Baader solar film pin holes!! How???

[pritc]

HI,

Just wondering what makes the pin holes in the baader solar film??

I look after my baader solar filter, keep it all boxed up.

Last time I used it,it was put away still perfect.

Got it out today to use.Held it up to the sun to check,Three pin holes!!

How?

Does the solar film degrade over time?

Wayne

[SaraG]

I store all my stuff with silica pads in them, my eyepiece case and filter cases have those little gel packs.

I dono if that helps but its worth trying I suppose.

[Merlin66]

My Baader film solar filters are well over seven years old, with no obvious problems...

I keep them stored in Tupperware containers.

How obvious were the pinholes? if they are very small, the filter is still 100% safe to use; there will be a slight loss of contrast and that's about it.

You can block them with Tippex or similar, if they are annoying.

[SaraG]

I kept mine in the shipped cardboard box and plastic

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

All the filters i've seen have been covered in tiny dots. The film is double sided for this very reason, and the chances of a pinhole occurring at the same place on both sides are very slim. This is why it's important to check before each use, you'l see pinholes, but you'l KNOW when there is a hole in both sides.

[en51nm]

I read somewhere that if you touch it, then the residue left on your fingerprints can damage the film over time? Perhaps this is what happened?

[Parus major]

I was thinking, is it possible to get an unchanged image if the film was mounted between two panes of glass, say?

[Merlin66]

Mounting the Baader film between any sort of cover plates is bad news and they all affect the final image. The film is OK as supplied, and should last a long time...

[Macavity]

Hate to say it, but my (carefully examined) A4 Baader film was (apparently) totally without defects - And still is! Maybe it's an "end off roll" thing? Took me a while to (retrospectively!) spot, and remove, the clear plastic protection, but...

If others worry, I note (with some awe!) that my cheap & cheerful "high-intensity" white LED torch [flashlight] can actually be seen through "healthy" (Baader, Thousand Oaks etc.) solar filters. Defects would be fairly easy to find, I sense...

[Merlin66]

The visual Baader solar film is rated at ND 5. This means that only 0.00001% of the incident light gets through!

These $2 Bright LED's must be something!!!

[Duke2k]

I have the same problem with the solar filter material. I put mine away in perfect condition stored in a box with nothing touching the surface and the next time I used it around 6 months later pinholes have developed. This is the second year in a row that this has happened and I don't know what to do apart from paint over the holes or replace it again.

I have tried Baader customer service in the past and they simply ignore emails.

[Moonshane]

This is one reason I bought a Lunt wedge

[CraigT82]

I think you can draw over pinholes with permanent marker to seal them up

[Joe12345]

On ‎26‎/‎01‎/‎2012 at 08:39, Merlin66 said:

The visual Baader solar film is rated at ND 5. This means that only 0.00001% of the incident light gets through!

These $2 Bright LED's must be something!!!

I don't think it takes much to shine through them - I can easily see a bedroom light through it. So either I have super bright lights (which I don't) or 0.00001% isn't right (or is a lot brighter than you would expect).

About the pinholes....try putting it on your scope and first seeing if anything is projected onto a piece of paper at the eyepiece. If there's nothing, try a phone camera, then finally your eye.