How often do you clean your EPs?

[Don Pensack]

6 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

I wouldn’t touch mine unless absolutely necessary and required. There’s always the danger of over cleaning causing damage to coatings. 

Only if it's done wrong.  After well more than 100 cleanings, most of my eyepieces show no scratches and a perfectly clean surface with a 10x loupe inspecting the surface.

Multicoatings are hard.

I don't recommend the use of microfiber cloths in general, though the little ones that feel like silk can be very good.

I prefer Q-Tips because they are 1 pass and discarded--always perfectly clean.

[Don Pensack]

8 hours ago, Stardaze said:

A point I have mused over regarding glasses wearers is that without using the eye relief, or little of it, surely on occasion both glass do touch? I suspect that the glass and coating is good enough to take a fair bit of cleaning and similar use. Have been cleaning camera lenses for years without any issues.

If the glasses touch the eyepieces, the first thing they touch is the folded down rubber eyecup, which always sticks up a mm or two above the eye lens of the eyepiece.

[Kon]

14 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

I don't recommend the use of microfiber cloths in general, though the little ones that feel like silk can be very good.

I prefer Q-Tips because they are 1 pass and discarded--always perfectly clean.

On this topic, would cotton wool be a good choice as well?

[johninderby]

You have to be carefull as many cotton wool buds are a bit coarse and not suitable. Same goes for many tissues.

[Highburymark]

This is another option which works well - available from FLO. Leaves a more pristine surface with less of a smear than some others I’ve used. First remove dirt and dust with blower as mentioned above, apply and clean with q-tips, and finish by breathing onto the lens and polish with cloth.
Using eyepieces for solar work means you need to clean them much more often - every few weeks in my experience. As long as there’s nothing to scratch the surface and you are reasonably careful, you won’t do any damage - eyepiece lenses are pretty tough.

[runway77]

I am trying to use a blower only to clean my eyepieces. I would clean them with the Baader Optical Wonder only when absolutely necessary. My approach was to sell all eyepieces with a small eye relief as well.

Edited September 17, 2021 by runway77

[rkelley8493]

Probably two or three times a year unless I accidentally touch the glass with my hands and/or eyelashes. In that case, I'll spray a couple/few pumps of Zeiss Lens Cleaner solution onto a clean microfiber cloth and gently wipe the lens.

However, after each use, I usually blow off any dust/particles on the eyepieces with a blower tool [Opolar Battery Operated Air Duster] before I put them back in the case. I do this regardless if I see any dust particles or not just to prevent anything from building up on the surface [visible or invisible].

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by rkelley8493

[Stardaze]

2 hours ago, Louis D said:

Quite the opposite.  You tend to use very little of the available eye relief; so as a result, you wind the eye cup to the top to eliminate the unneeded, excess eye relief.

Sorry Louis, I might be playing a little dumb here but, I use all of the eye relief, preferring to nestle it into the socket with either 15mm-20mm depending on the EP used. Is that not so normal for a non-glasses user? Not that it really matters, I do find the 5 & 7mm XW eye position needing to be quite high for a comfortable placement, even hovering over the 5mm at times, so >20mm. 

I have long lashes too, so probably helps to keep the EP's cleaner for longer. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Stardaze

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Three years and yet to clean an eyepiece except the occasional blow to remove an eyelash for instance. Although I have not long purchased the below when they were £7:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZEISS-Lens-Wipes-Pack-200/dp/B00IKGH2TI

[Louis D]

6 hours ago, Stardaze said:

Sorry Louis, I might be playing a little dumb here but, I use all of the eye relief, preferring to nestle it into the socket with either 15mm-20mm depending on the EP used. Is that not so normal for a non-glasses user? Not that it really matters, I do find the 5 & 7mm XW eye position needing to be quite high for a comfortable placement, even hovering over the 5mm at times, so >20mm. 

I have long lashes too, so probably helps to keep the EP's cleaner for longer. 

