Dirty eyes...most people!

wavelandscott (Scott) · #1 04-09-2006, 08:57 AM

Mostly a dumb post...in the "Duh of course silly me" style (my children would chime in with a "Calling Mr. Obvious" comment at this point)...but I thought the post might make a suitable reminder...it has for me.

Yesterday, I decided to clean my eyepieces after the Macqaurie University astronomy open night...

WOW, I was shocked by how much crud and gunk they picked up in the course of a few hours (and a lot of people)...

I thought that I did a reasonable job in "keeping sticky hands away" from the eyepiece...but in doing the cleaning I see that I did not do a very good job at all...

I know this is all pretty obvious stuff but, I was still surprised to see what a difference a cleaning made...I guess us "people" are just slobs...

**Reminder to self, clean eyepieces after large group viewings...

Clean occulars and good luck to all!

bojan · #2 04-09-2006, 09:43 AM

I wonder how many girls (with evening mascara on their eyelashes) were present there :-)

Dennis · #3 04-09-2006, 11:25 AM

Can eye conditions like conjunctivitis be transmitted via eyepieces?

Lee · #4 04-09-2006, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis

Can eye conditions like conjunctivitis be transmitted via eyepieces?

theoretically - yes. Any object that contacts one persons eye area, then anothers, could transmit a bug across. Conjunctivitis is pretty contagious.

Dennis · #5 04-09-2006, 01:40 PM

Hmm, may need a star party set and a personal set of eyepieces then?

[1ponders] (Paul) · #6 04-09-2006, 02:01 PM

Now there is a "how to" that is missing, Eyepiece Cleaning. Any offers

iceman (Mike) · #7 04-09-2006, 02:03 PM

Yes Scott, consider yourself cajoled

wavelandscott (Scott) · #8 04-09-2006, 10:48 PM

I get the hint...not sure I am up for the task in the short term but it is a good idea. Hasn't something already been written up by somebody knowledgable?

However, I am not sure my "dog lick" cleaning technique is appropriate for publication or use with high end optics...

Cheers!

OneOfOne (Trevor) · #9 05-09-2006, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavelandscott

I am not sure my "dog lick" cleaning technique is appropriate for publication or use with high end optics...

Unfortunately, I don't have a dog...is a hankie sufficient, a clean one of course, I'm not that dumb!

Astroman (Andrew Wall) · #10 09-09-2006, 08:48 AM

Is there any written information on the transmission of diseases, or other things viia eyepieces? This would come under Eyepiece projection..

wavelandscott (Scott) · #11 09-09-2006, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astroman

Is there any written information on the transmission of diseases, or other things viia eyepieces? This would come under Eyepiece projection..

I don't know if there have been any studies or work looking at disease transmission via eyepieces...it is an interesting question. I was only concerned with dirt/oil/fingerprints when I started this thread.

As neither a scientist nor an eye doctor I don't feel qualified to comment much on this particular variant of the thread subject...

Ric · #12 15-09-2006, 11:49 AM

Hi all,
Just a thought, are "skin cleansing alcohol prep's" suitable for cleaning eyepieces?
they are made of a sterile soft 2 ply tissue wetted with pure alcohol, which are used to wipe peoples skin usually before an injection.
They are great on sunglasses and evaporate very quickly and dont leave a residue as far as I know.
I haven't tried them as yet but thought I'd check to see what other members think

Cheers

bloodhound31 · #13 15-09-2006, 10:21 PM

I know for a fact that whole batallions of soldiers have contracted conjunctivitis from training with the same night vision equipment (personal NVG's), so yes, clean them well my friends...as I am no longer a serving member, that WONT be happening to me again!

Gargoyle_Steve (Steve) · #14 16-09-2006, 04:19 AM

Some years ago, in a former career as a Telstra Tech Officer, we used those alcohol wipes to clean the heads of high speed magnetic reel to reel tape data storage units in the exchanges.

One thing we found was that not all alcohol wipes are equal ... many were not 100% alcohol, usually the other "bit" being water - no good in terms of leaving residue on tape heads, and would be the same for eyepieces. When we foud good ones we'd usually buy a box of a thousand or so at a time.

We also had to use them with fairly light pressure, as even though the wipes seem soft to touch they are still scratchy enough to mark tape heads, and I'm pretty sure that lens coatings on eyepieces would be even more susceptible to damage by wiping.

I guess I'm saying I don't know that I'd try using them myself on eyepieces but I'm more then ready to be corrected by anyone with greater knowledge or experience in this area.

Cheers!

PS: If you already have any of these wipes don't chuck them out, throw a couple in your mouth and suck on a slice of orange or lemon.

Party Time!!

Lee · #15 16-09-2006, 09:23 AM

Normal camera lens cleaning solution is basically isopropyl alcohol - which is a nice disinfectant - most skin wipes are isopropyl alcohol anyway.... use it with proper lens tissue and you can't go wrong in my book....

Any object that goes near an infected eye, and then near a good eye has the potential to transmit conjunctivitis (usually fingers!)......

JimmyH155 · #16 22-09-2006, 04:33 PM

I wouldnt have thought there is much risk of "catching "something. As far as I am aware, ambient temperatures soon kill bugs that like the 37 deg C of our bodies

but not cooler temp.
On a lower note, I was always told that it was impossible to catch VD from a lavatory seat for the same reason, so don't use that as an excuse!!

I reckon a good dose of alcohol would be more than enough to make double sure>

Lee · #17 22-09-2006, 04:43 PM

No - bugs (lots of them) survive quite well away from 37deg, they don't grow and thrive as well, but are very much alive and ready to go once they find a moist warm area to infect.... Flu bugs etc survive very nicely on the lips of coffee cups etc, wart viruses on towels... the list goes on and on.....
I don't think its cause for alarm - but if you have itchy, gritty or scratchy sore eyes - keep them to your own eyepieces until you are better....

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #18 22-09-2006, 07:58 PM

I don't wear mascara, and don't understand why anyone would want to put that sort of gunk on their eyes in the first place, but find that the natural oils on my lashes smudge my eps.
After allowing the masses to share your scope, I'd be swabbing your EP's with alcohol to kill the nasties.
A lens pen cleans larger EP's nicely.

Dujon · #19 24-09-2006, 08:59 AM

Dennis,

I have an acquaintance who is a professional in matters ocular (medical) so I asked the question. The response (anonymously) is as follows:

Quote:

"[Dujon] It's not tremendously likely, I think, but possible. These bugs can live off the body quite happily for up to a day or two, hence the virulent spread of (especially viral) conjunctivitis. The most common modes of transmission for conjuctivitis (any type) are towels and hands, and spread happens because the infected person touches or rubs their (own) eye and then the next person does too once they've got the microbe by touching the infected person or something the person's touched. You can give yourself an eye infection if you have a cold and are lax about hand cleanliness, handkercheifs etc.

With a telescope eyepiece, it seems less likely the microbe is going to get past the infected person's lids/lashes and onto the eyepiece and then past someone else's lids to infect a new eye. But it's possible; if people are rubbing their eyes, the bug gets from the eyeball surface (or under the lids) up onto the lashes or surrounding skin, and back again the same way after getting transferred via lashes/skin to/from the equipment.

The first thing is to exclude anyone with obviously red, gooey or watery eyes. But most cases of conjunctivitis are most contagious immediately prior to the onset of symptoms, so it won't prevent it completely.

Your best idea is to use eyepieces with long eye relief, and have a couple of them to swap between, ones that you don't mind a bit of wear and tear on. Swabbing the unused eyepiece with a MediSwab* when it's out (between people) or at least every now and then won't do any harm to the carrier part; just check that it doesn't mess up any lens coatings. It shouldn't, but don't take my word for it.

* little disinfecting pads soaked in 70% isopropyl alcohol. Either use that or lens cloths with 70% or more isopropyl alcohol fluid. Less than 70% doesn't disinfect sufficiently. 100% is less likely to mess up your lenses. Rub slowly and lightly. "

Rodstar (Rod) · #20 24-09-2006, 09:47 AM

Moving aside from the infectious diseases sub-thread for a moment, I have found that the safest and best way to clean my eyepieces is to use the cloth you get from optometrists to clean your eye glasses. An occasional wipe is all that I have found necessary.

It is advisable to use a "blower" to remove any major items of dust and grit first of course, or any cloth, including an eye glass cloth, will pick up the grit, and continued movement will scratch the EP.

My concern about using anything wet is that fluid can leak around the edges of the glass inside the EP itself. To state what is probably obvious, you should never put fluid directly onto the glass itself.