This is a great tip for the wobbly focuser on the Orion Starblast. I tried it with the tape but after a couple of uses the tape started to come off. I tried a different technique and used very thin small strips of felt. The strips of felt came out of a Scratch and Scrape Protection kit for furniture. The kit includes a very thin felt pad with adhesive of the backing of the pad. I removed the focus slide from the main port and cut two small sections of the felt pad. I inserted the two small sections felt pad to both sides of the inner tube and the placed the focuser back into place. It worked great and it took all the play out of the focuser. The focuser now glides back and forth on the felt pad. Just remember that you only need one small section on each end of the inner tube.

That's cool. I used medical tape as a product similar to paint tape. The adhesion did not deteriorate even when it was soaked with moisture from the night dew.

Thanks for the tip! Just took my StarBlast focuser apart and did the fix with a roll of 2” blue masking tape I that I already had. You’ve got to love cheap and easy (but effective!) mods/repairs.

Wow. I love learning simple mods & fixes. Can’t wait to get my own star blast scope!

Really good to know. Thanks. I have not an Orion Starblast 4.5, but I do have two Orion Spaceprobe 130st OTAs and they are tight and I can focus my astro-camera and they take good photos. No focuser issues.

Hello, Mr. Dreese; I did something similar but I used a strip of clear plastic sheet as a shim, so to speak. I also used some other junk & a big plastic bowl to make as observer shield. I cut a hole in the bottom center to fit the focuser drawtube, painted it flat black, & cut away a section (~7" across on a side) to clear my chin when I peep the eyepiece. Voilà!, a stray light shield to prevent nearby lighting from interfering w/ observing. Really help when trying to get a good view & lighting intrudes. Have a GREAT day, Neighbor, & clear skies!

I used aluminum HVAC tape and added it to the focuser instead of the tube, works a treat. The gooey grease is to prevent heavy eyepieces from causing slippage. I made a mistake removing the goo and replacing with lithium grease.

Great tip! Can't wait to try it out :)

I picked up the EQ for cheap (with a Telrad instead of RDF!) so will be fixing the focuser tonight. Velvet flock in the focuser tube and behind the secondary, collimating knobs...all the usual.

That’s ingenious! I have that scope and was indeed frustrated by the wobbly drawtube. Will definitely try that tomorrow.

I like your approach. This is just the kind of thing I would do to improve a telescope.

I have the similar Celestron Astromaster 114. It has a nicer focuser than this, but the Firstscope one looks exactly like this. I'm loving this channel.

Wow, even Einstein gets impressed. What a revolutionary solution!!!

We got the 4.5EQ version, and it indeed has great optics. It also had the loose focuser tube. We got ours from a friend who's moving for $100, so no real complaints, other than the horrible mount. The tripod itself is sturdy enough, but the play is in the mount. I'm considering one as a gift for my son (because it's only $50 more than the 100mm Skyscanner table top reflector which can't be collimated, and for these pretty nice optics). It's amazing to me that with all the EQ mount gearing and metal that the table top version on a particle board Az/Alt dob type mount is so much more costly for the same scope. As for the painters tape fix, it should last a long time, even with some humidity. Focusing moves things slowly, and the blue tape is made to stay on surfaces even painting latex (water based) paint. Nice vid, as usual. Thanks!!

You can do a cleaner looking, smoother, more durable job with aluminum muffler tape from your favorite auto supply store.

I have this one too. I just bought a Svbony focuser to replace the little red wagon that came with it. I'd like to make an eyepiece too.

