PetersonEng - 5 inch diameter EZ Clutch™ Kit

For the LX400, the LX200-ACF and the 14 inch LX200 scopes

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.