Eyepiece cleaning?

[Keener_7]

I have an X-cel LX 7mm eyepiece that recently got dirty, so I decided to clean it. For cleaning I just used eyeglass cleaning solution and cloth. Is this safe for the coatings? Maybe i'm just being paranoid, but since cleaning it doesn't seem that the EP preforms as well as it did. I have check for straches with a flash light but don't see any on the glass. There are some streaks from cleaning and I don't want to try and remove them for fear of more damage.

The view through this EP is dimmer than my stock 10 and 25mm super polssl's. Is this normal?

Also when I look at bright objects such a Jupiter or a bright star I see glare from the sides of the object. I dont think i noticed this before.

[umadog]

The coatings are fairly tough. If there's no obvious damage then I think you're absolutely fine. The streaks in the coating are just a fact of life, they're unlikely to affect anything. Eyepieces get them over time.

The view is supposed to be dimmer at higher power. Image brightness is proportional to exit pupil diameter. Exit pupil diameter is equal to eyepiece focal length divided by telescope focal ratio. Your 7 mm has the smallest diameter. That's why the view is dimmer.

[Keener_7]

The view is supposed to be dimmer at higher power. Image brightness is proportional to exit pupil diameter.

Thanks, I was thinking that but just wanted to be sure. Paranoia tends to get the better of me sometimes. Just the thought that I may have mucked up my first higher quality EP had me scared.

[umadog]

I know, it's easy to get paranoid, but I don't think you have messed anything up.

[glowjet]

May I suggest that to ease your paranoia you invest in the Baader Wonder cleaning kit, cloth and fluid, it really is very good and is used and advocated by many members, available from FLO. but be careful with what cleaning solution you are using, as it may be that not all products would be safe to use on eye piece coatings

John.

[Capricorn]

As Umadog says don't worry, it is all paranoia.

The coatings are pretty robust, the single layer coating on my glasses are 100% intact and have been cleaned several times a day using shirts, tissues, bog roll, tea towels and anything else that came to hand for the last 5+ years.

[Stephen]

May I suggest that to ease your paranoia you invest in the Baader Wonder cleaning kit, cloth and fluid, it really is very good and is used and advocated by many members, available from FLO. but be careful with what cleaning solution you are using, as it may be that not all products would be safe to use on eye piece coatings

John.

This

[jason.p]

I worked for many years in a hospital lab using binocular microscopes most of which had very expensive eyepieces. You can imagine the state some of these got into with the female (and some male) eyemake-up etc These were cleaned regularly with Kleenex tissue and alcohol. I think there could be a tendency to get a bit over fussy with special fluids etc. But then if you've just spent a small fortune on an eyepiece I can understand the desire to look after it as best you can.

(Just my opinion).

Jason

[Spec-Chum]

I'm not speaking from experience here, but my bro has been a semi-pro photographer for many years and has 1000s of £ in lenses alone and tells me they're a lot tougher than you'd imagine and you'd actually have to do something really wrong to permanently damage them, such as use normal A4 paper or something similarly course.

He's used t-shirts, rags, toilet tissue, cotton wool, spit, breath etc for years and they're all like new.

I wonder if anyone has actually done a destruction test on one to see what you actually do need to do to permanently damage one? I for one would be interested and I think we'd all be quite surprised...

[Matt Scunthorpe]

lso when I look at bright objects such a Jupiter or a bright star I see glare from the sides of the object. I dont think i noticed this before.

I was wondering this too, when i look at Jupiter at the weekend i was getting this glare from the sides, but wasnt from Venus which was just below it, so is this something to do with Jupiter/atmosphere etc, or the optics of my scope?

[Carbon Brush]

A bottle of Baader fluid costs only very cheap grotty eyepiece money and lasts for ages. It works very well and the peace of mind has to be worth something.

I'm not paranoid. I know the coatings on all expensive eyepieces and lenses are just waiting for an opportunity to fall off!

As a specs wearer, I am very very dubious about spectacle lens coatings. I (and others) have had coatings fail from cleaning with isopropanol.

The coatings vary with manufacturer and with time, so it is difficult to predict performance on new lenses.

With a lot of scope stuff being sub contracted in China, can we be sure the coatings are as robust as those used 5 or 10 years ago?

[umadog]

Here you go: http://kurtmunger.com/dirty_lens_articleid35.html

[Spec-Chum]

Here you go: http://kurtmunger.com/dirty_lens_articleid35.html

Well, case closed lol. Nice article, I meant damaging through to rigorous cleaning but that test proves what I said in that you have to do something drastic to have any noticeable effect.