**** CAUTION!!! - CAUTION!!! **** See below. I'm glad I found this video! With the Eclipse of 2024 coming up, I've been getting my Orion Starblast 4.5 ready to go (last time used was the Eclipse of 2017). I started collimating and noticed how horribly loose and wobbly the focuser slip was. Which makes collimating near impossible. Especially with a laser collimater. As I was searching online, I found this video. I was like, YES!, a simple fix with tape!. Boy was I wrong about the "simple fix" part. This video mentions using some "painter's tape", which is also called "masking" tape. Of course I have some, so I put on one layer, and so far so good, but still a bit loose. Second layer, and..... WRECK! Because this tape is basically paper with adhesive, the focuser didn't move very well due to friction, and the metal wheel broke the PLASTIC teeth off of the focuser slip. Yes, the focuser slip on these is plastic while everything else around it is metal. And to top it off.... the Starblast 4.5 has been discontinued and there are no parts available for it anymore. Great, 2-weeks before the eclipse this has to happen. I had to take the entire focuser assembly off of the telescope tube to get the focuser slip out of the focuser from the other end that goes inside the tube as it looked like the tape already started to tear and bind up inside the focuser, and I couldn't get the focuser slip out of the top. Which may have contributed to the teeth breaking off. **** THE (temporary for me) FIX was to purchase a used Starblast 4.5 telescope from eBay for parts (just for the focuser slip). I then purchased some UHMW tape from Amazon. UHMW is about the slickest, least friction tape you can buy. People use it for drawer slides, etc. So with this tape on the focuser slide, just one layer at 5-mil thickness was enough to tighten the focuser up, and the slickness reduces the friction, which reduces the risk of breaking the teeth again. So take my expensive mistake and go for some slick tape instead of cheap tape lol. Now my telescope is ready for the eclipse. Another fix is to use this video creator's broken teeth fix video if you want to go that route. I did not. Now for the PERMANENT fix, was to buy a whole new focuser assembly from AgenaAstro.com for the 1.25" eye pieces. They only have one size focuser base in the 1.25" which fits I believe 6"-8" scopes. And it's all steel, and tight construction. So no looseness, no plastic teeth to break. And it doesn't even use teeth as it is the Crayford style that uses friction instead. This will also fit the Starblast 4.5 with a little modification. You'll need to widen the focuser hole in the telescope tube. You'll need to drill new holes for the focuser base. You will also need some foam tape to put under each end of the new focuser base since the radius is a bit bigger than what the Starblast 4.5 uses. And then you'll likely need new (longer) mounting screws/nuts as the new base is thicker. So I will be installing that after the eclipse has passed. The focuser really is the weakest link in an otherwise decent telescope for the price. Thanks for reading.

great tip alot new owners will find that handy

Where was this video two years ago!!?? :) I have this little scope. It's what got me into AP. Coma on an ASI585mc is atrocious, so I'm making a 3D printed adapter for a Skywatcher 2" crayford focuser + coma corrector. I think this thing, for the price (+upgrades) could be an 80mm apo killer. It may need a bit larger secondary mirror for AP. There once was an AP version of this scope with a larger secondary.

That seems like a quick reasonable solution though I would opt for a better quality replacement focuser. One could also modify it or make a focuser. Seems like Orion should replace the focuser with a better quality focuser FOC.

Nice simple idea, but from what I understand the silver piece is always painted plastic. On my old telescope, the metal pinion stripped the plastic teeth on the rack... So I think that it's really important that not too much force is applied on the teeth.

Thank u sir 🧡 love from India 🇮🇳

I was gifted a free orion 4.5 eq newt from my mother and the focuser threads were totally busted and the internal lens in the focuser tube was stained really bad. It just won't focus and the complaint abt it from like 25 yo was that it "didn't focus" then either. It was purchased in like 1998, soo... What focuser would be a replacement option? It is totally shot. This fix is inadequate, while v smart, for the issues w this particular focuser. I think my dad or brother tried fixing and made it worse. Thanks for the recommendations for replacement. I love this scope, and the focuser needs to go.

I did something similar with scotch tape. Your idea likely works better.

Thanks for the tip. I just got a starblast (I'm a newbie). What do you recommend for the best views of planets with this telescope? I have a 7-21 zoom eyepiece and just got a wide angle 20mm after watching that video of yours.

Apparently you haven't seen many of meade's plastic focusers. They are even worse

Did you have to collimate the scope after doing this mod?

I wish these companies would not worry about cost effectiveness, and just make the best product.

I have one and the EQ mount is horrible. I took the tube off and put it on the Azi-gti mount

Teflon tape.

That isnt going to last very long and sounds very scratchy.

Why do the Big brand name Telescope companies bother to sell such Horrible fitting Plastic junk ?? ....90 weight Axle can't fix everything !! .....Use proper Fitting Metal parts with a Functional design priced a few bucks more.....Having to "Tape up" a new $230 scope is just Wasting $$ Stupid.....