TECHNICAL TIPS Last updated: 10 May 2002

Problem with new ETX-105, or How to Ruin a New Telescope

Sent:	Thursday, May 9, 2002 4:46:06
From:	patrick.zima@chello.at (Patrick ZIMA)
I said I keep you updated ... Here is one nice story, maybe to amuse
you, but for me, probably the worst thing happened since a long time. I
was realy looking forward to E N J O Y my telescope but my unadjustable
ra-backlash (setting ra-percenatge to 99% didnt make a big difference)
made me looking into the base for a second time, here is what happened:

While moving the ra-axis via the autostar attached, I found out, that my
problem actualy is a very large wormgear endplay. So I tried to find
Information about that and found it on Jordan Blessings Site. "Hold the
wormgear with a needle plier" and thighten the nut carfully. Well, I
thought I give it a go ... Actualy the nut didn't move (it is secured
with some dried yellow stuff at the end), but the whole gear did,
becourse it was impossible to hold it tight using a plier. And so it
happend, that I broke two teeth of two of the gear wheels.

!!!

I would like to tell you what is even worse than that: I live in
Austria, which is actualy a lot of thounds of miles away from Meade in
California; And I am shure that if I try to order that gear wheels from
Meade-Support Europa it'll last at least 4 to 8 Weeks as well, until I
can actualy use the scope again.

Another chance might be, that my local dealer will take back my scope,
but I doubt it, given the fact that I voided my warranty ... I have to
try that anyway ... Whatsoever, I'm shure there is no other 105er on
stock ...

My question Mike:

1. Does Meade sell or givaway the ra-gearbox as a spare part and what do
you think, does that cost, and how long has one to wait until it is sent
over to europa ?

2. Is it possible, to only order the two gear wheels that are broken ?
Might be faster available ?

3. Is the support in the US better than in europa ? Do you think it is
easier for you or Clay to get hold of the gearbox ?

Sorry to bother you with all this, but at the moment I'm realy despaired
...

Some pictures of my disaster, might be of interest to you, or to show
the others what fideling around might cause ...

And from our hardware expert:

From:	sherrodc@ipa.net (Clay Sherrod)
Arghhh.  That is the worst possible problem and ONE of the many reasons
that I no longer encourage ETX users to get into the base and make these
adjustments unless absolutely necessary.

Let me answer the unfortunate as follows:

1. Does Meade sell or giveaway the ra-gearbox as a spare part and what
do you think, does that cost, and how long has one to wait until it is
sent over to Europe ?

**no....they will want the entire telescope returned for repair.

2. Is it possible, to only order the two gear wheels that are broken ?
Might be faster available ? **no....although Meade does sell some repair
parts, the drive assembly is all one unit which Meade does not sell (nor
replace) in pieces....it is one large unit consisting of the nylon
reducer gears, the encoder, the motor and attaching hardware.  It is
unlikely that they would sell you even this assembly, but since you are
in Austria, it might be worth a try.

3. Is the support in the US better than in Europe ? Do you think it is
easier for you or Clay to get hold of the gearbox ? **not unless I get a
salvaged ETX 105 in here; Meade will not sell this unit, only replace it
upon repair at their facility.

Sorry to bother you with all this, but at the moment I'm really
despaired **and you have a right to be.  We wish you the best.

Clay Sherrod

If a 1000$ unit would work like a 1000$ unit just out of the box, nobody
would consider adjusting things on their own. Plus the fact, that the
whole case of returning the telescope to meade, to have it adjusted by
them is, in terms of prize weight and time, a *real* pain. Hey, you just
bought a realy nice telescope for a lot of money and you want to use it
right now; Not in 8 weeks.

Therefor: should one try to self-fix the thing ?

After this, definetly not; But meade shouldn't sell "not at all working
as expected" 1000$-telescopes. And definetly not, if they cannot provide
the propper service to repair it in a propper amount of time.

Today I'm going to test my dealer's flexibility on this ...

Return to the top of this page.

Go back to the Tech Tips page.

Go back to the ETX Home Page.