Trail Jogger
member
Reged: 02/08/08
Posts: 43
Loc: Columbus, Ohio
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I've been wondering this lately so I thought that I'd ask those more experienced than I.
Each night I watch the fork motors drive the OTA to the many locations that I want to see and I always wonder just how long they'll last before they give out.
(1) When, if ever, should one grease the assembly?
(2) Without preventive maintenance, how long will a Meade LX200 last? (Comments including "I've had mine since..." are welcomed and may earn bragging rights.)
Thanks in advance for any replies.
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Meade LX200-ACF 10"
TeleVue 8mm, 13mm Ethos
TeleVue 2x, 3x Barlows
Meade Series 5000 9mm, 14mm, 26mm Plossl
Meade Deep Sky Imager II Color
Voyager 4.5 Planetarium
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JerryWise
Postmaster
Reged: 12/26/03
Posts: 7839
Loc: Lexington, SC
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I never greased mine.
I had my 10" LX200 Classic form 1992 to 2004 with nare a problem. Sold it for about 300 less than I paid for it. I went away from fork mounts shortly after that but looking at getting an RCX again.
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Jerry
Celestron C-11 Hyperstar
(and some other nick-knacks)
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JAT Observatory
Got Cookies?
Reged: 02/20/05
Posts: 6799
Loc: Eastern PA
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When my LX200GPS was my prime mount I used to clean and relube the mount every year. My LX200 has seen a lot of slews, as it was used almost every clear night for a while.
I have replaced 2 dec motors, 1 control boards and one handbox in its 5 years of use.
While I can't say how long it should last, I would expect them to last many, many years. One of the keys to making them last is preventive maintenance such lubing the gears, and keeping the balanced when piggy-backing other scopes.
Lubing the gears will reduce the gear's wear, keeping your tracking and PE curves more consistant. The balancing will save the wear and tear on your motors. In my case the original issue was caused by a firmware glitch. The second problem I attribute to not promptly replacing the dec controller board, which I believe lead to the over stress of the second motor.
It is also a good idea to reduce the slew speed in cold weather. I reduced to slew speed to 50% when the temps dropped below 35 degrees. My current prime non Meade mount is setup to do that automatically.
My mind set is to use the scope, not abuse it. A little PM and common sense will go a long way and should allow you and your LX200 to have many happy years together.
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-Marcus
The problem with free speech is even the stupid have a voice.
http://www.jatobservatory.org
Currently a SV102A, WO 66mm & 10" LX200GPS OTA on a Paramount ME
(these OTAs subject to change without notice)
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NeoDinian
Experienced Postmaster
Reged: 10/05/05
Posts: 12730
Loc: Rockford Illinois
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I would recommend a re-lube at least... Get rid of that bad grease Meade uses...
Also gives you a chance to make the fine adjustments to the gears at the same time.
You can see a small pictorial of the procedure on my website doing both the RA and DEC axis gears...
http://www.neodinian.com/astronomy/mods.php
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Neo... (Jeff)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
10" LX200-GPS/SMT UHTC "Draco"
 Rockford, Il.
NeoDinian's Eye on the Sky!
Coming soon:
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 271
Loc: Philadelphia
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Although I have a new model, my father purchased the 12" LX200 Classic a long time ago (10+ years?). I was certainly 8 or so... In that case make it 1996. It has been sent to the factory for refurbishment once in this timeframe. He uses it still several times a month for visual observing. They do last long; just make sure you handle it gently...
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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Starman27
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 578
Loc: Illinois, Iowa
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My 12 inch LX200 was supercharged and was like new. This is a 1996 scope, my first brand new telescope and has been kept in an observatory.It has been replaced by a GPS version this summer.
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Enjoy the dark,
Herman
Meade
14 LX200 GPS SMT
12 LX200 GPS
7 LX200 Maksutov
ETX 125
TAK FS128 NSV
Sky 90II
Lunt LS60ThaDS BF1200
Canon 5D Mark II
Illinois
Iowa
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Joe Lalumia
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 3612
Loc: Rockwall, Texas, USA
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The only problem is getting busted electronics fixed. Ron Sampson comes highly recommended by the folks on the LX200 Yahoo group.
He can repair the main board and the hand controller on the Classic scopes. I understand Dr. Clay uses him to repair broken electronics on a Supercharge.
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LX90 8" LNT, SV Nighthawk & TelePOD, SV 80/9D & M4 mount, ETX 90, Orion XT10i, 20x80 binoculars, SV-BV3s-- www.texasastro.org
"Great minds discuss ideas;Average minds discuss events;Small minds discuss people." Unknown
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christurner
super member
Reged: 06/24/08
Posts: 171
Loc: Nova Scotia, Canada
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I operate often at -10 to -15 Celcius. That's 5F - 14 Farenheit for boys down south. During slewing, you can tell the grease is losing its viscocity because the scope struggles a bit...
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Chris and Family
Nova Scotia, Canada
Dark Sky Country
www.spatialenergistics.com
Platforms:
Meade LX200 ACF 12"
newstar 5.1" reflector
26mm plossl meade
13mm Ethos
Kendrick Digi10 Dew System
A wife that understands!
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RonBurgundy
sage
Reged: 06/16/09
Posts: 271
Loc: Philadelphia
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Out of curiosity, how old is your LX? If it's old, and you can afford the expense, please consider sending it to the factory for an overhaul. As stated earlier, my Pops did this in recent times, and his scope is like new... Gee wiz, that's cold. I moved to Pennsylvania from Florida and I thought WE had it bad! Gosh, you folks in Canada must be suffering already  sorry
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Kipp Ginsburg
8" LX200-ACF
Orion 120mm F/5.0 Piggybacked Refractor
Meade UWA Set [4.7mm-30mm]
DSI-II
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1096
Loc: New England
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I wonder about the optics. I have been using my 10 inch OTA since 1998, with no sign of degradation of the mirror.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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christurner
super member
Reged: 06/24/08
Posts: 171
Loc: Nova Scotia, Canada
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suffering? I LOVE IT DUDE! LOL
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Chris and Family
Nova Scotia, Canada
Dark Sky Country
www.spatialenergistics.com
Platforms:
Meade LX200 ACF 12"
newstar 5.1" reflector
26mm plossl meade
13mm Ethos
Kendrick Digi10 Dew System
A wife that understands!
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GeorgeDuke
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 1592
Loc: PARADISE! (So.Florida)
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Lifespan depends a lot on the user.
The lifespan of my Son's cars is less than a year!
I have driven three Toyota's for 13 years each.
I am still driving the 1996 4Runner and it looks and runs like new!
My LX200GPS 8" was purchased new in 2002 and still looks and works like new. I don't have the cold to contend with but we do have high humidity and temperatures! It gets over 110% in my observatory daily in the summer.
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George
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SkyShed POD XL-3
LX200GPS 203mm f10
StellarVue SV102ED2 Feathertouch Ser#0018
LXD75 GOTO with Orion 16" pier extension
Baader Hyperion 8mm ,13mm, 21mm + FTRs
2" GSO ED barlow, 2" SV Dielectric and Orion Prism Diagonals
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