Compressed gas to remove dust bunnies...

[rawhead]

Do you think this is OK with Optics?

5 Star Air Duster Can HFC Free Compressed Gas Flammable 400ml: Amazon.co.uk: Office Products

£4 a can.

[peter shah]

Yes it is fine, but be aware it blows quite hard so if you have anything loose you dont want it falling on to the optics....also most important do not shake the can and it must be used upright. If the can is tilted it will spray moisture on to the optics and use short bursts.

[rawhead]

Yes it is fine, but be aware it blows quite hard so if you have anything loose you dont want it falling on to the optics....also most important do not shake the can and it must be used upright. If the can is tilted it will spray moisture on to the optics and use short bursts.

Thanks Peter

[Grunthos]

Yes it is fine

You sure about that?

I've been buying these for some time now. Great for cleaning computer keyboards or dog hairs and dust off motherboards but I wouldn't let it get anywhere near my blessed optics.....

Just my 2p worth.

[laser_jock99]

Be careful not to invert the can- or you could end up with a jet of freezing fluid on your optics. Even the slightly cool gas jet has been known to shatter certain laser crystals due thermal shock. I once cracked a $2000 RDA crystal in half with jet air........

[Photosbykev]

personally I wouldn't let this type of air blower within a 100 feet of my camera gear. There is a small chance of getting moisture entrained in the gas stream which will cause havoc when cleaning optics and sensors.

I use a manual Rocket blower to blow air, if that doesn't remove the dust then I either use an Artic butterfly which is a statically charged brush to lift the dust off the surface or a wet cleaning method using Pecpads and Eclipse fluid which is pure methanol

[laser_jock99]

personally I wouldn't let this type of air blower within a 100 feet of my camera gear.

We use air dusters all the time on really expensive optics. You just need to be carefull as in any other optical cleaning proceedure. There is no problem on using them to clean your cameras CCD - don't shake the can, don't invert, use a few short sharp blasts. It's a lot quicker than using Photoshop....

[Photosbykev]

I fully agree cleaning the sensor is better than using photoshop to remove dust bunnies or rely on flats to hide the problem but I still won't use a can of air

[Star Gazer]

DO NOT use compressed air on any of your precious optics, at least that is my advice. All the ones I have used always spit moisture especially as the pressure drops off as the can cools.

If you want to see for yourself take an old filter or piece of glass and give it a puff of two. No take a look with a reasonable magnifying glass. You will see tiny drops of liquid spattered on the glass. Use on keyboards and electronics great, use on optics NO!

[king-jaffethehutt]

be careful guys!!! I used to use these in work for cleaning optic sensors on paper handling machinery.

They are a bit hit and miss and even though the machine manufacturers made invertable ones they quite often released their contents,

would not be good for the coatings on your optics.

Rgds

Scott

[laser_jock99]

Maybe do a 'test squirt' to ensure only compressed gas comes out first? The other thing I do with a new can is to invert it and give a good blast of the liquid propellant to clean the valve mechanism of any grease/residue prior to first use.