newtonian reflectors

[Andy c]

Hi Guys

im pretty new to all this but i am getting there with it all.... the time has come to clean my primary mirror and i am a bit nervous about it i've watched a vid on how to clean the mirror but i am not 100% sure how to get it out of my telescope any help would b greatly appreciated.

[ScottS]

Haven't done this myself yet, but the first question many would ask you is, does it really need cleaning? They should only be cleaned when absolutely necessary from what I've heard.

Scott.

[Simms]

To be honest - I did this earlier this year and found it a doddle - like collimation, sometimes I think some people seem to exaggerate how hard these things are to achieve.

My mirror was rather dusty so after removing the mirror cell I gave it a very very gentle wipe with a soft lint free cloth (quid for a packet down the local market) it ended up as good as new - it didn't need any washing as it didn't seem to require any. The only thing that surprised me was the thickness of the mirror (I have a Skywatcher 200P) - I always thought about the mirror like, you know, a think mirror that one shaves in - but it is pretty much the thickness of the actual cell, so that kind of caught me off guard - but other than that I cleaned it and replaced it with no problems at all.

DId I scratch the mirror? As far as I can tell it is tip-top - but then again I only use my scope for imaging with a DSLR and casual observation - so my optics don't really need to be scientific grade quality.

Good luck!

[Tinker1947]

It might make things easier if the Mirror Cell goes back the same way piece of sticky tape on the back of the Mirror Cell and another on the outside of the tube will sort that...

[ronin]

Thing with mirror cleaning is there are a lot of factors:

What do you consider dirty and so needing a clean.

Very personnel decision.

Do you clean little and often or leave it for a longer period.

One means you could damage during one of the cleans other means more grit build up to damage it when you clean it.

How prepared/confident are you to do it.

Make sure you have the right materials and don't rush it. Do you know exactly what it is you are going to do step by step?

How well coated is the mirror.

Most likely the most important, if the protective coating is good then potential damage is minimised. Problem here is to cut costs things like protective coatings are reduced in quality.

[Moonshane]

cleaning a mirror is quite easy but you need to be careful and I'd only recommend water based cleaning methods. wiping when dry is potentially going to damage the coatings.

if you can say what scope or upload a pic I am sure we can tell you how to remove the mirror and cell (they usually come out together).

generally there's no benefit other than aesthetics and possibly a slight edge on very bright objects but this is somewhat debatable I feel.

[Jiggy 67]

I have read that dust makes no difference to the performance of a mirror and does not require cleaning. Water staining may require cleaning but in the absence of that I wouldn't mess with it

[John]

What scope do you have ?

We will need to know that to be able to advise on how to remove the mirror for cleaning, if you decide it has to be done. I'm of the school that won't clean until it's pretty dirty.