Dropped my Scope!

[Debostar]

Unfortunately tonight my telescope barrel suffered an accident, it fell from the mount down to the ceramic tiled floor.

The mount screw was not tight enough and the scope was aimed high towards the sky and slewing....

It landed onto one of the collimation screws and bent it out of shape.

The barrel itself seems to be intact because the blow of the fall was taken by the screw.

The cross supporting the small tilted mirror suffered a minor bent.

The optics appear to be undamaged, the scope appears to be collimated and the star finder is centered corresponding to what I see.

The eyepiece and filter is intact.

The focuser seems a bit tighter than before.

I am sure there are more things to discover wrong here but overall it seems that I have been lucky....

I will test the scope tomorrow night, as I feel upset now by what happened....

Can I use a vice or pliers to straighten the bent screw??Could I get a new screw from celestron???

[Doc]

What a shame but it sounds like the damage isn't bad. It might be quicker and cheaper to replace the collimation screws with Bobs Knobs, just google it the name, as getting some from Celestron can be a pain.

Then just re collimate the scope and see how it goes.

[MissMessier]

Yes, as Doc said; replace the collimation screw. Job Done butter fingers..

[glowjet]

As above you lucky man, try a little lithium grease on the focuser and check all screws, and finally put one of those thick rubber dimpled car mats in an appropriate position in case an ep falls out.

[Debostar]

The scope still appears to be collimated...But I will verify its performance tonight...I only need one screw replaced....It is J-shaped now but its holding in its place...

[Steve1976]

Hope all goes well with this mate.

[Debostar]

All is well, it works as before, no optical damage and it finds its way round the sky pretty much as it should...I think this time I have been lucky...

I know now why celestron supplied a small screw driver....I found that most of the scopes screws were slightly loose and tightened them...Including the main tube screw and some other mount screws...

The bent collimation screw will serve to remind me of my careless-ness.