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I emailed Peter Read (SDM), and this is the method he recommended for cleaning the mirror without pulling out all of the wiring / azimuth encoder:
"1.Your scope should be assembled
2 Cover the encoder with a piece of plastic or put a garbage bag in the rocker box
3 Now put some towels down in the rocker box and coming out the back end.
(make sure that the lower collimation bolt doesn't foul on the towels when moving the scope - you can remove the grey plastic coll. bolt cover to give you a tiny bit more room)
4. Point the scope up to the Zenith
5. Add 1 drop only of dish washing liquid to 2 litres of distilled water
6. Pour some (perhaps 1/3 fill the mirror) on your mirror and starting in the centre run your cotton balls or makeup removal pads in an ever spiralling motion. Keep changing pads and work your way out to the edge of the mirror - round and round and round.
7. When you are satisfied with the cleaning, tip your scope to the horizon and let the excess water tip out onto the towels
8. Now using distilled water only spray or pour plenty of water over the mirror and let it sheet off while the scope is still in the horizontal position. ( by the way this should be the first step to remove any grit or larger particles) The water should actually drop off the mirror hitting the ground completely missing the rocker box. Hard to believe but true.
9. Let the mirror air dry
10. you will never be able to get it perfectly clean and dust will collect on your newly cleaned mirror.
The simple rule is if you have to ask "Does my mirror need cleaning" then the answer is "No!""
That has certainly answered my questions.....and will make it much easier for me to clean the mirror without having to disassemble everything. Phew!
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