So I bought a Bintel 302......

[torana68]

Couldn't help myself it was cheap but its the dirtiest telescope I've bought to date (and I've bought some dirty things)...........
questions:

1. anything need upgrading?

2. the vinyl on the mount is peeling badly whats a better replacement? I looked in Bunnings but they only had cheap peel and stick stuff....

[xelasnave]

Stick the old stuff back you won't notice if you are looking thru the ep.

Alex

[torana68]

its definitely about the look :) but also protecting the plywood from moisture.....

[astro_nutt]

Hi Roger. I also brought one a few years back. Firstly, | found that collimation will shift from horizontal to vertical. I cut some 10 mm x 20mm x 0.5mm plastic strips and placed them between the mirror and mirror cell to stop it shifting. Next, I did some work to the mirror cell, replacing the springs and increasing the locking knobs travel by placing a 20mm x 40mm x 6mm aluminium flat with a 6mm drilled out recess to hold a ball bearing and drilled a recess in the end of the locking screw. This gives a bit more tension against the steel plate, (which will flex ) Use the locking screws to do the final tweaking of the primary mirror cause the you do need a bit of pressure. The original mount had some silicone sealant smeared on the bare edges, allowed to dry before assembly. I use the mount to store the scope indoors. I built another mount from 16mm plywood with 200mm holes on the sides to make it lighter to carry. Adjustable furniture feet underneath to keep it reasonably level. The optics are impressive and once set up it delivers a bit more "WOW" in the nights observing.
Cheers!

[xelasnave]

Paint exposed wood with resin maybe....then stick down old stuff.

Alex

[Saturnine]

Pretty sure the dob mounts are laminated chipboard and once the laminate starts to peel off the chipboard sucks in moisture and starts to swell. If that is the case and from your picture it is quite probable, then it is better to make a new dob mount from 16mm plywood , sealed with a few coats of marine varnish. You should be able to save the teflon bearings and formica from the old mount and incorporate in the new one.
Only really need a few basic hand tools to measure, cut , glue and screw the plywood doesn't have to be a work of art, just functional and solid.

[torana68]

Thanks all, might look into a new mount, the mirror has cleaned up well so its looking good so far :)

[torana68]

Mount stripped , edges sealed with fiberglass resin then primed and painted, also replaced all the screws with something better. The moosh wood this was made from isn't good so for not much more work I'd advise using it for a pattern and binning it. I should get 5 years out of this easily but good marine plywood would outlast most people if finished well. Natrually its now raining.....