Meade 3.3 FR - defective?

I recently acquired a Meade 3.3 focal reducer for use on my Nexstar 8i. I was all set to hunt down M101 the other night, screwed in the fr and - nothing. Big donut. From one end of the focus range to the other. Took it off, screwed on my Celestron fr - refocused and all was well. I know the Meade is for CCD imaging and I planned on using my camera but wanted to locate the galaxy first with an eyepiece. I did have a William Optics 2" diagonal on the back of it. Impossible? Or defective Meade fr? Thanks.

Those things are really picky about how far away the image is. You might be able to use it visually with a short (SCT-type) 1.25" diagonal. Either that, or just kink your neck and look straight through.

Just for grins, I once put one on our guide scope. It finally reached focus after some careful application of a band saw on the tube.

Charlie