Optical Wonder Baader Fluid

[N3ptune]

Hello I have a little problem, my 2" NPB filter has a slight amount of grease on it's surface. I tried to clean it with my Chinese optical fluid and.. it,s not a disaster but the fluid can't remove the grease or the fluid itself leaves a coat of something on the filter.

Most likely it's grease that came off the fillets of the filter, not the fluid. (But overall it's not very effective)

My product will not remove that grease and it's a bit of a problem for me to get the Optical Wonder at home. My Canada store tells me it's back order and getting if from FLO will be relatively expensive with  DHL and the customs Fees.

===================

For that grease problem, do you have a safe alternative solution to the Optical Wonder Baader Fluid?

I found these procedures on ES and TV sites, I don't hate the ES recipe except for the dish soap.. especially for a filter. But I wonder if distilled water and 97% isoptopyl alcohol could do the trick to remove the thin film of grease off of my NPB filter. It's almost nothing, not a big deal.

https://explorescientificusa.com/pages/how-to-clean-waterproof-eyepieces

http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=103

Have some of you tried another recipe then the Optical Wonder with a great success?

Thank you

[alan potts]

The only thing I would say is whilst Baader fluid is superb for everything I have ever used it for I do wonder if the Chinese fluid is just an exact copy of it and that buying it may be unnecessary. I feel some other cleaning method would be needed, just a thought. As to the method I would await someone with better knowledge than me.

Alan

[Guest]

Hello, i alway & only follow the process given by Astronmik *after all they produce good quality of filters*..

http://www.astronomik.com/en/accessoires/optikreinigung.html

 

Cheers & good luck 

Martin

[Dave In Vermont]

Thanks for that, Martin.

I've never used the Baader Wonder-stuff. It's not available in the USA. This is due - or so I've heard - to it's containing ammonia, which is banned for shipping about the US from other nations. But we do have something here that's excellent. The best I've ever used. It's from our famous Doc Clay Sherrod of the Arkansas Sky Observatory. Doc Clay is an acknowledged expert on all varietys of Cassegrain-type telescopes and optical-systems. His website is rather a treasure-trove:

http://arksky.org/index.php

And he published his cleaning-method and how-to make his excellent cleaning solution - here's a Pdf. of this for all:

CLEANING - DOC CLAY ASO fine optics CLEANING SYSTEM.pdf

Now I'm a chemist, as many here are aware, and making this stuff is a chore to me! But all is not lost - he teamed-up with OPT in California to produce this stuff. As it's against postal-regulations to mail ammonia international, a dry-version of his cleaning solution is available for international destinations. As well as the wet-version for the US. Have some links:

https://optcorp.com/products/opt-doc-clay-cleaning-kit-dry-version-spckit-d

&

https://optcorp.com/products/opt-doc-clay-s-cleaning-kit-complete?ref=isp_rel_prd&isp_ref_pos=2

I would love to try the Baader stuff someday, but Doc Clay's stuff is another true wonder!

Hope this helps someone -

Dave

[johninderby]

There is also the Orion cleaning kit.

https://www.highpointscientific.com/orion-deluxe-6-piece-optics-cleaning-kit-05825

          John

[Paz]

Something I find with baader fluid is that when you clean it off it can leave a residue and the best way I've found to go is once you've given it a clean, give everything time to dry and then give it another gentle go with a clean cloth and no more fluid. After a couple of iterations of this I've found all is well. 

This may not resolve the grease issue but might resolve where you still have fluid residue.

[Timebandit]

7 minutes ago, Paz said:

Something I find with baader fluid is that when you clean it off it can leave a residue and the best way I've found to go is once you've given it a clean, give everything time to dry and then give it another gentle go with a clean cloth and no more fluid. After a couple of iterations of this I've found all is well. 

This may not resolve the grease issue but might resolve where you still have fluid residue.

 

Great stuff Badder Wonder Fluid and get hold of some if you can.

Developed for use on sensitive optical services. And the vast majority does seem to evaporate when used for optical cleaning. You may have to give it a gentle second go over with a clean cloth 

But don't forget BWF is designed to leave a thin invisible protective layer to protect against bacteria and fungus to which can eat coating/glass, those optics need protection from all those pollen and pollution floating around out there?

  Optical cleaning then BWF is the way to go IMO ?

