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help, smears after cleaning

Spec-Chum

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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I managed to get a great whacking fingerprint on one of my eyepieces so decided to clean it with my baader wonder fluid and cloth and its gone all streaky! I tried cleaning it again but it keeps drying streaky.

I spray a tiny amount of fluid onto the cloth then very gently rub in a circular motion then use a dry part of the cloth and gently wipe again but no matter what I do a get a massive circular smear all over the lens.

What am I doing wrong?

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umadog

umadog

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I've heard it said that those marks don't make a difference visually. That said, I was speaking to a Televue rep recently and he was very careful about cleaning any smudges off their demo eyepieces. He used Windex. Apparently that's what Al Nagler recommends. Some tissues may leave streaks. Also, you may get streaks if you use a thin piece of tissue and you get dissolved oil from your fingers leaching through it. Do what Joe says, and ensure you've folded the tissue sufficiently and haven't touched the bit you use to clean the lens.

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Keiran

Keiran

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At work i have to clean a lens for the laser i work with. We use acetone to clean the glass, which removes the grease, but can dry with streaks. We then breath on it and wipe clean, each time using a new lint free cloth until it is not streaky.

(Dont use acetone on your astro equipment)

You are cleaning it correctly with Baader Wonder Fluid, spray it on, wipe with a clean section of the cloth, then breath on it when it is dry, and wipe with a completely different part of the cloth, repeat, and this should work

I hope that helps

Keiran

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Qualia

Qualia

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I have an eyepiece cleaning kit that is comprised of a bulb-blower, anti-static brush and carbon pen, a microfiber cloth, and a small bottle of Baader cleaning solution. Using a combination of these tools for the given dirty EP works for just about problem I have ever encountered. However, if there really is a nasty spot of grease or dirt on the EP - thankfully to date that hasn't happened - I personally can't see any problem using a drop of pure 91% pure isopropyl alcohol. So long as the label says it only contains alcohol and purified water, I can't see why you should have any problems using this as a way of getting rid of really stubborn marks. Alcohol evaporates easily and leaves no residue, purified water leaves no residue, and eventually evaporates. You should be able to pick up a small bottle at the chemist for a quid or so.

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Carbon Brush

Carbon Brush

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Finger/skin grease dissolving in the cleaning fluid is often overlooked.

At work we sometimes use isopropanol (IPA) for cleaning. This is 100% (near enough) strength. No water. After a while we realised the dry and cracked skin on our fingers was due to skin grease being dissolved by the IPA.

Now we always use latex gloves when handling these types of fluids. Gloves a consideration for optics cleaning?

The same alcohol is used in the hand gels so popular now in hospitals. Just ask anyone who has to use these regulalry about their skin drying.

A warning though about using IPA in general optical glass cleaning. Some years ago two of us at work used IPA on specs lenses. It worked really well. After a couple of months of cleaning a couple of times weekly, the lens coatings came off. These were own brand / unbranded lenses from Specsavers. No we haven't repeated the test with other opticians lenses!

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John

John

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Is the wonderfluid OK then? Everyone else seems to be using IPA on here lol

It's the best stuff I've ever used. I did a 5" refractor objective lens with it last night and that's come up "as new" :smiley:

I wash my micro fibre cloth now and then to ensure, as far as possible, that it's reasonably clean.

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Marki

Marki

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I'll have to give this a go tonight - I noticed quite a few of my eyepieces (and on my bins) have marks from my eyelashes (and the odd finger print...). How frequently do you all bother cleaning eps/lenses? I also have noticed a few "dew" spots on my SCT corrector plate, and on the objective of my tal100rs - not really aware of them when using these scopes though - best to ignore?

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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I'll have to give this a go tonight - I noticed quite a few of my eyepieces (and on my bins) have marks from my eyelashes (and the odd finger print...). How frequently do you all bother cleaning eps/lenses? I also have noticed a few "dew" spots on my SCT corrector plate, and on the objective of my tal100rs - not really aware of them when using these scopes though - best to ignore?

As a rule I never clean mine unless its affecting the view but this finger print was massive and dead in the middle it was doing my tree in!

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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I'll have to give this a go tonight - I noticed quite a few of my eyepieces (and on my bins) have marks from my eyelashes (and the odd finger print...). How frequently do you all bother cleaning eps/lenses? I also have noticed a few "dew" spots on my SCT corrector plate, and on the objective of my tal100rs - not really aware of them when using these scopes though - best to ignore?

Ignore them for as long as you can, it is surprising how many marks a lens can have before it makes a difference

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Well, i've cleaned it to a standard I'm happy with but it wasn't easy, the streaks just would not budge using cotton buds, very soft tissue or the wonder cloth but then I read the baader cleaning guide which states that you shouldn't be afraid of using a little pressure and voila streak free just about. Seems you need to use a little more pressure than I thought.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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At work i have to clean a lens for the laser i work with. We use acetone to clean the glass, which removes the grease, but can dry with streaks. We then breath on it and wipe clean, each time using a new lint free cloth until it is not streaky.

(Dont use acetone on your astro equipment)

You are cleaning it correctly with Baader Wonder Fluid, spray it on, wipe with a clean section of the cloth, then breath on it when it is dry, and wipe with a completely different part of the cloth, repeat, and this should work

I hope that helps

Keiran

actually, I find that acetone gets greasy marks off eyepieces more effectively than most things. to be honest though I clean my eyepieces so infrequently that I cannot even recall the last time I did. I use pure iso alcohol most of the time for normal marks. like with my scopes, I only tend to clean the optics if I sell things as I'd sooner have slightly dirty optics than somewhat scratched optics. if careful there's little risk of damage though.

the way I reduce streaks is to have enough liquid on the corner of the tissue and chase it around as it dries. then use a new piece of tissue and do the same until done. this should be done with minimal / no pressure of course.

as a PS, acetaone melts some plastics to do be careful if you gear has anything plastic.

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glowjet

glowjet

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The coatings on quality optics are, I have read, really tough and a little pressure from a Baader Wonder cloth with cleaning fluid, worked in circles should not cause any harm, as a final polish photographers are known to breath on the lens and polish off in circles with a fine weave dry cloth, try it, it works on Baader filters which are easily marked in handling at times and they come up really well :)

John.

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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Thing is tho, I always get streaks when I use little/no pressure no matter what method of application I use. Only way I was relatively streak free was to use pressure.

I've looked online and it seems to only be me having this issue lol I must be doing something wrong.

My method using the wondercloth is to:

1) spay 1 quick squirt of wonderfluid onto the cloth

2) Wipe the lens in a circular motion. This produces streaks tracing a path of my circular motion, especially around the edge

3) Use a dry part of the cloth and wipe again in a circular motion; the streaks just laugh at me here and have a cup of tea (they don't budge)

4) (as of today) breathe on the lens and wipe with dry part of cloth; this clears some streaks but introduces others

Any obvious "d'oh" moments there?

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Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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is it possible you are transferring grease from your adjustable eye shield? some of the ones I have seen are really quite greasy.

No, beacuse it happens when I use fresh cotton buds too that have never touched anything but the lens. It really is baffling me.

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LeeB

LeeB

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I use the expensive stuff in a stray can from the opticians, its superb and never leaves streaks, lasts ages as well. I use a large thick optics cloth that gets a wash ever couple of weeks in the washer. It seems to be really gentle on the coating and added thing it smells nice!!!!

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