cleaning primary wasn't scary.

[rory]

theres been three or four large specs of debris on my primary mirror more or less sinse buying the dob 2nd hand. although as far as i know it hasn't effected viewing. but just bugged the hell out of me so decided to clean it. i followed the youtube tutorial from stephenwolf. end result, a nice shiny mirror which wasn't as scary to deal with as i thought.

i know mirrors can take alot of dust and muck without effecting performance, so i shouldnt need to do it again for a few years i guess, but feel better now its done .

[LukeSkywatcher]

I know what you mean. It should not mess with performance but it would also be annoying to me knowing they were on the mirror.

One clip on youtube i saw showed a guy washing his primary in the kitchen sink (i think with tap water and fairy liquid) and then standing it on the draining board to dry.

From what i gather the coating on primary mirrors is pretty robust and really nothing to be scared of. The silver coating is about 1 micron thick but then another layer of protective coating is put on top of that.

Its a bit like a big CD.

Did you see the episode of Sky @ Night about the scope in the Keilder Obs?

That thing was FILTHY and its still in operation.

[rory]

yeah, i saw that paul, minging mirror ! youd think it would be unworkable wouldnt you .

[LukeSkywatcher]

Yep, but it gives me faith that my mirrors probably will never need cleaning.

[rory]

to be fair ,mine probably didnt. but you get abit ocd about your gear sometimes dont you find.

[LukeSkywatcher]

to be fair ,mine probably didnt. but you get abit ocd about your gear sometimes dont you find.

I'm completely OCD about my gear. The slighest spec of dust and i get my rocket blower out. Only with scopes. I'm fairly relaxed about my EP's. I just clean them with a soft cotton t-shirt.

[rory]

I'm completely OCD about my gear. The slighest spec of dust and i get my rocket blower out.

when itold the mrs i was going to clean the mirror she said " theres a lint free cloth in the cupboard" , bless.

[LukeSkywatcher]

That's cool. Does she observe with you often or rarely?

Or she just knows about optics?

[rory]

That's cool. Does she observe with you often or rarely?

Or she just knows about optics?

lets just say even showing her saturn didnt impress her ! no interest at all.

[jason.p]

I know what you mean about being scary. I'm just about to take my primary out, clean it and centre dot it. I've been putting it off for ages, but am going to do it now .

[LukeSkywatcher]

I know what you mean about being scary. I'm just about to take my primary out, clean it and centre dot it. I've been putting it off for ages, but am going to do it now .

Can i ask?

Why do people centre spot scopes? Is it to do with collimation and if so what benefit is it?

Sorry i answered my own question I THINK it helps you locate the centre of the mirror so makes collimation easier.

???????

[estwing]

i did mine...it was very dirty and i couldn't get over the weight of the thing!