Lubricate 80mm Espirit focuser.

[xelasnave]

Rather than learn by my mistakes I thought I would ask for help from those who know what they are doing.

I have only just now woken up having done the 12 till day break shift in the observatory but I did notice the focuser was not nice and smooth on the 80mm Espirit and although I only had a casual look when packing up and really brain dead I could not see how to do anything...
Any tips... I don't want to just spray wd 40 or silicon lubricant around without thinking it thru and armed with reliable advice.
Alex

[sunslayr (David)]

How does it feel? Just a little tight or does it feel like its rubbing or feels gritty? I usually use Superlube for everything but if the esprit 80 focuser uses linear rails like the esprit 100 you probably just want a drop of light machine oil. Its probably more likely that its not quite in alignment. Try loosening the screws on the bottom of the focuser, racking it in and out and tightening them back up.

[xelasnave]

Thank you David..it feels very tight and I have a feeling your line of investigation will perhaps show a problem like you suggest..I had not thought of such..
I only noticed because I set it up for visual with an illuminated reticle and ran it all the way in to find focus on the way out and you could tell right away it was less than perfect...anyways I will look later as I just can't seem to pull up from last night...I cant understand it as I got plenty of hours sleep all up ... and I did manage an hour on the Spider and waiting for DSS to complete the first stack...it is great to be in business with this roll off..long way to go however.
Thanks again I really do appreciate your help.
Alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Alex
The 2” crayford focuser on my 6” Bintel GSO newt has been giving me trouble for a month or two , usually on the up or out focus using my JMI mini electric focuser , so my frustration levels maxed out and therefore decided to pull it out and service it ( not knowing what to do )
I found a site called Opticstar in the UK and it explained with diagrams how to service a GSO dual speed focuser
I bought a tube of lithium grease from super cheap auto and completed the service in half an hour. One of the most important steps was to apply a thin coast of plain paraffin wax to the flat side of the draw tube. I obviously had to re collimate the scope which is no big deal.
I was out last night imaging the Helix in Sydney and difference it made to the focuser was incredible, so smooth and precise both in and out. If I had known how simple it was I would done it 2 years ago. When I removed the focuser out of the scope and pulled it apart , there was hardly any grease at all and the grease that was there was almost hard. The scope is nearly 4 years old , well overdue for a focuser service

Cheers
Martin

[xelasnave]

Thanks Martin ..it is certainly not as new as the day I bought it...won't be long before I get a work bench in the roll off and then a few things will get the attention they have missed for years..eight inch, 80 mm, heq5 belt mod, new dew tubes for everything..a first person view electric glider to check the horizon for cloud, ... looks like it will be a nice night here... goal to align scope and use goto after all these years and then swap the 80mm and Nikon for 115 mm and ZWO...that will free up heq5 for a belt mod...Thank you very much for your input..it's like most things there is no really short fix but I bet the problem David suggests is present.
Alex