Looks as if could have fungus on inside of lens

[marineBLU28]

Hi

because of my disability I have to keep my scope inside my SkyShed it is ventilated and the scope is covered as I'm not able to disassemble it after each viewing session. It's a WO TMB FLT triplet 110 I didn't notice any viewing issues the last time I used it but it was quite a while ago. That weekend there where we had the nice weather I was giving the shed a tidy  cleaning my eyepieces etc and just popped the cover off the objective lens and got a shock as the inside appears to have a lot of 'stuff' which Iooks as if it could be fungus I do have those little desiccation  things inside the cover for moisture obviously I'm a bit concerned I am attaching a pic.

Im I going to have to get this specialist cleaned obviously I don't have the experience to take this apart in fact I'm not sure you can take it apart anyway. The first decent night we have I will take a look through it and see if it's affecting things visually I did buy it with eventually looking to use it for photography whenIhave the time to learn.

If I really have to bring  it in to stop this getting worse then I could get my son to give me a hand  but obviously it would make things a lot more difficult when I wanted to do some observing I would appreciate any advice.

 

 

[moriniboy]

Ouch, feel your pain.

I make sure I use the refractors that I keep in the shed with a solar Herschell wedge as often as possible, apparently the sun's uv kills fungus / spores and you get the added bonus of looking at sunspots.

Some Baader wonder fluid should remove what is on the outside surface, fungus is known to etch the coatings so I would do it ASAP.

If its on the internal lens surfaces this this is more problematic (read expensive) as professional re-collimation will be required after cleaning.

[MarsG76]

oh cr#p... are you sure that's on the inside?

 

try leaving your scope outside in a warm/hot sunny day.. the UV might kill the spores.

 

[pete_l]

23 minutes ago, marineBLU28 said:

 The first decent night we have I will take a look through it and see if it's affecting things visually I did buy it with eventually looking to use it for photography whenIhave the time to learn.

I doubt that it will make any difference to the views you get. Fungus is one of those things that some people get badly upset about, but it is mostly just cosmetic - like a scratch on your car. If the views look good, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Alien 13]

As said some fresh air and daylight will stop it getting worse, its worth doing the same with the eyepieces and any lenses that where in the same location as fungus spreads.

Alan

[xtreemchaos]

it do look to be on the outside, id give it a blow and a carefull wipe and see how it looks from there. its thoses worms in the background you have to worry about  charl.

[marineBLU28]

Thanks guys 

 

Have ordered the Bader fluid so when arrives will blow/brush off dust and give a clean and see what's showing with regards to the inside 

about using sunlight to help do you take the front lens cover off and leave bottom open and point directly at the sun? Or is it just a matter of having the telescope out on a sunny day? 

 

 

[xtreemchaos]

I wouldn't point it directly at sol  in case of setting fire to something, just leave the lens cap off in daylight should be enough to kill the pesky critters, I too am disabled so know where your coming from about moving kit. charl.

[marineBLU28]

Thanks will do. Potentially weather might be clear tonight so will give the scope a spin if so and tomorrow if sunny will get it out during the day do any of you use the little desiccant pouches inside the front lens like the ones that come with the telescope? 

[Alien_Photons]

I use them but they don't last you need to either replace them or dry them out and rotate them. They are quite cheap your optics are not so on amazon a big fat bag of them is next to nothing.

there's are good article on storing/caring for optics

https://www.optcorp.com/telescope-care-storage-what-to-do-about-dew-0/

As for the lens you will probably find the coatings are etched it wont rub off so don't rub. Clean them carefully astrophysics have a couple videos on you tube on this.

You will probably will never notice them looking through the scope. Its just a sad day when you see them.

You can try drying the lens with a dew heater  like the little hair dryers and put in the pouches before capping in future. I use three pouches cant hurt can it?

[cfpendock]

I always put a pouch of desiccant in front of the lens when I'm not using the scope.  I use cat litter in cotton pouches- it is just very cheap scented silica gel, and I put it in the oven every few months to rejuvenate.  I did, incidentally, once forget to take out the pouch prior to an imaging session, but because it had slipped down onto the dew shield, it didn't have a major effect!  But I have so far avoided fungus.

Chris

[marineBLU28]

Hi '

thanks again folks ? I bought a big bag of them and rotate them think I'll maybe put a few in rather than just a couple as they are quite small 

[pete_l]

37 minutes ago, marineBLU28 said:

thanks again folks ? I bought a big bag of them and rotate them think I'll maybe put a few in rather than just a couple as they are quite small 

If you are concerned about humidity, there is very little air in the space between your objective and its lens cap.

There is far more air in the OTA itself. If you want to keep water vapour away from the objective, most of it will come from the air in the tube. That is where your dessicant should be.

