Hello.I was hoping any tak fc doublet owners could tell me about how well sealed these lenses are.My 2 skywatcher refractors need to be dismantled at least once a year to remove mould spots.The humidity on the east coast of nsw is very bad.Thanks.
You either need to store the refractor inside the house where air conditioning and heating controls the humidity (scope covered with a towel, lens cap off) or place it in a sealed case with rechargeable desiccant.
I lived in a VERY high humidity locale for 30 years. I have owned FC, FS and FSQ Taks, and not once ever had an issue with mould formation with them.
I would keep them in a spare room on a chest of drawers (made a special rack, and would decap the objective at least once a week when the sun would shine through the window. I also used to tape silica gel bags inside the dewshield cap.
Mine lives in the lounge room of my house in a Stellarvue C9S case which is NEVER closed up. Even though we occasionally have mould problems with other things, I have never had a problem with astro gear. My eyepiece case is always left open, too.
I had a SW 100ED f/9 for fourish years and never once had a mould problem. It kept it in its original hard case but threw a bunch of decadent satchels in there.
actually my question was more about the tak fc models,rather than storage issues.i have a OMEGA ALTISE dehumidifier for my scope room.but it still is not enough.only my skywatchers suffer mould.my waterproof bino,s don't have these problems.thanks anyway.
I expect most doublets and triplets are not weather sealed and can get moisture between the elements. Perhaps an oiled triplet rather than an air spaced refractor might suit you better?
It might be worth while removing the end cap and everything, make sure nothing is behind the telescope and point it at the sun for half an hour or so. UV isn't potent this time of year but it will kill any latent spaws on the rear element.
they get a good dose of uv light when I clean them in the sun.i have used dessicants but they don't stop the mould.the dehumidifier sucks a lot of water from the air.i suspect the taks have a better seal.
As for the decadent satchels, I got them from Teleskop Express, $8 or something for a pack of a dozen or so. Bought them ages ago so cannot remember the exact price/numbers. You can possibly get them from Bintel as well, I just happened to be making an order from Germany at the time.
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