8" Skywatcher Collapsible - how to get smoother/easier movement

[Jasp05 (Aaron)]

Hi guys,

I picked up an 8" skywatcher collapsible dob over christmas. It's a brilliant telescope (being my first Dobsonian), however I can't help but feel the movement of the scope is bit too difficult. (too much friction on the axis).

I've tried to loosen the bolt on the azimuth axis thinking maybe that was providing too much squeeze and making things tight. However after loosening this slightly it made little to no difference.

And the altitude axis is fine. But I wonder if replacing the guides with 2 ball bearings either side for the tube to sit against would that make a huge difference?

Has anyone modded their scopes to make moving it around easier and therefore smoother?

I have ordered a few bearings to put on the base to see if that helps with friction. If not I can always revert to the teflon pads.

But I would like to hear from anyone else who has modded their scopes.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Azimuth is easy , you just need a plastic milk bottle and cut a pile of washers about 50mm in diameter , they don't have to be perfect .

You then punch or cut a hole in about the center that the center bolt will fit .

Then undo the center bolt and lift the mount off the base board ( be careful here , do it on carpet as you don't want to damage the formica that's stuck to the bottom of the mount ) , you then place the plastic washers on the center bolt until they are about the same hight as the teflon ( nylon ) pads the mount slides on , nip the bolt and try again , if its still tight remove the mount again and add another washer , continue untill the center milk bottle washers have take a tiny bit of the weight off the teflon ( nylon ) outer slides .

Its a but of trial and error , good fun and the results are amazing , this is a good fix many use .


On the altitude , I have never had this problem , but some people screw small plastic cupboard rollers to the mount sides ( Bunnings at about $2 a pop ) , two at the bottom about 60 degrees either side of bottom center to take a tiny amount of weight off the teflon ( nylon ) sliders , others might have other ideas here .
A little car wax on the formica helps a lot as well , just put it on as you would you car .

Most of all enjoy the fix as all telescopes are works in progress and you 8 inch is a good one .

Brian.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Checkout the Projects and articles section: HERE

for example this one from Iceman, similar to what Brian described.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-116-0-0-1-0.html

On a SW 10" Collapsible DOB previously owned, I went for the Bunnings lazy susan solution - HERE
but found it too good (read blowing in the wind) and had to apply "brakes" which worked well in the end.

Happy modding.

[geolindon (Lindon)]

G day Aaron n Happy 2017,

some simple ideas to try from those replies.

perhaps if that doesn't work, but being a new 'scope it should! my 16" base was deteriorating, the following worked so well i did the 8" as well: after researching others' experiences/ideas from IIS threads i put textured kitchen bench 'laminex' (off cut from cabinet maker near The Great Western) on the underside and replaced the nylon pads with teflon with a slight bevel (cut from a 3mm thick A4 sheet from an online source, if/when i get back i'm happy to share both as i have heaps left over). for me it made lotsa improvement, especially for smooth small moves at high magx. i was/am happy with the alt actions as is, a clean and some spray on silicone is all i've done there.

soz fella, not much chance up there atm, but clear skies any ways,
L