Shed telescope storage during winter and drying procedure.

[N3ptune]

Hello I am looking for some good bookmarks maybe threads on this forum about the best shed storage procedure for my 200p telescope after winter observations. Has I saw last night, there was quite a lot of ice on my tube and I would like to know how to handle that situation for the drying process inside the shed.

Would be glad to read on that.

Thanks.

[David Smith]

Ice on the scope is not a problem so long as it's on the metal tube. It's not going to do it any harm. I keep my scope in a plastic storage shed covered in a plastic sheet. I don't do anything to de-ice it after a session but I do have a fan drawing air down the tube to keep the mirror free of dew / condensation or clear it if it forms. It gets removed and cleaned / dried / lubricated etc on a iregular basis.

It's been out there for 6+ years now and there are no significant signs of degradation (first signs of rust on some the screws is about it).

[N3ptune]

Do you remove the dust cap inside the shed to let the interior exposed to the shed air?

Thanks

[David Smith]

No, put it away cold with all the caps in place and then just let it warm up with the ambient air. The mirror does sometimes gather a little moisture but the fan usually clears it fairly quickly.

[laudropb]

I keep my scope in a unheated garage. If it is very wet with dew after use I do put it in the house to dry off over night.

[Garethr]

I tend to leave the small dust cap off over night just to let air circulate if there's dew on the mirror.

Gareth  

[N3ptune]

Hemmm,

I read i could put a small 7 watts light inside the tube to heat slowly from the inside. Does anybody do that?

Also, In my shed I have a tractor with a full tank of gas and a gas generator + the starting battery. With that in mind, could it be bad for the telescope to be indirectly exposed to maybe gaz and battery vapor?  (I don't know if the generator 12v lead battery produces vapor,maybe it's safe) i can't get the tools out of the shed but i want to be sure if it's too much risk.

Laudropb i did this last night, took the instrument from outside in a cold room with dehumidifier running, 35% relative humidity. Even with low humidity like that, there was condensation on my equatorial mount + a lot of water on the tube because of the ice melting. I didn't look inside the tube to see if there was some dew on the mirrors.

I am not sure at all it's good..

 

[N3ptune]

I think i killed the discussion.

);

[sharkmelley]

It is very important that glass elements (lenses & mirrors) dry out thoroughly and remain in a dry environment because otherwise fungus can start to grow on the glass surface and etch its way into the glass.  If you leave your scope out in an observatory or shed then some means of dehumidification will be required - certainly during the damp Winter months in the UK.

Mark

[Ceramus]

I was thinking of building/adapting a small garden shed to ' roll-off' on wheels and rails to shelter my SW 300p goto, perhaps incorporating a portable humidifier inside.

[N3ptune]

I am going to try this after some reflexion.

A. Before I get inside the house, i will put insulation sheets on the tube covering the entire tube and the primary mirror, to sceal and insulate from the exterior. The dust cap will be on the tube to retain really cold air (With low humidity) inside the tube.

After that, I will bring the instrument in my cold room inside the house with deshumidifier running to get 18 celcius / 35 relative humidity. Still a lot of humidity but better then 80%

Next I am going to remove the dust cover then put the tube on a stand up position over the small 7w light. If i do this quickly, the warm air of the cold room won't get inside too much I believe right now.

(Also the telescope is set down on special neoprene sceal tape the bottom, the light is on the inside this sceal ring circle which is the same diameter of my instrument.

So the exterior is scealed preventing ambiant moisture from getting inside, the light will heat the cold air inside the tube which should have very low absolute humidity, there should be absolutly no dew on the optics doing that.

The light will heat slowly the telescope from the interior, the sheets on the exterior will gather the melting ice that was on the tube. This will also prevent the hardware on the exterior from rusting, the screws.

(Also, these insulating sheets will prevent the telescope from getting hot too quick from the cold room air at 18 degrees.)

--> For the sheets, I am thining of using quilted covers, they should be perfect to gather water (especially on the back of the primary) and prevent outside humidity from getting inside.

After maybe 1 hours of heating, i remove the sheets, wipe up the remaining water then put the telescope inside a box with cover open, no dust cap on but with a cotton cover on the opening to prevent dust from getting inside

À couple of silika bags inside the tube, then i go to sleep!

It's a lot of work but for me it's more suitable then to leave the instrument outside, i just don't like the idea even if it's the way to go.

==============

I also spoke with a mecanical ingineer, he has the idea of doing thin. He would take really cold air from the outside with a fan some tube, build an electric heater around 450w to heat up this air. Heating really cold air will produce really dry hot air. Starting from that, there could be some kind of heating circuit inside a scealed enclosure with the telescope inside.

The bottom line would be to prevent further water deposit on the instrument while heating.. Unfortunately, I fear it would raise the telescope temperature to fast.

[Ceramus]

Quite an elaborate procedure, but possibly will do the trick...how often do you observe? I'm lucky that at this part of the world it doesn't get that cold!

[N3ptune]

Caramus,

Thanks for your feedback, here during winter it's around between -5 to -25  from December to March. Sometimes we have extremes like + 10 ans - 30, it happens sometime. I am hoping to get out 1 or 2 times per week for the nights, that's almost all the clear sky we have here.

Maybe i am missing a few opportunity on the mornings but I am incapable to wake up at 4:00 ~ 5:00 unfortunately.

[N3ptune]

" i am speaking in celcius, *Ceramus.

Is there a way to edit my messages ?

[Aussie Dave]

Any chance you could keep it in a corner of a room in your home, like as a featured display piece when you're not using it? I'd prefer the less rise the better senario.