much appreciated:icon_salut:

[peeceeTal2M]

If you loosened the screws enough for the mirror to move even a fraction you'll have to check the collimation, i dont think you need a center mark if you use a cheshire collimating eyepiece.

[vinny]

Dont try to colimate your celestron 114 short newtonian with a lazer colimator as most of them have a lens fitted to the end of the focuser tube and they spread the lazer light into a puddle of light and not a pinpoint

[amateur stargazer]

yea at the moment i dnt plan to do anything, considering the hassle it was to put that nut back in the scope, ill just hope that its fine it looks ok, from pics iv seen on internet of what a collimated scope looks like when looking down the view finder, so hopefully its ok, havent had a chance to test it by looking at a star and defocussing and things, blumming Norn irish weather:mad:

cheers