If you needed the eye cup all the way down as I do to take in the view, then you would be using all of the available eye relief.  You, on the other hand, could get away with using eyepieces having 10mm to 12mm of eye relief quite easily, calculated from 20mm minus the amount the eye cup is twisted up.  I, wearing eyeglasses with such an eyepiece, would only see the inner part of the field.  Thus, I would be using more eye relief than is available.  Preferring to nestle into the eye cup is simply a preference and can be arrived at with shorter eye relief eyepieces if the eye cup isn't twisted upward as much or at all.

[Louis D]

8 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

If the glasses touch the eyepieces, the first thing they touch is the folded down rubber eyecup, which always sticks up a mm or two above the eye lens of the eyepiece.

Except on the 27mm Panoptic which has a broad top and an exposed metal retaining ring around the eye lens.  I pushed in too hard years ago with a pair of glasses to try to take in the entire FOV at once and put a permanent arc shaped scratch on them.  Needless to say, I never did that again.

[John]

My most often cleaned eyepiece is my Nagler 2mm-4mm zoom. It has 10mm of eye relief but the eye lens is almost flush with the eyepiece top so it tends to pick up eyelash grease and dust easier than my other eyepieces that have 15mm - 20mm of eye relief.

 

[Highburymark]

How do people cope with 4mm Plossls and orthos? Must need cleaning after every session. And how do you clean a piece of glass so tiny?

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

How do people cope with 4mm Plossls and orthos? Must need cleaning after every session. And how do you clean a piece of glass so tiny?

The volcano topped ones tend to steer eyelashes away from the tiny lens.  That, and you are much more aware of how close you are, so you tend to be more aware of blinking and pull away first knowing what a pain they are to clean.

[Second Time Around]

With many of my eyepieces I use a Dioptrx to correct my astigmatism.  One of the many advantages is that I don't scratch my glasses on the rim - yes, I've learned from experience!

So instead of cleaning the eyepiece I clean the Dioptrx.

Whether it's a Dioptrx or an eyepiece though I clean it as soon as it gets dirty.  As I have to get close to any eyepiece this is pretty often.  However, I've never found the coatings on the lens is damaged by cleaning.

This may possibly be because of the method I use.

To get rid of anything loose, I first use a squeezable blower followed by a soft brush .  These items are available very cheaply on Amazon etc.

To get rid of anything more stubborn I then use Zeiss disposable lens wipes.  The great advantage of these are that they're disposable, and so one can be certain that they're always clear of dust or grit that could damage a lens.

[Don Pensack]

It seems to me that breathing on the eyepiece after cleaning it defeats the purpose of cleaning it in the first place.

It's impossible, as Covid has taught us, to exhale without some droplets from the mouth, throat, and lungs coming out with your breath.

So to finish cleaning with your breath has just returned the eyepiece to an unclean state of affairs.

 

If you've cleaned the eyepiece and left streaks, you either did not clean the eyepiece correctly or are using the wrong cleaning fluid.

I've been cleaning eyepieces for just under 6 decades now, and never left streaks if I paid attention to what I was doing.

 

I will say, however, that some eyepieces I've cleaned were so dirty it took 2 to 3 cleanings to actually get them completely clean.

A few years back, I cleaned an eyepiece in the shop that looked like a little kid had tried to color the lens with a crayon.

That one was really tough to clean!

 

One last note: NEVER use "lens cleaning tissues" as sold in camera stores in a little packet.  These have small wood fibers in them and WILL scratch the lenses.

Like lens pens (shudder), I don't know why these things are still sold.

[Don Pensack]

2 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

With many of my eyepieces I use a Dioptrx to correct my astigmatism.  One of the many advantages is that I don't scratch my glasses on the rim - yes, I've learned from experience!

So instead of cleaning the eyepiece I clean the Dioptrx.

Whether it's a Dioptrx or an eyepiece though I clean it as soon as it gets dirty.  As I have to get close to any eyepiece this is pretty often.  However, I've never found the coatings on the lens is damaged by cleaning.

This may possibly be because of the method I use.

To get rid of anything loose, I first use a squeezable blower followed by a soft brush .  These items are available very cheaply on Amazon etc.

