| What causes baffle creep in the first place. In the cases I’ve experienced, the 3M adhesive seems to break down and become gelatinous. The fresh adhesive also appears gelateous, but after a couple of hours, the baffle is stuck so tight that even quite strong pressure cannot move the baffle.
Two factors that I believe are responsible for the berakdown are age and heat, with heat being an accelerant of the first. Age you can do little about, but you can prevent premature aging by not leaving the scope in a hot car. Many ETX owners haul their scopes everywhere, but a hot car in summer is not a good place to store an ETX. Experiments with the 3M adhesive show that it is noticeably more “runny” when left on a car seat in the sun. A few car trips probably won’t hurt, but don’t leave it in the car for extended periods. The actual creeping of the baffle is caused by gravity. If you’re the proud owner of a Questar, you’re unlikely to have baffle creep, because the Questar storage case ensures that the scope is in a vertical position with the baffle pointing to the ground. Meade cases store the scope horizontally, so gravity tugs at the baffle sideways. One solution is to rotate your case so the baffle is store vertically, or to simply rotate your case every week or two so that the baffle is not tugged exclusively in one direction. There tips may prevent, or delay, the need to carry out the baffle fix detailed on the previous page. |
||||