[ollypenrice]

19 minutes ago, Paz said:

Something I find with baader fluid is that when you clean it off it can leave a residue and the best way I've found to go is once you've given it a clean, give everything time to dry and then give it another gentle go with a clean cloth and no more fluid. After a couple of iterations of this I've found all is well. 

This may not resolve the grease issue but might resolve where you still have fluid residue.

To be honest I think there is far more risk from a dry wipe than there is of image degradation due to a slight residual film. Removing the polychromatic scattering effect that cleaning fuid leaves behind is simply not necessary in my view.

The thing is to look through your optics rather than at them, since we will always find something to worry us when we do the reverse!

Olly

[Timebandit]

 

And remember to get a blower to get the worst of the dust and grim from the lens first.

Also remember to spray Badder wonder fluid onto a spotlessly clean cloth to clean your lens. . Do not spray BWF directly onto the lens/ glass. 

 

[Ricochet]

I usually use a two cloth method when using cleaning fluid. Fluid sprayed onto the "wet" cloth, which in parts becomes saturated, wipe the lens and then wipe the wet lens again with the "dry" cloth to remove the excess fluid left on the lens by the first cloth. It is probably more important to make sure you don't leave excess fluid on (non-waterproof) eyepiece lenses than filters because the fluid can make it's way into the eyepiece and mark the internal lens surfaces. It's also a good idea to wear gloves as your hands naturally have oils on them and by picking up the cloth you will get oil on the cloth which you can then rub onto your filter/lens.

Alternatively, a lens pen should work well. The tip contains carbon molecules to which oils will stick, removing them from the surface of the filter/lens.

[Ruud]

Baader's optical wonder is a solution of propan-1-ol and alcohol. It's quite mild and will not easily remove a heavy grease. Here's a pdf on the composition: http://www.alpineastro.com/Reference_Docs/OW-SafetyDataSheet-P.pdf

TV suggests acetone, which is MUCH stronger and can even dissolve some plastics. If the grease is thick and sticky you may have to resort to acetone, but first check with the manufacturer if the filter can be cleaned this way.

I had something stick to my dielectric diagonal which would not come of with Baader's miraculously expensive liquid. It came of easily with acetone.

I like Baader's because it comes in a practical spray bottle. For the rest it seems to have no advantage over alcohol.

[Dave In Vermont]

If using a LensPen, treat it as you would the lens you're cleaning first: Use a strong blower on the carbon-tip first. Then gently brush it with a super-fine optical-brush. Do NOT use any fluid on it though.

Dave

 

[Ouroboros]

5 hours ago, Ruud said:

Baader's optical wonder is a solution of propan-1-ol and alcohol. It's quite mild and will not easily remove a heavy grease. Here's a pdf on the composition: http://www.alpineastro.com/Reference_Docs/OW-SafetyDataSheet-P.pdf

TV suggests acetone, which is MUCH stronger and can even dissolve some plastics. If the grease is thick and sticky you may have to resort to acetone, but first check with the manufacturer if the filter can be cleaned this way.

I had something stick to my dielectric diagonal which would not come of with Baader's miraculously expensive liquid. It came of easily with acetone.

I like Baader's because it comes in a practical spray bottle. For the rest it seems to have no advantage over alcohol.

Having just received and used my first BWF this afternoon I can confirm after a quick sniff (not recommended) that it's some mixture of the type you describe. When I worked in a lab with lasers and optics we cleaned the mirrors and lenses with whatever pure solvents happened to be at hand: methanol, ethanol and propanol all worked well. Purity was important and particularly for acetone which could leave a white residue if not very pure. 

[Alien 13]

Lens pen for me, a single swipe and any grease is gone, has to be better than any fluid wonder or otherwise where you can be rubbing for 10 mins or more and all you achieve is spreading grease around.

Alan 

[Timebandit]

2 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

Lens pen for me, a single swipe and any grease is gone, has to be better than any fluid wonder or otherwise where you can be rubbing for 10 mins or more and all you achieve is spreading grease around.

Alan 

 

Not sure I agree with that. I have found Badder Wonder Fluid excellent for normal grime and never had to rub it around for numerous minutes?

Badder wonder fluid also leaves a fine film to protect the lens from nasties like bacteria and fungus. My mind is at rest knowing my coatings/ glass is not being attacked/ eaten away.  Don't get that with a lens pen do you? 

