Best ideas for cleaning

[ruff]

G'day all

Just after recommendations regarding cleaning of eyepieces and bino lenses. not quite game to do the primary mirror yet. Do you find that run of the mill sunglass cleaning sprays and cloths are OK? or will they effect the coatings? I can get isopropyl alcohol but am not sure if I will be doing any damage.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

All the best

Greg

[matt]

Don't clean unless absolutely necessary.

Someone will post soon with a recommended solution of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water for cleaning optics.

There are also some handy links around here somewhere for cleaning optics.

Maybe we need something like this in Resources, Mike???:)

Assuming it's not already there?

[iceman]

Hi Greg, no don't do it like that on your primary mirror!

Do a search for "mirror cleaning" and there's a lot of threads discussing it with great advice in them.

I've been threatening to write an article on cleaning the primary mirror (i've even taken the pictures for it) but just haven't got around to it. I'll try and do it soon.

In the meantime, do a search... here's an example of the thread I was talking about: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=4496

Some people will say "don't do it, it's better to leave it dirty than to risk scratching it". But i'm in the other camp - if it's dirty and needs cleaning, as long as you're careful and use proper precautions, the risk is very low.

Have a read, do some research, make sure your area is prepared and then go for it if you feel it needs it!

[astro_nutt]

Hi all,
Last time I had to clean the primary on my 10" dob was due to spilt liquid.
Firstly I mark the spot where the mirror sits in it's cell with a drop of liquid paper on the cell and a permanent marker on the side of the mirror.
I used canned air and gently blow away any loose dust.
I clean the laundry trough with clean water to remove any dirt or soap and dry throughly.
Remove any soap holders, hoses, cloths, even the curtain!
Place a clean towel on a table next to the trough.
Fill the trough with about 4 inches of luke-warm water.
Place a drop of dishwashing detergent in a large drinking glass and fill with water, stir and pour 2 tablespoons into the trough.
Gently immurse the mirror into the trough and move it side-to-side for about 1minute, turn it 90 degrees and move it side-to-side for about 1 minute.
Empty the trough and remove the plug, turn on the tap, and rinse the mirror using moderate pressure, (as you would wash your hands) with luke-warm water, starting from the centre outwards.
After rinsing with tap water, do the final rinse with distilled water by running the distilled water across the mirrors surface while hold the mirror on a slight angle. Starting from the top of the mirror so as the distilled water will flow off the mirrors surface.
Dry off any droplets with the corner of a tissue.
After I did this, I noticed a swirl pattern on the mirror's surface. I later found out that this was a result of oxidization between the overcoating and the aluminium coating and has not affected the image quality at all!! ( I later learned that this wasn't caused by washing it!)
As for dust on the mirror, I just use a puffer, only if I really have to!
Cheers!

[ving]

the same way i do it astro-nut :)

[stephenmcnelley]

Hi ruff, I know your thread is supposed to be about lense cleaning, but while we are on the subject of mirror cleaning i have found something that works for Newt. mirrors.

This is only MHO, but If you really, really must swab the mirror surface to clean it while it is immersed in whatever concoction you have decided on, then using a smallish supersoft camel hair plastic brush is a safer bet than cotton swabs for a number of reasons- two of them are that you can better see and feel what you are doing in terms of pressure on the surface and also there is less chance of stroking the coating with your fingers/nails (I try to cut mine first!).
Well this has worked for me and no doubt this idea might cop some flak, we can only decide for ourselves.
steve

[GrahamL]

never thought of fingernails steve thanks .. I chew mine anyway so shouldn't be a problem:lol:.. I am a little suspect on dishwashing liquid though the surfactants in them just don't sound right for cleaning optical surfaces .

[jjjnettie]

They use horse shampoo and sea sponge on the Gemini Telescope mirror.