To get rid of anything more stubborn I then use Zeiss disposable lens wipes.  The great advantage of these are that they're disposable, and so one can be certain that they're always clear of dust or grit that could damage a lens.

Are those Zeiss wipes like the small alcohol-laden pads that come in small envelopes that are used to clean your arm before you get a jab?

[Second Time Around]

Sorry, Don. I'm not familiar with those.

[Don Pensack]

These:

https://www.amazon.com/Alcohol-Wipes-Antiseptic-Sanitizer-Individually/dp/B07C8GXG3V/ref=asc_df_B07C8GXG3V/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=242002247899&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6054868559722515470&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030974&hvtargid=pla-450528700298&psc=1

As far as I know every doctor's office and every hospital uses these by the tons.

[Second Time Around]

Sorry, double post.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Second Time Around

[Second Time Around]

 

They look similar, but contain just alcohol as opposed to a combination of ingredients in the Zeiss ones.  

[Stardaze]

I can’t seem to make a q tip (cotton bud) work, other than to get right into the edge. Had to touch up the binoculars earlier so gave it a go to no avail. Maybe the chunky baby versions might be best, or anyone have a particular brand?

[Don Pensack]

Just now, Stardaze said:

I can’t seem to make a q tip (cotton bud) work, other than to get right into the edge. Had to touch up the binoculars earlier so gave it a go to no avail. Maybe the chunky baby versions might be best, or anyone have a particular brand?

I start by putting a couple drops of cleaning fluid directly on the Q-Tip (after blowing any dust off the eyepiece) and making a spiral pass from center to edge with the wet end of the Q-Tip.

I immediately flip it over and make a couple spiral passes with the dry end of the Q-Tip.

I then grab a 2nd Q-Tip and, making a radial motion from just a little past center, to the edge, slowly turn the eyepiece under the moving Q-Tip (maybe a couple turns of the eyepiece) until the lens is clean and free of streaks.

This motion is perpendicular to the first Q-Tip motions and seems to eliminate any streaking.

I note that when the 2nd Q-tip is moving on the surface of the lens, there is no resistance to motion, as if the lens was a teflon surface.

That is because the lens is completely clean and free of anything to cause the Q-Tip to stick.

2 Q-Tips is usually all it takes.

If an eyepiece is really dirty and covered with goo, it might take a couple turns with a wet Q-tip to get it all up.

I don't have any issue with getting to the edge of the lens.

I use regular Q-tips with cotton ends and no additives.

[Stardaze]

11 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

I start by putting a couple drops of cleaning fluid directly on the Q-Tip (after blowing any dust off the eyepiece) and making a spiral pass from center to edge with the wet end of the Q-Tip.

I immediately flip it over and make a couple spiral passes with the dry end of the Q-Tip.

I then grab a 2nd Q-Tip and, making a radial motion from just a little past center, to the edge, slowly turn the eyepiece under the moving Q-Tip (maybe a couple turns of the eyepiece) until the lens is clean and free of streaks.

This motion is perpendicular to the first Q-Tip motions and seems to eliminate any streaking.

I note that when the 2nd Q-tip is moving on the surface of the lens, there is no resistance to motion, as if the lens was a teflon surface.

That is because the lens is completely clean and free of anything to cause the Q-Tip to stick.

2 Q-Tips is usually all it takes.

If an eyepiece is really dirty and covered with goo, it might take a couple turns with a wet Q-tip to get it all up.

I don't have any issue with getting to the edge of the lens.

I use regular Q-tips with cotton ends and no additives.

Thanks for the informative reply Don. I’ll try and persevere as it’s better than reusing cloths. 

 

[BobInYorkshire]

On 18/09/2021 at 16:21, Second Time Around said:

 

They look similar, but contain just alcohol as opposed to a combination of ingredients in the Zeiss ones.  

I’ve used those for a few years with my Nikon camera lenses and they do a good job. I also use Eclipse optic cleaning fluid and Pec Pads.

They all do a good job on my eyepieces.