Collimating an old Celestron C8?

The current thread about resolving deep-sky objects prompts me to ask
a question I first posted some years ago, which was never answered.

I have a 30+ year old C8 that's seen a lot of travel and abuse and has
been collimated a number of times. Of course I have no record or
recollection of how far or in what direction the individual
collimation screws have been turned over that time.

Are there travel limits on the screws?

Is it possible to damage or disconnect the C8's secondary by turning
the collimation screws too far one way or the other?

Could I drop the secondary into the primary, or have the secondary
flapping in the wind (so to speak) if I somehow managed to get one or
more of the screws out all the way?

Is there a way to get the secondary back to some sort of starting
position before doing another collimation?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |