Telescope Eyepiece Cleaning Made Easy!
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- Опубліковано 2 лип 2024
- A quick video tutorial on how to safely and easily clean telescope eyepieces.
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Thanks so much Vlad I live in the northwest area too
Awesome, maybe I'll see you at a star party one day!
Can I use this method to clean my nexstar 8 se corrector plate? I have optical cleaning pec pads are those okay or are the cotton balls better for the corrector plate? Thanks John
Hey John, yes the same method will work just fine on the corrector plate. As long as the pads are 100% cotton they will likely work even better on the large corrector as there will be less streaks and lint left behind. They key to not damaging the coatings on the corrector is to use the pad/cotton ball for 1 wipe and to discard it.
Your opinion on Zeiss cleaning spray for lens, glass, etc. It comes in a pump spray bottle. I have been using that with cotton balls and Q-tips to clean objectives/eyepieces. Zeiss says it is meant for applications like this.
In all honesty I have never used it so can't say how well it works. I would certainly not spray it into an eyepiece as you risk getting too much on it and leaking in between the lenses. I'm sure it's safe for the optics, so what I'd do it try it. If it leaves a good clean streak free lens then it's fine. The solution that I talk about does the same thing for next to no money too;)
@@AVTAstro Yes, I do like your home made mix. The Zeiss spray seems to work ok. Been using it for a while although sparingly as you stated. Simply out of fear it could seep into the lens or in between them. I asked due to someone on an astronomy forum stating they wouldn't use the Zeiss, but most said it was fine. Seems like the ingredients are of alcohol/water based. Of course Zeiss doesn't list their ingredients on the bottle. Probably fine though. I merely wanted an extra opinion. I will say I don't clean my objectives/eyepieces unless they seem to actually need it. I am afraid of the coatings wearing out more than I fear scratching the lens while cleaning. I wonder how tough those coatings actually are. Anyway, I do have 91% isopropyl alcohol so I will try your cleaning brew as well. Subscribed. Great content! Love the videos.
Thanks for subscribing! I have heard of a claim of Zeiss solution taking off the coatings on an SCT. Coatings are pretty tough so I really, really doubt that it really possible.
@@AVTAstro I think that is what someone told me about an SCT as well. Seems coatings are fairly tough but, how often was that SCT cleaned and more importantly what was the owner of the SCT using to clean it with? Materials used and pressure? One would think you would have to be applying a LOT of pressure and a strong cleaning solution to remove coatings. I clean my optics as infrequently as possible since it takes quite a bit of dirt/dust to degrade an image or affect performance. I also live by the rule don't play with your glass and mirrors if they don't need it yet. I have a Newtonian from the 1990s that I removed the mirror only twice to clean in 30yrs. My refractors I rarely clean. Some haven't needed their objectives cleaned in 5yrs. Seems eyepieces get the dirtiest being handled more frequently. I would say my 10x50 binoculars get the most cleaning since fingers are more apt to touch optics and dust/dirt collects more often. I always promptly put my covers and lens caps back on when done as well. That is funny you mentioned that SCT because that is ultimately why I asked. I recall seeing pictures of that SCT's coatings on a forum and they were definitely compromised. Error from factory when coated or a super aggressive cleaning regimen....or a combination of the two.
You just said get 99% isopropyl alcohol in order to dilute it 6:4. Well, I get 70% isopropyl alcohol at my store, so how about I just use that as-is and forget the Dawn. Did that by wetting q-tips in it and rolling it around the lenses as I wipe. Does dobbing with cotton work to dry it? I never got it to work. The fibers are too coarse. Take one sheet of toilet paper and dob that. Not paper towel as that has silica dust in it that will scratch very soft surfaces. Sheet of toilet paper. Press that on the lens with a folder corner, release, rotate, press again, repeat as you turn the eyepiece to get the crud at the lens to wall housing corner. That's it.
Hey Don, glad the 70% worked well for you. The formula that i use is whats recomended by TeleVue. I'm no alcahol expert but guessing that the 99% is more purely refined and has less gunk in it. Again just a guess. As far as the toilet paper, never tried that and it would really depend on the brand you use. I would not make it a general recommendation as some of it is very rough.
@@AVTAstro For legal liability purposes certainly cite another you think is an authority. Otherwise, just express your opinion of what worked for you, as I did. The water content of an open bottle of isopropyl alcohol cannot be controlled as it has the propensity to absorb moisture from the air. That is what I recall from chemistry. So to me, 60:40 is 70:30 and since no one has produced a chemical graph of concentration of the alcohol to the coatings types in a degradation study, I just presume they are confusing their propositions with facts. I cannot get cotton ball strands to absorb water or alcohol mix off a lens and clean it up and so I don't use it because I cannot get it to work. You might be able to, but that likely takes more pressure on the lens. For me, one sheet of toilet paper soaks it all up clear. Your results are your results.
Is it OK to use denatured alcohol?
Sorry I do not know. Never heard of it.