Honestly saw a thread on Cloudy Nights where a guy tested that same filter. He said it didn't do much for Saturn, but on Jupiter it really made the darker belts pop. Tbh the before and after pics he posted were pretty convincing for the price. Ngl, it seems like one of those cheap accessories that actually works for one specific thing. Might be worth tossing in the case just for Jupiter season.

Yeah, grantt11 is right about the gamble. Makes you wonder if they're mixing old or dirty metal into the weld to cut costs, not just doing a sloppy job. That crumble you described sounds like bad filler rod or no gas coverage when they welded it. A clean break is one thing, but crumbling means the metal itself is junk. You can't fix that with a grinder, it's just weak material all the way through. That's the scary part with no-name suppliers, you never know what crap they're using.

Honestly, I thought our old system was fine too until that drill showed how slow it really was.

Wait, you were only two miles off? That's it? I pictured you being totally lost in some canyon for days. Two miles in thick trees does sound awful to get turned around in though, I guess that's still a long way to be wrong. Makes sense you'd want a check-in before it got worse. Still, for some reason I thought these things were only for, like, broken leg emergencies.

Oh man, that is the worst feeling! I did that once on a project and only noticed after everything was painted. Felt like such a waste of time and effort. Total facepalm moment for sure. Really hope it's an easy fix for you.