Skywatcher 200P Focusser Problem

[Bizibilder]

I've just discovered - 'cos it came off in my hand!! - that the rubber grips on the focusser of my 200P have perished! Both are the same, split in several places across the rubber, one has finally given up, split and fallen off.

Has anyone else had this problem? The scope is a year or so old and has lived in the obsy for the last six months or so.

Can you get spares? Or is there a good substitute?

[TheThing]

Got a picture at all please?

I've seen in other posts suggestions that you can make new out of bicycle inner tubes.

[markarian]

Yup - exactly the same happened to mine. I use the Skywatcher auto focusser so it doesn't really matter to me. Shouldn't have happened so soon though (about 1 year too)

Mark

[Bizibilder]

Off to the bicycle inner tube shop! Thanks!! (or the "O" ring shop, the timing belt shop, superglue shop.....)

[Bizibilder]

I managed to find a solution to this problem that I thought would be easy - how WRONG!!

I had, in stock, one spare "O" ring for a dishwasher/washing machine outlet pipe that was 40mm OD and 2.5mm diameter. So off to the shops but you cannot buy them for love nor money!!! "No sir - they come with the drain parts, there's no call for "O" ring spares and if there was we couldn't stock every size!!" etc etc.

Anyway I did get some as part of a "seals" kit from a high street store that I don't normally use because their prices are so ridiculously high!

A couple of pics below show the damage and the solution.

[lukebl]

Very neat solution!

[Moonshane]

indeed- very cool!

[Andrew INT]

I agree. I think it looks better now than before!

[russ]

Excellent solution, looks very neat indeed.

[haitch]

They sell just about any size of o ring here... O Rings Metric Size 3mm Diameters but you will have to a order a bit more than you need as they have minimum order quantities.

I've been looking for some glow in the dark o rings to go in between some normal ones and make it easier to find in the dark but I haven't managed to find them any bigger than 1".

[IanC11]

Yep happened to mine after 12 months, have used 'O' rings like everyone else has sugested.

Ian

[Space Beagle]

Yep, that looks the business! Good job and a good tip for others with 1 year old 200p's!

Doc