Telescope Mirror Twisted in its Cell!

[doriscrisp]

I just bought a scope and the mirror has twisted in the cell, scratching the outer portion of the mirror. Is this a problem?

[admin]

Are you saying the mirror has come loose in the tube DeMar I have the XT12 and had to mount the mirror in the cell and then mount the mirror in the tube.

So I'm familiar with how the mirror mounts in the tube.

[doriscrisp]

Basically, yes. If I place my hand at the back of the OTA, I can rotate the mirror around. Not the cell but the mirror within the cell. I only did this after I noticed the marks. Also, I've tried to remove the cell to take a closer look but it won't budge. I've removed the six small screws around the outside but still no luck. I wanted to take a closer look and tighten those clips a bit if needed but the cell seems to be in there pretty tight, any advice I'm going to end up with an 9.5 incher vice a 10 if I let this go long enough!

[admin]

Take a 2" x 4" cut a piece about 6" long from it, remove all the screws holding the cell.

Now place one end of the piece you trimmed from the 2" x 4" against the ring at the bottom... GENTLY! Tap while the tube is laying flat on a carpeted floor.

Turn the tube a little and tap again and so on,now one important note here you must observe closely how much the ring is moving as you do not want it to come off all at once, you are doing this to get it loose enough so you can remove it safely.

And remember the mirror is heavy be prepared to support it and not let it just fall out.

I cannot be responsible if you damage your mirror using this procedure, please use caution when attempting this.

Also make a small mark on the tube and ring in the same place, you want to line those marks up when replacing the ring back on the end of the tube, there could be a variance in the screw holes.

[doriscrisp]

Thanks, the wood thing worked like a charm. The spots on he mirror ended up being marks caused by the rubber retaining clips. I was able to remove most of the smudging (not all) and tighten the clips. I tightened them so the rubber was just barely in contact with the mirrors edge. Seems much more secure now and I don't think the clips will be too tight, I'll need to wait to see how it is tonight. Thanks for the help.