Where do you buy spare parts for telescopes? (piefed.social)

submitted 6 days ago by StealthLizardDrop@piefed.social to c/astronomy@mander.xyz

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The other day, I picked up my first scope, a random brand 700/76mm telescope (like celestron powerseeker 76, just a random German brand) in a charity shop for £19, it needs some tlc and has some screws missing and some screws seem loose and not want to tighten (for example around the grabby things that attach the tube to the tripod).

So I wanted to know where I could get spare parts like screws or pads that hold the tube. Maybe the thread is gone or something. When i tried to search, all i find are eye pieces and things like that, not screws or tube holding pads...

( this is my first telescope so sorry if i don't know correct terms)

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[-] village604@adultswim.fan 7 points 6 days ago

Missing screws are the easy part. Take one to your local hardware store and find a match. Many of them have a thread tester set up so you can get the size right (just a piece of plastic or metal with threaded holes).

It's more involved for the ones that are stripped. You're going to have to get the screw size, then get a drill bit and thread tap for the next screw size up (plus bigger screws). Like, if it's an M3 screw, get a tap for an M3.5.

You can get assortments of machine screw sizes online if you think you'll have a need for more in the future, but most big box hardware stores will sell a small pack of each screw size.

[-] StealthLizardDrop@piefed.social 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Gotcha, it helped a lot to open the bottom bit and take a look inside, apparently old telescopes are a great decapitated wasp storage device... So replaced the screw and made sure the tube is nice and tight. It stopped wobbling and seemed to be much better. I had some random screws that fit the nut I found and were not too long.

Now for the next job is how to make sure I can see anything at all through the eye piece? I am using the 20mm one, pointed the finder at the moon, but the eye piece sees nothing.

If I remove the eye piece, I can see my eye and the mirrors look close enough to the middle, but I guess they are not aligned enough if I am not seeing anything through the eye piece? (Gonna wait for daylight tomorrow to try to focus a far away electricity pole). I also tried shining a light into the front of the telescope and I can see that blob through the eye piece.

So I am guessing its either misaligned mirrors or maybe misaligned finder? Il check during daylight tomorrow.

Any advice on a tool I can use for aligning it? From what I read I need a Cheshire eyepiece? But are there any beginner friendly models that are not too expensive?

Also the finder seems to not be in much focus no matter what I do it it, the moon ranged from a complete blur to semi-blur...

this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026

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