How do you clean an Orion "Sky Glow Filter"?

[pat]

Mine has gotten dirty and spotty over time. I have a lenspen. Will that work? Or a mostened tissue? Pat

Too many stars too little time

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[rfdesigner]

I treat my lumicon deep sky filter like I treat my main mirror.

Wash in warm water with a spot of washing up liquid, use cotton wool to wipe the surface, nothing else. wash off with distilled water, use the corner of a lint free cloth/tissue to wick-off the little spots of water left on the surface, leave to dry thoroughly.

Derek

[Tron]

Can baader fluid be used on filters?

[great_bear]

Other than for "wicking" as described above, don't touch your filters with tissue - it WILL scratch the filter sooner or later.

[NGC 1502]

Mine has gotten dirty and spotty over time. I have a lenspen.

I personally wouldn't use a lenspen. I know a lot of people do, and if it works for them, thats good. But the end of the lenspen absorbs all the crud & greasy deposits, and it would bother me to use it over and over on delicate optical surfaces.

I use isopropyl alcohol with a microfibre cloth, very carefully, after using a bulb blower to shift any grit. The cloth gets a regular wash, and is stored in a clean resealable plastic bag.

Regards, Ed.

[great_bear]

But the end of the lenspen absorbs all the crud & greasy deposits

No, it's the black POWDER on the lenspen that absorbs the crud. If you blow the end after you've finished cleaning, nothing will get transfered to the next item you clean. My concern with isopropyl alcohol is that it can damage certain plastics - and filters often have plastic retaining rings.

[glowjet]

If the filters are anything like Baader, then they may have a protective coating to enable them to be cleaned, lets face it filters are ment to be handled, with care of course, but accidents do happen, since having tried the Baader Wonder fliud and micro cloth, I now use nothing else

[pat]

Thanks for the replys. I don't have the Baader cleaning fluid. I have the Zeiss wipes, if they could be used. Pat

[NGC 1502]

No, it's the black POWDER on the lenspen that absorbs the crud. If you blow the end after you've finished cleaning, nothing will get transfered to the next item you clean. My concern with isopropyl alcohol is that it can damage certain plastics - and filters often have plastic retaining rings.

Thanks, I didn't know that. But I'd rather not use any sort of powder to clean delicate optical surfaces.

Regards, Ed.

[great_bear]

If the filters are anything like Baader, then they may have a protective coating to enable them to be cleaned, lets face it filters are ment to be handled, with care of course, but accidents do happen, since having tried the Baader Wonder fliud and micro cloth, I now use nothing else

Yes - although Baader Wonder Fluid doesn't contain anything "special" as such, I reckon the purity of the ingredients is top-notch since it leaves no residue whatsoever - I've never known anything else as good.

I'd rather not use any sort of powder to clean delicate optical surfaces.

- I guess I didn't make it sound very appealing! - The Lenspen does a "good enough" job of cleaning in routine use for those accidental fingerprints and other things that need cleaning off asap, but yes - it's certainly not a patch on fluid-based cleaning, as can be quickly verified by shining a torch through the finished result.