camel brush marks left on coating of SW Evostar ED80 pro

[yeletah]

Hi,

i thought their may have been a tiny pollen /seed on the inner side of the

ED80 Pro lens.

so, i unscrewed the white telescope end /objective and tried to blow it away - to no avail.

then hardly touching the (back of)  inner lens with a camel brush, touched the pollen, and to no avail.(object if an object at all must be on the other side of the glass)

one or two tiny brush marks are now visible !

(I very much regret my curiosity)

they are difficult too see it from certain angles and light

will time and heat "heal"  these minute markings in the coatings?

curently i just ignore these marks and forget about pollen/seeds/dust

any advise will be interesting

Thanks

Steve

[allcart]

I think it unlikely that a camel hair brush would scratch the coating. The marks are probably residue from the hairs. I would not worry about it.

[ronin]

I would guess that there was something on the lens surface, just from the atmosphere and that you have in effect drawn on this. So nothing to do with the lens or the coating at all.

It would drive me NUTS :angry5: , so I would clean it. But as I say it would drive me mad seeing or knowing it was there :help: .

Just cleaned the objectives and eyepieces of my binoculars with IPA and eventually 8 cotton wool buds.

[Alien 13]

I am the same once i know its there it drives me mad, not a recomendation as such but those lens pens shift most oil/grease/pollen etc with no residue.

Alan

[JulianFR]

What is IPA please? Obviously not India Pale Ale!

[Zakalwe]

A case lesson in why we shouldn't obsess about tiny specks on optics. An attempt to clean them may result in greater damage.

And, as Olly often says, you wont see it. After all, does the large central obstruction in a SCT or Newt cause a problem with the view?

[chiltonstar]

What is IPA please? Obviously not India Pale Ale!

IPA is isopropyl alcohol. I have use a permitted freon (sold to clean colour slides and photographic media) to clean optics as well, but it is extremely difficult not to make more marks and make things worse......

Chris

[Peter Drew]

If I could see marks on the objective lens or mirror superimposed on the view then it would drive me nuts, being as this is not so, I just ignore them. 

[Mikea]

I wouldn't use IPA. Baader lens fluid if you absolutely have to use anything.

[yeletah]

Thanks for the replies,

It was effectively the back/rear of the glass nearest the eyepiece (inside the tube)

the end attachment comes off to reval this surface/side of the glass and i was tempted.

the couple of lines appeared from the camel hairs (hardly touching the glass) looked like scratches

so to find out - i just had to dab once with the special lens cloth, and sure enough it turned into a tiny smudge.

which  was a relief.

however i know have a smudge right in the middle, which you can see at certain angles. i ignore it.

occasionaly i think its dissapered.

I was just suprised with what  my experience has shown me, these invisible coatings are not be messed with?, maybe i'm wrong?

(I have cleaned my eye peices (once) with no problem - and they look good after)

(this was something that happened in October 2013.)

Thanks

Steve

[Alien 13]

Dust i can live with on a lens its easy to get rid of using a vaccum cleaner or an electrostaticaly charged rod but the greasy stuff just spreads around with some dry methods.

Alan

[Zakalwe]

This is a SCT telescope. If you cant see the massive secondary holder when you look through the scope then you absolutely won't see a tiny speck of dust on your lens.

Learn to live with it. Obsessing about every speck will negatively affect your enjoyment of the hobby.  After all, the telescope is a tool. One that allows you to see wonders. Every little mark that it will pick up in it's life is a tiny record of the time spent using the scope for it's intended purpose.

[yeletah]

Excellent.....

[Owmuchonomy]

The advice given in quality Astronomy texts is paramount.  Never, ever touch your optics.  If you have specks on there and wish to remedy the situation, never, ever touch the optics.  And if you feel you really must clean your scope, take a beer and relax instead.  Enjoy the view you have got.

[jason.p]

The advice given in quality Astronomy texts is paramount.  Never, ever touch your optics.  If you have specks on there and wish to remedy the situation, never, ever touch the optics.  And if you feel you really must clean your scope, take a beer and relax instead.  Enjoy the view you have got.

I am sure this is good advice, but I found myself in a similar position to the OP a while ago. I had a speck on the primary and tried to brush it off. Unfortunately the mirror was still wet from dew and it made a large smear. Whether it would have affected my viewing I don't know, but I just could not live with it, so I took the mirror out and cleaned it. As far as I know, no harm done, and I've learnt a lot. I accept that it's probably best to leave alone if possible, but surely optics do need attention from time to time and we shouldn't be afraid of cleaning so long as the excellent advice there is to be had is heeded.

[yeletah]

Telescope manufacturer's maybe should explain more about the coatings and what happens when you touch them,

or what can be expected after dew etc?

[Alien 13]

I have allways wondered why scope optics are so fragile i have 30 year old camera lenses that have been cleaned with every use, wiped with a tissue/sleeve etc and not a mark on them the ones that dont survive are often the uncleaned ones that pick up spores etc that eat the glass. 

Alan

[sandyshaw]

Three things I use for cleaning all my optics

1) soft makeup blusher brush

2) Rocket air blower

3) Baadar fluid and micro cloth.

Never ever had a problem, on lenses, mirrors or filters.

[sandyshaw]

I looked at some of my old Sigma lenses from 15 years ago, I can see air bubbles in them but I never see any artifacts on the developed film.

[gary1968]

I remember one time I bought a used zs66, when it arrived it had a finger print on the objective . After much deliberating and tinkering I removed the lens cell from the scope because I thought that the mark was on the inside, cleaned it with no effect. I found that the mark was on the inside face of the inner part of the doublet, so I took the cell apart and cleaned the wark off. The lens cell was rebuilt and refitted to the tube.

I checked the collimation after the rebuild and found it to be ok, which I put down to the high quality of WO kit and not skill on my part, lol.

I knew when I was doing it that it was risky but I really don't like imperfections on my optics. Would I do it again, probably not.

I have a 150pds just now with a slightly dirty mirror and its taking all my will to not clean it, although I am gonna strip the ota to flock it soon do I might succumb then,.....

Sent from my Tab 3 using Tapatalk and fums.....

[michaeldurban]

leave dust/marks/streaks untouched until you notice the following :

- seeing becomes blurry and foggy -even though you had nothing to drink...

- seeing is better with the lens cap on, rather than of...

- you consistently discover a 'new' planet when looking through your telescope,

   and it's only 10.000 km away, and proclaim its existence...

Then...and only then...your seeing is compromised...

Clean accordingly...