What tools do you guys use for maintainance

shirox · Post by **shirox** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:23 pm

I was thinking of cleaning my mirror and lens but wondered what kind of tools most people use to clean.
I know distilled water is used to rinse off after cleaning.
but not too sure of everything else

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 6:14 pm

denatured alcohol 100% or as close to it as you can get.

do not use lens cleaning cloths, many of them have abrasives. IIRC the zeiss cleaning cloths are OK.

maybe pec pads would be better, these are used to clean DSLR sensors. not cheap though.

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 7:49 pm

Bro, do you REALLY want to clean the mirror?
Speaking of which, I do have 2 spots on my mirror I'm not sure how they came about. Only concern is if they are made of caustic dust particles that condensed when the mirror fogged up.
Should I leave the mirror in the scope, use a moist cotton to swipe (without pressure), leave alone or disassemble for full bath?

shirox · Post by **shirox** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:35 pm

cos i discover that there's quite abit of dust inside. might as well just dismantle and clean... but the collimation after that will be a pain...

letburn · Post by **letburn** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:38 pm

yeah , i totally screwed up my 5" 's collimation after i tried to remove and clean it . had to get a collimator to barely fix it with my 2c skills .

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:18 pm

blow dust off with a puffer.

personally water stains shouldn't affect the image, you'd do more damage to the coatings (if it's a mirror) by cleaning it. remember that mirror coatings get thinner when cleaned. so the reflectivity goes down and more light is lost (base reflectivity is only 91%).

for a refractor.. losing some of its coatings is not fatal, because the coating improves the light transmission but a simple 4-surface lens (doublet) would have insignificant additional light loss even if you took off the entire coating on one surface.

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:18 pm

Yes Blow away dust with a puffer which is available from most photographic shops. Don't skimp and get the huge ball! They blow well!
Dust shouldn't effect visual quality or the surface itself and normally is best left alone. Any residue that is on a lens/mirror is an abrasive material and thats what makes cleaning optics such a difficult task!

Avoid can aerosol sprays as they normally contain some solvents or never heard of claimed cleaning solution! They are good for externals like laptops and computers but not advisable for optics! If you are very sure in dismantling and know what your doing then make sure where you work is as dust free as possible. Lens tissues are abrasive as they claim to be. Cleaning solutions will degrade surfaces eventually and if used, minimal at least! Q-tips are good for EP's and try to get the soft ball type heads used for babies. Regular Q-tips, when wet, may soften the cotton and expose the plastic tip on the insides.
Unless some soiling effects the visual, then perhaps a clean is in order. But if there are no problems when viewing don't bother.
With reflectors, you would have to re-collimate. So if you have the proper tools and understand collimation, by all means have fun.

No matter what, always blow dust away from surfaces before cleaning to avoid any scratches. Don't blow with your mouth!! It's moist and sprays spittle!

External surfaces can be just simply wiped down! I sometimes use a very tiny amount of car wax (Very Tiny) to polish glossy finishes to protect it. Ensuring I keep away from the lens hood (so dust/particles don't enter) and focusing areas where particles can enter tiny holes. Avoid Windex! They dry surfaces more than anything...and too waxy stuff...they make scopes slippery! Car wax is good for making a crayford's focus tube smooth moving! Using grease attracts dirt!

Hope that helps! Anyway, my refractors all have dust, even my Nikkor lenses. I just blow them away before and after use!

shirox · Post by **shirox** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:33 pm

sweet! is it advisable to use the brushes on the mirror?

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:16 pm

If it's the soft type, found on good quality photographic blow bulbs, then fine. But don't apply pressure, just gently brush away.

BUT remember to Blow dust/particles/hair/eyelashes/etc etc away first!! Then brush. Blow-brush-Blow-brush....lol

stargazer · Post by **stargazer** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:43 pm

I cleaned my primary and secondary mirrors last weekend. Didnt use all the tools (which somehow regretted) mentioned except for the lens cleaning cloth.

Have tried daytime viewing after collimation. Seems all right, but haven't tested night time.

And Orly is right. The mirrors shouldnt be cleaned often, even though you may feel uncomfortable when look into your scope and see dust... [smilie=nonono.gif]