Anyone else had a slug get into reflector?

[yelsac]

Unbelievable, silly slug has left it's trail all over my primary mirror 🤦

Anyone else had this, if so what did you do? Leave it, clean it? 

Stupid slugs, as if we don't have enough to struggle with in the sky 😡

[OK Apricot]

Coming from a living creature I'd clean it if it were me. Mirror out, shower head on warm, dish soap and a gentle massage, rinse with distilled water. 

[GordonD]

Yes agree that needs a clean and soapy water should shift it. Did it get in through the gap between mirror and tube? I had a spider get in that way and leave a mess on the mirror so I found some elastic stool covers on amazon which have worked well and stopped them. Can't find the exact ones any more but if you search for "round stool covers stretch" you will get the idea. I took a guess on sizing.

[yelsac]

9 minutes ago, GordonD said:

Yes agree that needs a clean and soapy water should shift it. Did it get in through the gap between mirror and tube? I had a spider get in that way and leave a mess on the mirror so I found some elastic stool covers on amazon which have worked well and stopped them. Can't find the exact ones any more but if you search for "round stool covers stretch" you will get the idea. I took a guess on sizing.

Yes I think it did, I found 4 dead very small slugs where I store my scope. hadn't noticed them before.

Thanks I'll have a look

[DaveL59]

+1 for cleaning that off since its organic.

So far not had this on a scope but a fair sized one did wangle its way into the smart cat-flap a couple years back. Woke one morning to find my kitties sat in the garden complaining as they couldn't get back inside. Darn thing had slithered across the control board and fried itself, wiping the kitties chip codes in the process, or at least scrambling them. Was a devil to clean the slime off and sort it all, with the added fun of 2 grown kitties who really really didn't want to cooperate so I could re-scan them back into the system 🙄 

I've since filled every opening with BluTak which has been effective, but because of that I don't leave any scope electronics attached when stored in the conservatory - somehow slugs seem to find their way in, esp in very wet weather.

[JTEC]

This chap liked my Telrad 🙂

[yelsac]

2 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

+1 for cleaning that off since its organic.

So far not had this on a scope but a fair sized one did wangle its way into the smart cat-flap a couple years back. Woke one morning to find my kitties sat in the garden complaining as they couldn't get back inside. Darn thing had slithered across the control board and fried itself, wiping the kitties chip codes in the process, or at least scrambling them. Was a devil to clean the slime off and sort it all, with the added fun of 2 grown kitties who really really didn't want to cooperate so I could re-scan them back into the system 🙄 

I've since filled every opening with BluTak which has been effective, but because of that I don't leave any scope electronics attached when stored in the conservatory - somehow slugs seem to find their way in, esp in very wet weather.

Interesting so the fact it's organic does that cause more of a problem?

[yelsac]

7 hours ago, OK Apricot said:

Coming from a living creature I'd clean it if it were me. Mirror out, shower head on warm, dish soap and a gentle massage, rinse with distilled water. 

Do you think that will damage the mirror surface?

[Varavall]

7 hours ago, yelsac said:

Unbelievable, silly slug has left it's trail all over my primary mirror 🤦

Anyone else had this, if so what did you do?

I leave the cap on. Keeps the blighters out. Hmmm....maybe that explains the dark images I thought were black holes 🤔

[OK Apricot]

26 minutes ago, yelsac said:

Do you think that will damage the mirror surface?

I'm not really sure but the likelihood is that organic material is more reactive than say airborne dust etc. It's recommended to remove pollen, I'd guess for the same reason - organic lovelies can damage and degrade the coatings. 

It's a doddle to clean, just take your time with warm soapy water, gently using a few finger tips to massage the surface - you will get a feel for the larger and more stubborn specs this way, so you don't end up scraping these across the surface and damaging the coatings. You won't feel like you're cleaning anything, but after a rinse with distilled water it will come up gleaming 😊

Edited October 28, 2022 by OK Apricot
Detail

[yelsac]

8 minutes ago, Varavall said:

I leave the cap on. Keeps the blighters out. Hmmm....maybe that explains the dark images I thought were black holes 🤔

Oh the cap is left on, the blighter somehow sneaked in between the mirror & base of the reflecter where the collimating screws are, stupid creature 🫣

[yelsac]

5 minutes ago, OK Apricot said:

I'm not really sure but the likelihood is that organic material is more reactive than say airborne dust etc. It's recommended to remove pollen, I'd guess for the same reason - organic lovelies can damage and degrade the coatings. 

It's a doddle to clean, just take your time with warm soapy water, gently using a few finger tips to massage the surface - you will get a feel for the larger and more stubborn specs this way, so you don't end up scraping these across the surface and damaging the coatings. You won't feel like you're cleaning anything, but after a rinse with distilled water it will come up gleaming 😊

Yes I've done it once before, just a lot of bother as I've just bought a new camera for imaging Jupiter. Might try & leave it for a few weeks hopefully it won't do to much to the coatings. Happy days 👍

Unless anyone else suggests it will damage it sooner 🥴

[NGC 1502]

An elasticated shower cap on the back end of the tube should help to keep the critters out. If it’s for a scope larger than 8” then a regular shower cap may not be large enough.   But not too hard for a DIY job to make a larger one….

Definitely agree…..best to clean it.

[Carl Au]

Clean 🧼 clean 🧽 clean it

[Mandy D]

21 hours ago, yelsac said:

Do you think that will damage the mirror surface?

There are acids and oils in organic materials such as that extruded by slugs, which will attack most metal surfaces. Stick a finger print on a piece of bare polished metal and see what happens over a few days or weeks. OK, your mirror should have some form of coating over the aluminium, but no guarantee that it will fully protect it from acid attack.

[david_taurus83]

According to Google slug slime is over 90% water so it can't be that bad. I doubt it's as bad as Xenomorph blood!

[niallk]

I had the same experience recently on my mirror in my dob!  I left it out til the morning. 

I'll be doing exactly as @OK Apricot said 😉

Edited October 30, 2022 by niallk

[DaveL59]

On 29/10/2022 at 17:37, david_taurus83 said:

According to Google slug slime is over 90% water so it can't be that bad. I doubt it's as bad as Xenomorph blood!

I'd expect one problem with leaving it could be as it rehydrates on cold moist nights there would be a tendency for other things to get stuck in the mix, pollen, fungal spores etc. That might certainly create risk to the mirror finish over time. Down to personal choice tho, to clean or not, I would if it were mine.

[Skyline]

A gentle brush with a Brillo Pad will definitely remove those sluggish marks.