Peterson Engineering - 3-1/2 inch diameter EZ Clutch™ Kit

For the 7 to 12 inch LX200GPS and LX90 telescopes

This upgrade kit modifies the declination clutch system on Meade
RCX400, LX200GPS, LX200R and LX90  families of telescopes. When
installed, lightly tightening the clutch knob with two fingers is all
that is required to hold even the most unbalanced scope firmly in
position.  You’ll no longer have to turn the declination knob
uncomfortably tight or risk having your knob popping off as you
tighten it to it’s breaking point.  With the EZ Clutch you have enough
”feel” that can easily dial in enough declination tightness to hold the
optical tube firmly but still allow the drive to slip if  you hit an
end stop or an obstruction.
Meade’s design utilizes a ”wet clutch” system where two steel plates
engage the aluminum declination drive gear.  The space between these
plates is lubricated to prevent the aluminum gear from galling and
having aluminum chips falling onto the worm gear drive below.  The EZ
Clutch Kit converts Meade’s clutch design to a ”dry clutch,” adding a
specially developed friction plate to the system.

While the ”obvious” fix was to add a larger knob (as was used on the
LX200 ”classic”) Meade’s new smaller ”stylized” knob comes with a
smaller weaker screw thread.  Any machinist will tell you that you
NEVER insert a steel adjustment bolt into aluminum, as steel abrades
aluminum - causing the aluminum threads to wear out quickly.  The
aluminum scope trunnion section containing the female threads is thin,
and there are usually only 3 full threads there to start with.  The
excessive force required to clamp the wet clutch plates leads to
premature failure of the aluminum thread.*  Since a larger knob would
result in larger forces and an even more accelerated thread wear, we
spent a bit more time with the engineering and developed this easy
clutch modification.  EZ Clutch forces are light and will prolong the
life of this critical aluminum thread indefinitely. 

The clutch kit for the 7” through 12” LX200GPS/R & LX90 scopes also
contains inspections and appropriate adjustments of the drive if
factory settings are found to be incorrect.  Here’s a 5-1/4” worm gear
with minor tooth damage associated with an incorrect factory setting. 
This damage isn’t discovered on some scopes until the teeth are chewed
up so badly as to be non-functional

The EZ Clutch installation procedure is simple, and the 4 page photo
illustrated instruction sheet contains detailed step by step
instructions.

If you have a concern regarding your Meade warrantee with the use of
this kit, click here.

* If your declination thread has already stripped, and you own a
7”-12” LX200GPS, 8”-12” LX200R or LX90, see our EZ Dec Thread Upgrade
Kit.  I’m sorry, but we don’t offer the thread repair kit for the 14”
GPS or the RCX400 scopes as the repair is more complex and beyond the
capability of most of our customers.