Dead LX-200 classic, and Meade says...
lab~rat >:-)
classics. So now what? Is it modern art or is there a third party
electronics manufacturer out there? How about mounting the OTA on a
different mount? Any suggestions? (it's a 10") How about hard wiring
it so it only tracks?
This really sucks because I was just getting back into
astrophotography after about 5 years and now my scope won't track.
For the record, it blew fuses, I replaced it and then it blew smoke.
--
lab~rat >:-)
Do you want polite or do you want sincere?
victor
My 10" LX200 classic blew its fuse too after sitting unused for a
while.
The problem was a shorted tantalum capacitor, marked C1 on the main
printed circuit board in the base. I got a replacement 6.8 uF
35WV tantalum capacitor for $0.35 at Gateway Electronics nearby:
http://www.gatewaycatalog.com/
After replacement and reassembly, the telescope works as before.
This problem can be solved by any electronics repair shop, any old-
time
ham radio tinkerer, or anyone who has ever used a soldering iron and
an ohmmeter.
I got the schematics and instructions for opening the base from R A
Greiner's web site:
http://www.mapug-astronomy.net/ragreiner/Lx20elec.html
There is a great deal of other information on the top-level MAPUG site
page as well:
http://www.mapug-astronomy.net/
Don't give up.
lab~rat >:-)
<mvwi...@artsci.wustl.edu> puked:
Thanks for the ideas. The smoke concerned me, though. My electronic
skills are somewhat limited, although I can use a soldering iron and a
multimeter...
victor
>>...
> Thanks for the ideas. The smoke concerned me, though. My electronic
> skills are somewhat limited, although I can use a soldering iron and a
> multimeter...
> --
> lab~rat >:-)
> Do you want polite or do you want sincere?
I bet that the smoke came from the shorted capacitor. When you open
up the base and look at the PC board, a scorched C1 will be strong
evidence that your LX200 died from the same cause as mine.
Long ago an engineer told me that he would test the many cheap filter
capacitors placed across power busses in TTL circuits after they were
soldered in, but before the logic was installed, by connecting a huge-
amperage power supply. The bad capacitors would identify themselves
by blowing up. I did not use that technique for my LX200 diagnosis,
though. Instead, I relied on a multimeter and the sage advice of Dave
Mabry, in this newsgroup and via email. Thanks, Dave.
Zyp
Meade doesn't do a good job of repairing, customer service, or even calling
you back when they promise they will. I turned away from Meade because of
shoddy service... went to Celestron. At least they answer the phone.
--
Zyp
lab~rat >:-)
Yeah, I went through that about ten years ago when I sent my scope to
CA from FL, waited two months and received my scope back in the same
condition. Then I called and they shipped me the electronics to fix
it myself.
Pretty sure that would fix my problem now if there were a place out
there selling them...
Dave Mabry
lab~rat >:-) said the following on 1/6/2009 9:14 AM:
Did you put the same ampere rating fuse in when it blew smoke?
Actually, it may not be too hard to find the bad component, and there's
a reasonable chance it is a capacitor that is easy to replace.
If you take the control board off the base unit, you may find the bad
component there.
If you want to e-mail me directly, I can try to help you diagnose it.
Dave
lab~rat >:-)
puked:
I appreciate that and may take you up on it. It had to sit while
other more pressing matters were addressed around the house...
Rumpelstiltskin
The problem is a design problem. It caused by wrong rated tantulum
capacitors installed in 5-6 places in telescope AND handset.
The handset is most crutial because when C2 burns up
it destroys the film connector to the keypard, destroying it permanently.
Meade used tantalum capacitors rated at 16 volts while allowing 18 volt
supplies to be used. Its no mystery why these caps eventually burn up.
The fix is to replace all of these caps with 25 volt caps.
http://www.bbcl03736.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/LX200%20Faults.htm
Symptom:- Fuse blowing, either externally or the fuse mounted behind the
Power Panel.
This is most probably caused by the failure of one of five components,
all of which should be replaced to effect a lasting repair. It is the
result of component failure of C1 on the Power Panel and/or C8 on the
Processor Card (near the 5v regulator) and/or C2 in the hand controller
and/or C1 on the DEC/RA motor control board. These are Tantalum
Capacitors, normally fawn in colour, and are polarity conscious. Replace
with 10uF 35volt working Tantalum or Electrolytic. (Please note that the
capacitor in the hand controller has a tendency to burn through the
keypad membrane when it goes faulty, rendering the handset useless and
unrepairable...see further notes here).
Rumpelstiltskin
The problem is a design problem. It caused by wrong rated tantulum
lab~rat >:-)
<to...@emeraldcity.biz> puked:
Is this the large blue cylinder shaped cap on the daughter board
behind the control panel? If so, mine is a 25v, but upon examining it
the bottom surface where the two leads exit appears to be cracked.
I'm assuming that isn't a good thing. I have a replacement sitting on
my bench, but I haven't gotten to it yet.
>
>
>http://www.bbcl03736.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/LX200%20Faults.htm
>Symptom:- Fuse blowing, either externally or the fuse mounted behind the
>Power Panel.
>
>This is most probably caused by the failure of one of five components,
>all of which should be replaced to effect a lasting repair. It is the
>result of component failure of C1 on the Power Panel and/or C8 on the
>Processor Card (near the 5v regulator) and/or C2 in the hand controller
>and/or C1 on the DEC/RA motor control board. These are Tantalum
>Capacitors, normally fawn in colour, and are polarity conscious. Replace
>with 10uF 35volt working Tantalum or Electrolytic. (Please note that the
>capacitor in the hand controller has a tendency to burn through the
>keypad membrane when it goes faulty, rendering the handset useless and
>unrepairable...see further notes here).
This is interesting. I'll take it one step at a time. If replacing
the cap behind the power panel does the job, I may stop there as the
scope is over ten years old and I only had the problem once.
I'm crossing my fingers that all it will be is that one...
jshami...@gmail.com
> Meade says that they have no electronics left to repair LX-200 classics. So now what? Is it modern art or is there a third party electronics manufacturer out there? How about mounting the OTA on a different mount? Any suggestions? (it's a 10") How about hard wiring it so it only tracks?This really sucks because I was just getting back into astrophotography after about 5 years and now my scope won't track.For the record, it blew fuses, I replaced it and then it blew smoke.-- lab~rat >:-)Do you want polite or do you want sincere?
Hi... Ive been looking for a replacement front panel since the power recepticle broke...and like you said - no service... Go to ebay - someone has a front panel AND mother board assy on auction now .. looks like about$350... check it out... I dont need the whole unit, just the front panel plate/board assy...
Stever
This post is over 4 years old. Did the poster find a solution?