Cleaning your mirror with a steamer.

[Den (Dennis)]

Has anyone tried to clean their telescope mirror with Distilled water in a hand held steamer. You would not need to touch the mirror avoiding scratches.

[LewisM]

I would be very concerned about 100°+ water vapour thermal shocking a cold mirror, let alone the very thin silvering and clear overcoating.

In general, DON'T do it.

[sn1987a (Barry)]

Yeah give steaming a miss if it worked we'd all be doing it by now. I follow this approach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y8xFnXFVGQ

[dannat (Daniel)]

I would not have thought steam would crack a mirror or harm the coating (as long as it was applied correctly in the first place)
we placed many much thinner glass items in autoclave before for long periods & get very few breakages

problem with water is that it often doesn't remove much (dust which you can just blow off)-some deposits require a diff solvent to lift them, eg alcohol/detergent

[Den (Dennis)]

Thanks Guys,

I guess it works great in the shower removing mould and stains on tiles and glass. It would have been a nice easy way to clean a mirror.

Regards

Den

[LewisM]

Autoclave gradually comes to pressure/temp. A steamer is already at 100°C, and directing that onto a chunk of glass that may be at an ambient of say 18° is a differential of 82°C... not good me thinks.

You'd probably get away with it, perhaps a few times, but why risk it?

[Den (Dennis)]

I agree LewisM ,

I was going to preheat the mirror slowly with a hair dryer
then steam clean.

Another item I would like to test is this product
on a telescope from the local tip.

Link:


http://www.shieldnpeel.com.au/store/...&product_id=52

[MrB (Simon)]

Another thing that may be worth considering is the steam is under pressure, blasting the dust, I would think this would have more potential to dig/scratch the mirror than a gentle wash?

[5ash (Philip)]

Originally Posted by Den

I agree LewisM ,

I was going to preheat the mirror slowly with a hair dryer
then steam clean.

Another item I would like to test is this product
on a telescope from the local tip.

Link:


http://www.shieldnpeel.com.au/store/...&product_id=52

Are you going to "peel clean it"?? A few years ago I saw such a cleaning method being advertised in the USA. I think it's on utube.
Hilip

[Den (Dennis)]

At the moment the mirror is still clean ( new scope ) with a little micro dust from use. I am researching non destructive methods at the moment. I may need to get a damaged scope from the tip and do some testing first.

Den

[Den (Dennis)]

Hi Simon,

Looks like steam is out to many people advising against it.
Den

[PeterM]

The method you saw was possibly using Collodian.
The article below from Cloudy Nights gives some good advice.

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1304

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by Den

Hi Simon,

Looks like steam is out to many people advising against it.
Den

Yep, I was just driving another nail in the coffin with another reason against

[5ash (Philip)]

Originally Posted by PeterM

The method you saw was possibly using Collodian.
The article below from Cloudy Nights gives some good advice.

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1304

No it's not collodion but a similar process to the one described ,but using a modern polymer sprayed on and peeled off. It's been used on the individual mirrors from the Keck telescope. Its described in the youtube video below. I believe the company is called Photonics.

Look on YouTube for "cleaning aluminium mirror with first contact polymer at vandenberg"

I did see it described and demonstrated at an astronomical products so some years ago in America.
Philip
Ps couldn't copy the link that's why I gave the video title.

[Den (Dennis)]

Hi Philip,

Check this product out.
I would like to test it on a old mirror.
Den



http://www.shieldnpeel.com.au/store/...tegory&path=20

Originally Posted by 5ash

No it's not collodion but a similar process to the
one described ,but using a modern polymer sprayed on and peeled off. It's been used on the individual mirrors from the Keck telescope. Its described in the youtube video below. I believe the company is called Photonics.

Look on YouTube for "cleaning aluminium mirror with first contact polymer at vandenberg"

I did see it described and demonstrated at an astronomical products so some years ago in America.
Philip
Ps couldn't copy the link that's why I gave the video title.

[Den (Dennis)]

Telescope mirror cleaning solution.

http://www.photoniccleaning.com/

[LewisM]

I would be wary of collodion and similar peel off cleaners too. Several reviews have cited removal of spots of transmission coatings on refractors, and some de-silvering on mirrors.

I am not russhing out cleaning my refractors with it.

[Den (Dennis)]

I agree,

I have access to a old dirty 4" mirror I may purchase the Australian

Shieldnpeel 1L pot and do many tests over 6 months and see the results.
Den

Originally Posted by LewisM

I would be wary of collodion and similar peel off cleaners too. Several reviews have cited removal of spots of transmission coatings on refractors, and some de-silvering on mirrors.

I am not russhing out cleaning my refractors with it.

[5ash (Philip)]

Hi Dennis,
It would be interesting to see how firmly it attaches to window glass. Suggest you spray it on a window with a spray bottle and leave a small attachment on the edge to make it easier to grip.keep me posted.
Regards philip

Originally Posted by Den

I agree,

I have access to a old dirty 4" mirror I may purchase the Australian

Shieldnpeel 1L pot and do many tests over 6 months and see the results.
Den

[Den (Dennis)]

Originally Posted by Den

Has anyone tried to clean their telescope mirror with Distilled water in a hand held steamer. You would not need to touch the mirror avoiding scratches.

Hi all,

This afternoon I did the first test on a old 4" mirror.
I steam cleaned for 10 min with normal tap water.
Because our unit has been used with tap water before.
I will get a new one for $20 for distilled water use.

On this mirror the coating stayed on even where the mold corroded the coating. The negative to tap water was it left some chemical residue behind this I was expecting.
I washed it off with hand cleaner soap on tap and rinsed off with distilled water.
I am deliberately doing this to see how durable the coating is.
This mirror survived.
Do not try this on a newer mirror until others have confirmed doing it with older ones first.
Now, if any one has got a old unwanted telescope mirror or lens and has a steamer give it a steam clean to see if you get the same results.
And post your results.

More testing to follow.

Regards
Den