[Alien_Photons]

As per Pete_l

I've had an objective also start to show signs of etching right at the edge I only noticed it by looking through the tube whilst pointing the scope at a ceiling light in the kitchen. I was checking for marks and dirt. I caught that. Then checked every thing else. So I doubled up on the pouches everywhere.

I also put one in my two inch diagonal when capped and stored. I had a one and a quater digonal mirror get etched by fungus a long time ago. I still have it as a reminder.

I put two in the 1.25 adapter held by the edge of the pouch between the plastic plug and inside ring of the eyepiece holder. That goes in the focuser.

In the scope case I have poked one down each eyepiece cutout in the foam and don't cap the bottom of the eyepiece when its in the case. I don't cap the tops but have a couple more pouches sitting around on top of the foam. I had a powermate start to show signs of etching.

I have a couple in with my binos a couple in with the field flatterner and one in each ear and one up each of my nostrils for good measure!

Other than family astronomy and telescopes have brought me alot of pleasure since I was a kid and has been a constant in my life and seeing a telescope or accessory get marked like this is more heartfelt than a problem. Lesson learmt. Never again not if I can help it. I waited a lifetime for my current telescope and its not going to end up as food for microbes.

TAKE NOTE EVERYONE its happening to you your telescope right now.  Like I say a big bag of them is cheap.

[marineBLU28]

Thanks again for all your comments and advice have put more of the pouches in the scope as recommended have put a couple in the diagonal that is capped and attatched to the scope for good measure as well as the ones inside the front cap on the lens also had the scope out in the sunshine for a few hours. Was out last night and was slightly worried as while it was light and I was trying to get the moon in my sight thought I could see something through the eyepiece at the top right had corner but it was while I was trying to get focused so not sure if I was catching the edge of the roof out of focus as the moon and Jup are very low later when I was out observing everything seemed to be fine stars were nice pinpoints and Jup was really lovely in moments of good seeing lots of detail very clear bands which was good  as again it's really low for me now from my Skyshed and is close to house roofs etc so that's affecting things so fingers crossed everything seems ok so will just keep an eye on things worst case scenario I guess I would have to see about it getting professionally cleaned but I guess that would cost me a fair few bucks but I really love this scope! 

[Merlin]

If it's fungus, smear the lens with Pond's Cold Cream and leave for two to three hours. Then, wash off in warm water with fairy liquid. It works like a charm.

On the other hand, it might be the coating on the lens that's flaking off.

[philj]

Fungus loves coatings and glass. If fungus is left it will damage the coatings and if left unchecked will etch the glass, so cleaning as soon as possible is advisable.

Minor damage to the coatings and even minor etching has some effect on the overall performance of the objective, it will degrade the image but probably not noticeable to the eye (depending on severity). But it will affect the resale value considerably as no one wants to buy a scope with etched glass.

Blow the surface clear then use wonderfluid on the front of the objective. Then inspect again if there are still signs it may be on the inner element facing the inside of the OTA. In that case screw off the cell and clean the inside element face just as you did the outside. If it's still showing signs of fungus inside the objective set only then do you need to worry.

Yes in my experience  moisture can penetrate into the inner surface of the elements depending in the design of cell and objective. It will then need stripping and cleaning, you can try doing extended solar work as suggested which may kill the active fungus but it wont clean the dead bodies away

[marineBLU28]

Howdy philj

 

I bought some of the wonder fluid to carefully give the lens a clean now I wasn't aware an amateur like myself could remove the front lens to clean ? Sounds a pretty scary thing to do as it's a WO air spaced triplet would me removing it not cause issues with the alignment etc sorry if these seem really daft questions I e only ever removed a lens once and that was on my first telescope a Vixen super Polaris 80 ? I mean if it's safe to do it then it's not an issue it must never occurred to me I could do such a thing 

cheers Carolyn 

 

 

[philj]

Hi Carolyn

Stripping the objective is a last resort and it is not adviseable, if it looks like it has to be done send it back to the dealer/manufacturer or a dealer who can repair it if it is out of warranty.

As said above, clean the front, if the stuff then looks to be inside, unscrew the cell from the OTA and clean the rear of the objective that faces towards the focuser. Do not strip the cell down as that is a can of worms for an amateur.

[marineBLU28]

Hi Phil

 

so if understanding this correctly clean the front lens if that doesn't work then this part can be removed to clean the back of that lens  but don't touch anything else ? It is out of warranty or of course send it off to be professionally cleaned I bought it from FLO so perhaps they would know what to do 

[philj]

Clean the front, if stuff can be seen at the back unscrew the "complete" cell from the tube and clean the back. Don't strip the cell. If the muck is still there after the front and back surfaces are cleaned then get pro help. This assumes the cell can be unscrewed from the tube.

[marineBLU28]

Thanks Phil will have a look if I'm not sure I'll probably not prefer to touch anything  will just contact FLO and see how/if it can be sent of to be professionally cleaned thanks again for all your advice!