Ray Mondo Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 Hi, I’ve been looking at getting a Mak 127 or an 8” Dobsonian and I was think of leaving the scope in the conservatory. The conservatory is south facing and gets quite hot in the summer months. What is the maximum temperature scopes can be stored at without causing damage? Thanks for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carbon Brush Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 My observatory shed gets quite hot in the summer and I have never had any scope (or scope associated electronics) issues. I have seen grease ooze out of old cheap binoculars after heating. Depending on the conservatory construction, type of glass and plastic roof, etc you might want to think about ultra violet. Exposed plastics will degrade. Anodised aluminium can lose it's colour. Given the amount of plastic housings on goto moutnts, lens surrounds, dust caps and shiny mount parts, this is a consideration. A good light tight cover is called for. Whether you use an old coat or an expensive bespoke scope cover is your choice! Hope this helps, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charic Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 Out of direct Sunlight, possibly under a light cotton sheet, and out of view from prying eyes should suffice. If you think its going to get really hot, maybe store the scope level, incase the secondary mirror detaches, striking the primary? Do conservatories really get that hot, I thought they'd have some ventilation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin66 Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 Here in Oz, the temperatures can get well above 40deg C...in the observatory depending on construction even higher.... I've never experienced any significant issues/ problems with my gear over the past twenty years....BUT ""Anodised aluminium can lose it's colour"" This is 100% correct - also affects some plastics. My ED80 scopes I use for solar observing now have "gold" fitments!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeSkywatcher Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 I seriously doubt if UK summer temps would exceed scope storage safety levels. At most.......temps in UK would reach 35-37C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RT65CB-SWL Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 If you do get the Mak 127, make sure the eyepiece end is facing down. Otherwise that 'goopy' grease on the baffle tube may start to leak and 'ooze' and cause one hell of a clean-up operation to be initialised on your optical surfaces. As Mak 127's are not that long is there anywhere else in the home that you can store it in the cool, again, eyepiece end down. And don't forget, Mak's & SCT's can take a long time to cool down if you plan on using it on a summer evening/night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis D Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 2 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said: I seriously doubt if UK summer temps would exceed scope storage safety levels. At most.......temps in UK would reach 35-37C. Agreed. Probably not an issue in the UK. However, sheds here in Texas easily hit 130° F or more, especially when it's 110° F in the shade. I know plastics stored in my attic, which is well ventilated, shrink and/or become brittle over time up there. Glue in book bindings dries out and crumbles. Sap in building lumber seeps out and drips on everything. I've never stored electronics or greased machinery up there, so I don't know about them. I will say the electronics board that controls my A/C zone system failed 4 months after installation. The new one is still going strong 2 years later, though. It really depends on whether or not the scope and mount were designed to stand up to high temperatures. It can be done with the right types of greases, plastics and mil-spec electronics. Metal and cured wood are basically unaffected by shed temperatures. All that said, I know of plenty of observatories here in Texas that get regular use, so it can certainly be done, especially in the UK. I would think mold and fungus in your damp environment might be more of a concern than high temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOC Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 It is correct that UK temps don't exceed 25-37C, but that is outside in the shade of a Stevenson screen. The OP asked abour a conservatory, Now I don't have one of those and don't know how well insulated they are, but I can say that our room made of uninsulated glass aka. Greenhouse would regularly beat the outdoor temps if not ventilated. In addition I have seen garden thermometers in the direct sun reach around 45C and exposed surfaces like my car bonnet get hot emough to set egg white, in addition most of us will have returned to a car in a carpark after a day in the sun and found you can hardly touch the plastic surfaces, and a car is an inslated environment with ofyen treated windows, so I am sure temps can exceed official weather records as they are taken in a specific way. Most telescopes are black or dark colours which won't help. Since many conservatories are built facing South as sun traps, I would certainly agree with covering it up and certainly make sure that if the conservatory doors are open that stray naked sunlight can't strike the mirrors! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis D Posted September 30, 2018 Share Posted September 30, 2018 13 hours ago, JOC said: It is correct that UK temps don't exceed 25-37C, but that is outside in the shade of a Stevenson scrren. The OP asked abour a conservatory, Now I don't have one of those and don't know how well insulated they are, but I can say that our room made of uninsulated glass aka. Greenhouse would regularly beat the outdoor temps if not ventilated. In addition I have seen garden thermometers in the direct sun reach around 45C and exposed surfaces like my car bonnet get hot emough to set egg white, in addition most of us will have returned to a car in a carpark after a day in the sun and found you can hardly touch the plastic surfaces, and a car is an inslated environment with ofyen treated windows, so I am sure temps can exceed official weather records as they are taken in a specific way. Most telescopes are black or dark colours which won't help. Since many conservatories are built facing South as sun traps, I would certainly agree with covering it up and certainly make sure that if the conservatory doors are open that stray naked sunlight can't strike the mirrors! Ahh, I didn't catch the conservatory part. A conservatory in the US is a place where music is performed. A sunroom is a glassed in porch or patio. No one has them in these parts of Texas because the temperature inside would easily exceed 140° F in the summer just like a car interior. Open patio decks are more the rule around here. That being said, I would not want to subject my scopes to that kind of torture even in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Mondo Posted September 30, 2018 Author Share Posted September 30, 2018 Hello and thanks for all of the replies. The conservatory has reached 46 degrees centigrade this year . I couldn’t find any specs on the scopes that mention the max temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOC Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 12 hours ago, Ray Mondo said: The conservatory has reached 46 degrees centigrade this year I can easily believe that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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