 

[Ruud]

Of course Baader Optical Wonder kills bacteria and fungi. Ethanol does that. Propanol too.

I never used a lens pen and do not plan to. I prefer disposable materials for cleaning optics: cotton balls, Q-tips, solvent and tissues. The only non-disposable item in my cleaning kit is Giotto's rocket blower.

--- Cotton balls ready to be disposed---

[Uplooker]

If it's that bad wash it in some warm water with a bit of washing up liquid. Make sure your fingers are clean and gently rub the filter. Finally wash it some Reverse Osmosis water. Use a bulb blower to get rid of the last drops of water and leave to dry completely. 

[Alien 13]

I shudder sometimes that people use cotton etc, that is abrasive stuff and was banned when I was involved with military optics, far better to use microfiber or specially formulated cloths.

Alan

[Ouroboros]

1 hour ago, Alien 13 said:

I shudder sometimes that people use cotton etc, that is abrasive stuff and was banned when I was involved with military optics, far better to use microfiber or specially formulated cloths.

Alan

Ditto here. I used to use Whatman lens cleaning tissue when cleaning optics at work. Use each sheet once and discard. When I say once I mean apply solvent to tissue, wipe once in one direction, discard tissue, apply solvent to fresh tissue, wipe once .... Etc. 

[Piero]

The baader cleaning liquid is a great product but I have heard that it is not suitable for tak fluorite objectives.

I wonder whether it can be used with the docter and Zeiss zoom, which are also supposed to have fluorite elements (the latter for sure). 

[Stu]

47 minutes ago, Piero said:

The baader cleaning liquid is a great product but I have heard that it is not suitable for tak fluorite objectives.

I wonder whether it can be used with the docter and Zeiss zoom, which are also supposed to have fluorite elements (the latter for sure). 

I heard that too Piero and just to be sure I used something else, I think it was an alcohol free lens cleaner but can check tomorrow. @mikeDnight will know, or track down my thread on cleaning my Tak. Probably needs doing again now!

[Piero]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

I heard that too Piero and just to be sure I used something else, I think it was an alcohol free lens cleaner but can check tomorrow. @mikeDnight will know, or track down my thread on cleaning my Tak. Probably needs doing again now!

Thanks Stu. If I remember correctly, you used the specsavers fluid. 

[mikeDnight]

7 hours ago, Piero said:

Thanks Stu. If I remember correctly, you used the specsavers fluid. 

I think you can buy this stuff from any opticians but there are two types. There's the one containing solvents and then there's one which is solvent free. You really need the solvent free version. ☺ It's not expensive and the lens cloth is also well worth buying. The cleaning spray is not just designed for spectacle lenses but also for use on expensive camera lenses too.

 

 

[Dave In Vermont]

Putting on my chemistry-hat for a moment here: If you opt to use solvents like acetone, iso-propyl alcohol, or similar - you want chemically pure stuff. NOT cheap-stuff out of a hardware-store. That's begging for residues to come crawling out of the bottle. Or worse still - it may have trace amounts of strong alkalies or acids that could feasibly make a snack out of your expensive optical-coatings. Not knowing the grades of solvents available in, say, a drug-store (chemist) in the UK or Europa, I'd get ahold of an actual chemist at a college/university and ask he/she what they'd suggest you try to get ahold of and explain the fragile application you intend to use these for.

A good chemist may not know about optical-coatings, and rather than steer you wrong, would likely be fascinated to learn about these things from you. A changing of transactional-roles where you become the instructor and then they become the instructor to tell you where to get your hands on the best solvents possible.

I'd be aiming for something we chemists call 'Reagent A.C.S.' or 'Spectro Grade.' But would settle for 'C.P. (Chemically Pure) if need be. Reject 'Technical-Grade' or just 'Tech.'

Always pour some on a clean, glass surface and allow it to completely evaporate, and then examine for any streaks or other signs it is leaving something behind. If it leaves a 'gift' behind - DON'T USE IT.

Happy Trails - but NOT on your lens!

Dave

[Ouroboros]

I wholly agree, Dave. I liked using spectroscopic grade at work if I could get hold of it.  There was no problem at work buying chemicals from a supplier like Aldrich. But whether they would accept a purchase from a private individual I don't know having never tried it.