102/127mm Mak O rings

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Ylem United States of America
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102/127mm Mak O rings

#1

Post by Ylem »


My 127mm Mak, of 12 years O ring has rotted out. Any ideas for replacement?
Has this happened to anyone else?

I am now starting to think this is a stupid design. My Celestron 90 is built more like an SCT without the O ring :)
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Re: 102/127mm Mak O rings

#2

Post by notFritzArgelander »


Wow, no. My 16 yo MK66 is doing fine.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: 102/127mm Mak O rings

#3

Post by Ylem »


notFritzArgelander wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:56 pm Wow, no. My 16 yo MK66 is doing fine.
Does it have an exposed O ring?

At some point I would think a 2mm O ring is gonna break down.
Mine has had a fair amount of solar work, so that may have lead to the condition.

It dry rotted, it basically crumbled in my hand.
Guess I could find one on the interwebs, and recollimate.
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Re: 102/127mm Mak O rings

#4

Post by notFritzArgelander »


Ylem wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 11:11 pm
notFritzArgelander wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 8:56 pm Wow, no. My 16 yo MK66 is doing fine.
Does it have an exposed O ring?

At some point I would think a 2mm O ring is gonna break down.
Mine has had a fair amount of solar work, so that may have lead to the condition.

It dry rotted, it basically crumbled in my hand.
Guess I could find one on the interwebs, and recollimate.
There is nothing exposed about the MK66. It's built like a tank. Never subjected it to any thermal stress like solar work either.

Have you collimated your Mak before? If so you'll know to worry about rotating the corrector to optimize.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: 102/127mm Mak O rings

#5

Post by Ylem »


Yeah, I have collimated a Mak before, I may have got lucky, I found it was pretty simple.
In fact easier than my C8.

The thing is I don't recall if that darn O ring behaved like a spring or if it just keeps out dust.
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Re: 102/127mm Mak O rings

#6

Post by notFritzArgelander »


My VMC110L is a tougher job to collimate than the MK66. Love the little guy but my first time collimating its predecessor and well... There is such a thing as nondestructive testing and that wasn't it. ;)

Spring or dust seal? I don't know. Sorry.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: 102/127mm Mak O rings

#7

Post by John Baars »


Sorry for the late reaction.

Just leave the O ring out. Mine was past its sell-by- date and broken too since two weeks, so I left it out. No need to collimate.

If you do feel like collimating: The big screwes go all down into the next base. You loosen them and collimate with the small ones.
There is not much to collimate by the way. The main mirror is a spherical one, like the secondary. So optically there are no sweet spots like in a parabolic mirror. Thanks to the slow f number like f/13 or so, spherical aberration stays way off.
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
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Re: 102/127mm Mak O rings

#8

Post by Lady Fraktor »


If you do want to replace the o-ring you may be able to find a o-ring making kit at a automotive shop.
I have replaced the 4mm thick o-rings in one of my C6-R this way.
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
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