EP Cleaning

[steve wiz]

Hi

Forgive my ignorance, I'm new quite new to Astronomy.

I have 3 BST Starguider EP'S Which I upgraded to after buying  my first Scope, The Heritage 130P.

I treat the EP's with care as I do will all my Astro kit, I have never put my fingers near any part of the lenses and always put the protective rubber caps on after use, all stored in a foam filled hard case, should they be cleaned routinely?  I presume its only dust or finger marks that need to be cleaned?

Edited November 11, 2020 by steve wiz

[johninderby]

Clean if you notice a smudge or anything but no need for regular ckeaning. Just when needed.. Use a blower to remove dust or bits then clean with Baader Optial Wonder. 
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-optics-cleaning-protection/baader-optical-wonder-set-cleaning-fluid-and-cloth.html

Edited November 11, 2020 by johninderby

[laudropb]

Good advice from John. I would just add that you should use the fluid sparingly and always put onto the cloth, never directly on to the eyepiece.

[steve wiz]

Thanks Guys,

Much appreciated.

[Louis D]

My rule of thumb is, if I can move a star around in the field, and it gets noticeably worse in some areas, I'll check the eyepiece for eye lens smudges.  If they exist, I'll clean it the next day, but never in the field.  It's too easy to grind bits of grit across the lens when outdoors.  If I can't notice any difference across the field of view, then I'm usually good with my eyepieces.  I did do a cleaning day last year of all my eyepieces because I had a bit of free time.  I hadn't done it in years.  There was only a thin, even film on most of them that probably had no effect on the image anyway.  This is all in relation to the eye lens.  I don't recall ever cleaning a field lens (bottom lens) on any eyepiece, let alone disassembling them for interior lenses.  Alright, I did take apart a 40 year old orthoscopic eyepiece that was really cruddy that I had bought used for cheap, but that's a different situation.

[steve wiz]

Hi Louis,

 Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.