cleaning the corrector lens on SCT?

[adamphillips]

I have an 8SE also a edge 11hd but that one is brand new.

but my 8SE just seems blurry.

I was thinking of buying the orion 6 pc cleaning kit. people talk about not using the wrong kind of solution on corrector lenses. does anybody know what cloths to buy? or solution to use?

I know the orion kit is probably more for eyepieces but I want it for that too. anybody think that it will be ok to use it on the front lens?

[knobby]

Have you checked collimation first?

[adamphillips]

yes I forgot to write that. as far as I can tell, the collimation looks perfect, using the star focusing method. it looks very centered.

[PeterCPC]

I think this would be the one to use.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/misc/baader-optical-wonder-fluid.html

Peter

[red dwalf]

i`ve cleaned my collector plate front and back, i bought the baader wonder fluid with there cloth, there are a few tutorials on the web on how to do this, but what i did was to mark the plate ring with alittle tape, and the position it is to the outer ring so it all goes back in exactly the same place

[Tinker1947]

I did think about cleaning the internals in my C11 (i was getting what looked like dust bunnies on images) so i brought this little lot there camel haired brushes, anyway the fine folk on here didn't think it was the scope si i never got to use it, tried a diffrent camera and things were fine, if you have dust ect on the corrector plate i believe it won't alter the soft focus so cleaning it won't make it sharper, its a collimation or quality of EP thing, try testing with a 5mm EP stretch the star focus right to the edge it should just touch the side of the FOV all round....

[x6gas]

I'd agree in having serious doubts that a dirty corrector plate could be responsible for significant blurring at the eyepiece.  It would have to be way dirty...  What magnification did you do your collimation at and what was the seeing like?  A poorly aligned secondary and / or focuser tube could be the culprit.

I use Baader Wonderfluid for cleaning my optics too, but I've abandoned the cloth.  Instead I use regular tissues - not the type with balm impregnated.  It seems that the pulping / manufacturing makes the fibres really soft and they are so cheap you can use loads and not risk contamination; with the Baader cloth I found I was often just moving grease around rather than getting it off.

I also wear latex gloves (and I wash my hands with the gloves on to remove any releasing agent) to stop transferring grease from my hands on to the optics.

This leaves a lot of fine tissue fibre on the optics which then needs to be blown off using a rocket blower but that's easy enough and this is the best way I found of cleaning things.

[adamphillips]

im drawing a blank on EP. what does that mean?

[Zakalwe]

yes I forgot to write that. as far as I can tell, the collimation looks perfect, using the star focusing method. it looks very centered.

I always check collimation with a camera (I only image, however).  Stacking 100-150 frames shows very clearly if collimation is spot-on or not:

http://www.planetary-astronomy-and-imaging.com/en/five-tips-you-must-know-to-collimate-your-telescope-easily/

I would think that the corrector would have to be very dirty to affect the view (think filthy, not just a bit of dust). And then it would probably only affect contrast, not make the image blurry. Are you sure that the EP hasn't fogged slightly? Dew on the corrector? Or on the primary?

[Zakalwe]

im drawing a blank on EP. what does that mean?

EyePiece

[Owmuchonomy]

Totally with Tinker1947.  Your corrector plate should not be touched, ever.  If you really think it needs cleaning, don't touch it. Then if you really really think its dirty it probably isn't. Check everything else first before you go and scratch your plate.  Unless there is a Yorkshire cow pat on the front I don't believe your viewing will be affected.  I recently upgraded my Cel Plossl EPs to Baader Hyperions and the difference in viewing experience was huge.

[Zakalwe]

  Unless there is a Yorkshire cow pat on the front I don't believe your viewing will be affected.

Absolutely.

After all, the massive great obstruction that is the secondary holder doesn't causer the image to blur, does it?

[adamphillips]

ill have to check again. I think when I was checking for collimation I was only at like 80x magnification.  and that eyepiece seemed ok, I need to clean the rest of my eyepieces first I was looking with a couple other ones higher mag.   225, 450, and 312. but I should clean the eyepieces and check it out again.

I just haven't taken the scope out for a couple months and I remember the last time I did I couldn't get a really crisp image of Jupiter or Saturn and I was hoping it was just bad seeing even though it looked like a clear night, but I always feared that maybe there was another issue. and maybe there is. I don't know how to try to align the focuser or check other things like that.

[Tinker1947]

I run my scope in a open top Obby, hanging on the rear wall is a hairdryer, i alway give the EP's a warm blast so when i look through the EP they don't mist up with the warmth from my Eye, does make for a nice clear FOV....just make sure they're a bit warm before you use them...