Man cave

[Glen01246]

Hi could do with some advice just converting my garage into a man cave lol would I be able to store my skywatcher 130 and my Celestron 127 go to in there there is no heating in there but I don't want to damage them should I just put a plastic bag on them

[D4N]

Cold isn't the problem it is damp that you need to worry about.

That and spiders making their home in your scope.

[laudropb]

I store my scopes in an unheated garage. My Dob has a cover normally used for patio furniture an d my Mak and frac I keep in padded aluminium cases. I have also got a couple of bags of silica near where they are stored to keep any dampness down . Eye pieces etc I store in the house.

[Putaendo Patrick]

To keep the dust off, I would a breathable cloth cover. A plastic bag seems to me like an invitation for damp and condensation.

[Aaron F Johnson]

The only thing I would not do is move or bump the scopes when temps are below -10°f as any plastic or vinyl components may shatter at these temps. A plastic wheel on my 5 horse air compressor shattered in 2012 and only having two wheels and a foot crashed onto the floor damaging the unit and other items. The low temps also permanently weaken plastic and vinyl components so if they are integral stressed components like plastic gears or mount/tripod connection points that could be an issue. The 70yr old 10" dob I have was built in the garage wieghs 150lbs lives permanently in the garage and hasent had issues but no plastic...  

[faulksy]

41 minutes ago, Aaron F Johnson said:

The only thing I would not do is move or bump the scopes when temps are below -10°f as any plastic or vinyl components may shatter at these temps. A plastic wheel on my 5 horse air compressor shattered in 2012 and only having two wheels and a foot crashed onto the floor damaging the unit and other items. The low temps also permanently weaken plastic and vinyl components so if they are integral stressed components like plastic gears or mount/tripod connection points that could be an issue. The 70yr old 10" dob I have was built in the garage wieghs 150lbs lives permanently in the garage and hasent had issues but no plastic...  

that 10" dob ways more than my 20"

[Charic]

If its dry in the garage, and there is ventilation, I  cant see there being a major issue if the scope is covered.
I keep mine inside in its own purpose built cupboard, the scope has  shower caps both ends of the OTA, a cotton sheet to cover the telescope and a heavy duty plastic sheet that slides over the cotton sheet. 
My Skyliner used to live in the corner of the kitchen/dining room, so there should have/could have been some by products in the air from the processes of cooking, but the scope is perfectly clean because of the covers.
I  pulled my Celestron 127EQ from a tent this week? it was loosely wrapped in a  black bin liner,  placed inside a cardboard box, and has endured everything the weather has thrown at it since November 2015! Not a  visible  mark or sign of any infestation. 

[Aaron F Johnson]

70 years ago focal lengths were different than today, intersting how things changed with the popular onset of astrophotography and scope mass production

[Charic]

..........lost me on that one Aaron?

[Aaron F Johnson]

The scope is f/9...were now days dobs are faster and your hardpressed to find larger newts above f/5 and most of those are for imaging and need correction for visual. Apples and Oranges...

[Charic]

ok! thought we were talking about dust and condensation in this thread?

[ollypenrice]

Low humidity is important. Also, moving air will not drop condensation onto cold surfaces in the way that still air will, so all our observatories are deliberately drafty. If you put a breathable bag over your scope you might also put in a very lower power heater such as those intended as small animal warmers. I use puppy warmers in winter. Yes, not joking! You just have to keep the critical areas above the dew point.

Olly

[Aaron F Johnson]

I was was on topic and only responding to questions as not to ignore a poster...

[faulksy]

39 minutes ago, Charic said:

ok! thought we were talking about dust and condensation in this thread?

aaron just answered my comment, thanks aaron

[Charic]

faulksy, thanks..........I see that now!  ( ....... that 10" dob ways more than my 20"   ) 

Appologies  Aaron, I did not see that text earlier hence my questioning!  Not seeing faulksy's text, your comments made no sense to me  following the original post.

 

 

[Aaron F Johnson]

No problem Charic...trying to follow these threads trips me up sometimes too...

[Chester kays]

I baught my 6 inch refractor a few months ago and was keeping it in the house in my den. 

The thing that I found is if there are no plastic parts on the scope or the mount there should be no problems keeping it in the garage unless there is a lot of cold weather where you live.

then I would consider moving it into a more stable environment with plenty of air flow.

I agree that plastic would not be my 1st choice in covering my scope. If you can find a soft case for it that would be best. If not I would cover it in a lint free cloth to keep the dust at a minimum and I would keep the eye pieces in some kind of case and keep it in the house.

[RobertI]

Regarding dust, if your walls and floors are bare concrete/breeze block I would recommend painting them, in my experience it makes a big difference to the dust build up (virtually reduces it to zero) and also makes walls/floors easier to clean.

I was given a tip on how to paint your garage floor quickly - buy a cheap broom, pour the garage floor paint into a pool on the floor and brush the paint to the required thickness, works like a charm, quick and easy.  

My garage sits below the house so rarely gets close to zero degrees - I store my scopes fully assembled and ready to go in the garage with a bin liner over mount and ota. Scopes have been fine like this for the last 15 years, but of course everyone's garage conditions are very different and there's some excellent advice above on how to deal with that.