I also suspect primary mirrors are tougher than they look too. I've not seen many reports of scratching them during cleaning.

[gcraib]

Is this true only of eyepeices?

Could you clean your telescope with alcohol?

I have some in the garage for car cleaning.

So far been scared to touch the telescope lens, EP's and camera lenses for fear of damage. But there is dust and some hairs starting to accumulate.

[Stephen]

Tell you what, anyone who wants to take random fluids to their optics or mirrors, you got for it We'll be here if something goes wrong

To anyone who after spending sooo much money just wants a little piece of mind, buy the recommended cleaning fluids and be happy with life

[gcraib]

Thats an awesome article.

I like his no nonsense pragmatic approach.

[John]

Tell you what, anyone who wants to take random fluids to their optics or mirrors, you got for it We'll be here if something goes wrong

To anyone who after spending sooo much money just wants a little piece of mind, buy the recommended cleaning fluids and be happy with life

Totally agree. My eyepieces would cost many £hundreds to replace - the Baader fluid and micro fibre cloth kit costs around £15 and does many cleans including my refractor objectives. It's not a difficult decision this one

[Keener_7]

I'm at ease now. I did use a microfiber cloth when cleaning but just regular eyeglass solution ( which I hear is ok). But I probally will invent in some "proper" solution, its pretty cheap and I am pretty low on eyeglass cleaner.

[Scott]

i think this is a great article for pointing out just how robust optics are however as previously stated for the sake of a few quid why not buy something thats purpose built?

to me the article points out how we should clean our glass less often, not how we should use say sandpaper to clean them

[Carbon Brush]

We were talkng eyepiece cleaning.

The advice on mirror cleaning is generally summed up as 'leave well alone till really filthy'.

Why should eyepieces be different?

Surely the only argument for cleaning eyepieces is that they are easier to clean (hard coated glass) without harm than a soft ali coated mirror.

OK maybe another? The eyepiece outer may get coated in tear drops, dead skin, skin cream, makeup chemicals, etc. These are potentially reactive with the coatings.

An open newt mirror tends to receive only fairly inert dust. Sand and the like. Maybe some pollen? I leave this one to someone more familiar with the content of dust!

[rory]

good thread peeps. as a relative novice to astronomy and for that matter lenses, as ive not owned a quality camera either, ive found some almost contrasting advice really . in books ,videos and websites, some will state dont touch a eyepiece ever with anything unless a absolute last resort ( turn left at orion) for example states along these lines. while ive seen and read other advice about wiping with a micro cloth , or breath, lens pens.

i cant believe how well that camera lens performed in that state !

[Nibor]

Here you go: http://kurtmunger.co...rticleid35.html

This really is an eye opener!! Thanks for the link !!

[glowjet]

i think this is a great article for pointing out just how robust optics are however as previously stated for the sake of a few quid why not buy something thats purpose built?

to me the article points out how we should clean our glass less often, not how we should use say sandpaper to clean them

Don`t worry I have already gone down that route, I once had a bad habit of putting my glasses in the top pocket of my Blazer jacket for safety, until one day when I pulled them out of my pocket and put them on all I could see was a distorted grey image, when I examined the lenses they were scratched is as if they had been cleaned with glass paper, In fact they had, when I examined my top pocket, what did I find, my wife`s emery nail board which she lent me some time back when I broke a finger nail. replacement lenses are not cheap motto look after your optics and protect them at all times

John.

John.

[Kevdan]

Ok so next question is, - whats the difference between the Baader wonder fluid and normal spectacle lens cleaner? I do have the baader fluid but after watching the Astronomyshed video on how to clean lenses Dion says that the spectacle cleaner is as good but cheaper. is this a case of baader using the same stuff and putting their own label on it ?

Kev,

ps, sorry to hijack post.

[John]

Ok so next question is, - whats the difference between the Baader wonder fluid and normal spectacle lens cleaner? I do have the baader fluid but after watching the Astronomyshed video on how to clean lenses Dion says that the spectacle cleaner is as good but cheaper. is this a case of baader using the same stuff and putting their own label on it ?

Kev,

ps, sorry to hijack post.

Without a chemical analysis, how would we know ?. Baader don't publish a list of ingredients - I've just checked. Dion might be prepared to take the risk with his eyepieces but I'm not. A replacement eye lens on my Nagler 31mm would cost around £200, fitted - a bottle of Baader fluid and the micro fibre cloth costs £15 and has enough for dozens of eyepiece cleanings.