Cleaning My Scope

[My God - Its Full of Stars]

Hi all - I have an 8" Helios Dobsonion like the attached that I have stored in the garage for a couple of years with caps on and under a sheet. The mirror is in need of a clean but I do not want to just whip it out unless that is ok. I see there are screws at the bottom of the scope so I assume it will come out but are there alignment issues that I might need to consider? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Lenny147]

Im not an expert but im fairly sure that unless the mirror is very bad its best to leave it alone

[LukeSkywatcher]

Hi.

Can ou post an image of the mirror that you think needs cleaning?

I say this because it takes a LOT of dirt to build up before you need to clean a mirror.

[My God - Its Full of Stars]

Ok thanks - I'll get a snap over the weekend. The last time I tried to look through it it seemed murky so I just thought it was the mirror. I have tried a duster on a pole gently down inside it but it seems to not want come off.

[freeflyjay]

Ok thanks - I'll get a snap over the weekend. The last time I tried to look through it it seemed murky so I just thought it was the mirror. I have tried a duster on a pole gently down inside it but it seems to not want come off.

you shouldn`t of done that, you could scratch the mirror, if it is removed to clean then great care needs to be taken then washed with distilled water and left to dry naturallly so not to cause water marks, theres a couple of good posts on here that will explain in more detail, but the mirror does need to be particually bad to affect performance.

read up on here first before trying and obviously the scope would then need to be recollumated (probably spelt that wrong slightly dydlexic)

[valleyman]

Unless it is really bad . best not to touch it.

[LukeSkywatcher]

A recent episode of S@N showed the scope at the Keilder Obsy and it was manky filthy by all accounts but still in use. I seriously doubt if your scope is dirtier and needs cleaning.

[freeflyjay]

A recent episode of S@N showed the scope at the Keilder Obsy and it was manky filthy by all accounts but still in use. I seriously doubt if your scope is dirtier and needs cleaning.

very valid point there, saw them pics it was filthy, the murky views are probably because the collumation is out (the mirror alignment) the screws on the bottom are for adjusting the main mirror (plus locking screws) you would need a cheshire or lazor to do this, again plenty of posts on here that could help you with that, i`ve only had my scope a short while myself but it`s quite simple.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Here is an image of the 20" mirror on the Keilder scope. This scope is still in daily use and apparently has no issues with the views provided:

[LukeSkywatcher]

It makes me want to put on rubber gloves and get the fairy liquid out