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brian nordstrom
23-01-2012, 08:38 PM
:) Hi , I have a GSO 10 to 1 on my ED80 and its been there now for about 4 years .
right from day 1 it was usable but not very smooth in use .
After about a year I had, had enough of this feel as no amount of adjustement would make it feel nicer , or smoother , oh yes it was smooth without a diagonal or eyepiece fitted but as soon as a little weight was added it felt horrible
( not as bad as my 127 triplets focuser , but close , I now have a FT3035 R&P on that scope , but thats another story ) ,
so I spent a little time playing around with the adjustements and changed the goop the chinese use for grease and that helped a bit , but it was to fiddly to get right and the smallest knock caused it to revert back to the grumbler !! .
In the end I replaced the 3 ball bearings that it was made with , and what a joke these are , mild steel and non hardened !!!:shrug: no wonder it was not smooth.
A quick measuire up and I found a NGN ball race with the same sized , accuratly sized , hardened balls , those with white lithium grease made the feel very good with my lighter eyepieces , but with my Naglers and humongous :eyepop: celestron Axiom LX31mm the grumbles returned , bugger !!
Then I found this little gem of info on the net . I cant remember where but here it is for all to see.. :thumbsup:

Rub candle wax into the shaft where the top rollers run and then down the bottom where the focus knob runs ,wind it in and out rub some more , use pressure , dont be shy , in and out a little more , wipe off the axcess and WOAW !! the grumbles are gone I could not bieleve the feel , almost as good as the FT .. well almost but what a differance a little candle wax made .
Give it a go if you have one of these GSO's it is well worth it .
Brian.

wavelandscott
24-01-2012, 12:55 AM
I just read the "wax" tip the other day too...I think it was in Sky and Telescope (or Astronomy)...but they were advocating it for mounts as I recall.

Glad it worked out!

brian nordstrom
24-01-2012, 07:07 PM
:thumbsup: Yes it was , and thanks I could not for the life of me remember where I saw it :question: , alt / az mount movements ? , thanks but it works very well on crawford focuses as well , I hope a few owners give it a go its a good fix.
And very cheep .
brian.

silv
06-07-2012, 07:22 AM
half a year with that candle wax in your GSO focuser, Brian,
does it still hold?
or did it crumble or smell rancid?

traveller
06-07-2012, 11:11 AM
Yes, I remember reading it as well, and they also used Chap Stik (lip balm).
Bo

brian nordstrom
06-07-2012, 11:55 AM
:D Still good Silv , yep the movements are still smooth , if it does return to grumbles again its cheep and easy to put some more in .:thumbsup: .
Its probably due to the fact that it does not get below 25 degrees up here so it stays soft .
I have also seen ,, somewhere:shrug: that " Chapstick " will do the same thing in colder climates , like NZ .Brrrrrr.
Brian .

silv
06-07-2012, 03:35 PM
Cheers for the update.