Reply from William Optics regarding fungus on inside of lens

[marineBLU28]

Howdy

as some of you may know I think I may have fungus on the inside of my WO FLT 110 triplet I decided to contact William Optics as well regarding the issue and they have advised that 

I would need to remove the lens to inspect the inside  of the front lens and if there is an issue they have advised if I couldn't/didn't want to clean it myself I could contact the dealer I bought it from

who was FLO and if they could not clean it then it would be sent to WO. I didn't realise it would be a matter of actually removing the lens I thought the whole thing would go back if this was necessary 

they have advised me how to remove the lens apparently there is a black coloured ring at the end of the dew shield this has to be unscrewed and then you will be able to remove the dew shield and see the lens which can then be removed. To say I'm a bit nervous about doing this is an understatement ?if I do this then won't it affect the collocation of the telescope i.e. Just say for example I was able to remove it clean it and screw it back in surely it's not as straight forward as that? Would the scope not have to be realigned as it's a triplet? Sorry if I'm not understanding this correctly 

 

cheers

 

Carolyn 

[marineBLU28]

I believe the word should be 'collimation' sorry the dreaded auto text correction strikes again! 

[ronin]

At this time I suggest you email FLO and ask them what they consider their approach would be. FLO is a retailer not an optical workshop after all.

If they are OK with returning it to them then get costs of postage etc and ask if they intend to work on it or simply return it to WO or maybe they will ask someone else to examine it. Lots of options.

If it is fungus then likely very little can actually be done in the UK. It is not really something that can be wiped off and then a quick polish with a window clweaner, the fungus will have eaten into the coatings or possibly the glass. These ED glasses are "soft". If WO do anything it will be either replace the lens cell, or the individual lens and rebuild, then charge you for it. Just not sure what "it" would actually be.

At this time you really need to know it it is fungus, after that you at least have some idea of the extant.

[dweller25]

1. Open both ends of the scope and point it at the sky - behind the Sun - the UV will kill fungus.

2. Contact FLO - they may know a chap who can sort it for you in the UK.

[John]

Knowing FLO, as I do, I think I'd have contacted them before I contacted William Optics as they were the vendor of the scope. Get in touch with them now and seek their advice before taking anything apart.

 

[Peter Drew]

I have some experience in these matters and I certainly wouldn't advise anyone without experience to dismantle a triplet, in fact I'm amazed that WO did just that.! 

If you would prefer not to have the hassle or the expense of returning the lens then maybe your best bet would be to expose it to sunlight as suggested.  

[FLO]

Hi Carolyn  

You don't appear to have emailed us but I saw your post here at SGL.

As far as I can tell, reading your other posts, you purchased it back in 2010 and have stored it outside in an observatory under a cover. I see from one of your posts back in 2010 you were concerned the damp environment might harm it, you were right. Your post earlier this year shows the damage. 

Dweller25 is right, we do know someone who can dismantle, clean then realign your telescope's optics. If you email us we will happily point you to him.

WO are right, removing the cell from the tube is surprisingly easy and doing so won't affect it's optical alignment but I think it best you leave it attached. 

Unfortunately whilst removing the fungus will improve things considerably your telescope's optics will never look as good as new. 

FWIW I owned an FLT110 and liked it a lot.

HTH, 

Steve

[marineBLU28]

Hi 

thanks to everyone who replied

 

Hi Steve 

 

yeah unfortunately I have to keep it outside as I am disabled and can't dismantle it myself as you said I was always concerned but hadn't noticed any issues until this year maybe it's just been the perpetual damp winters up here although I do use the dessicants inside it etc and never covered the lens or the scope up damp anyway sorry I didn't email you first as I thought because it was out of warranty I would need to contact the manufacturer. I realise that the optics would never be as good as new but I really love the scope and would never get rid of it anyway it's given me some lovely views of the sky, I'll drop you a line via your official email at your website and we can see what the best thing to do is I mean if there is no way for me to clean it as a amateur then I don't see the point in me trying but I don't want it to get any worse at the moment It's not affecting night time viewing but in twilight I'm sure I can see a shadow in the top right round about where the what looks like fungus is.