Cleaning a refractor

[Littleguy80]

The time has come to sell my Equinox 80 and on taking photos, I noticed that the objective is in need of a clean. No doubt this put people off plus I'd like to pass it on looking all shiney and new. I have Baader Wonder Fluid which I'm sure says it's not to be used on objectives though I also found an online guide for cleaning doing just that! I've never cleaned a refractor before so I would appreciate any advice on how best to proceed. Thank you!

[Nik271]

Have no fear, glass and coatings are pretty robust these days, occasional clean with care will not damage them.

Some basic principles: Blow as much dust away with a blower. sometimes just this is enough. Then gently brush away any remaining large specs with a soft brush. If this is not enough then finaly use an alcohol/water mixture designed for cleaning lenses (Baader fluid is just fine) with cotton pads or clean lint-free cloth.

Don't press hard, just spray liquid on the pad and genly drag over the objective from the centre outwards. If the residue is very old and stuck to the glass you probably will need to do multiple passes before it gets clean. Always replace the cloth/pad with a new clean one for each pass.

I clean my objectives on average every 6 months, after the summer and after winter,  some dust and pollen inevitably accumulates on the glass despite regular applications of the blower.

 

Nik

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Nik271

[inFINNity Deck]

Hi Neil,

I follow the same procedure for all my scopes (Refractors, SCT, Newtons) and which is very well explained in the following video, with only difference that I use the Baader recommended colourless and odourless Kleenex tissues (search for Kleenex in that document):

 

With my SkyWatcher Esprits (150ED and 80ED) I take extra care that no fluid gets in the lens cell by having one tissue sitting along the lower edge of it during cleaning. In this way any down-running water, especially the soapy water, gets absorbed by that lower tissue. Main importance is to waste as much as possible Kleenex on the job. Just a few dabs and no more than a single drag with one tissue. For a refractor one litre of distilled water and one family pack of Kleenex should do. For my C11 I use double that amount.

HTH,

Nicolàs

[Littleguy80]

9 minutes ago, Nik271 said:

Have no fear, glass and coatings are pretty robust these days, occasional clean with care will not damage them.

Some basic principles: Blow as much dust away with a blower. sometimes just this is enough. Then gently brush away any remaining large specs with a soft brush. If this is not enough then finaly use an alcohol/water mixture designed for cleaning lenses (Baader fluid is just fine) with cotton pads or clean lint-free cloth.

Don't press hard, just spray liquid on the pad and genly drag over the objective from the centre outwards. If the residue is very old and stuck to the glass you probably will need to do multiple passes before it gets clean. Always replace the cloth/pad with a new clean one for each pass.

I clean my objectives on average every 6 months, after the summer and after winter,  some dust and pollen inevitably accumulates on the glass despite regular applications of the blower.

 

Nik

 

Awesome. Thanks Nik. I’ve cleaned the mirrors on my dob multiple times without issue so shouldn’t really be worried. Thanks again for the advice  

[Littleguy80]

1 minute ago, inFINNity Deck said:

Hi Neil,

I follow the same procedure for all my scopes (Refractors, SCT, Newtons) and which is very well explained in the following video, with only difference that I use the Baader recommended colourless and odourless Kleenex tissues (search for Kleenex in that document):

 

With my SkyWatcher Esprits (150ED and 80ED) I take extra care that no fluid gets in the lens cell by having one tissue sitting along the lower edge of it during cleaning. In this way any down-running water, especially the soapy water, gets absorbed by that lower tissue. Main importance is to waste as much as possible Kleenex on the job. Just a few dabs and no more than a single drag with one tissue. For a refractor one litre of distilled water and one family pack of Kleenex should do. For my C11 I use double that amount.

HTH,

Nicolàs

Thanks Nicolàs. Thanks so much. Will have a watch of the video  

[Saganite]

Hi Neil,

I use Baader fluid to clean my Objectives and pretty much do as Nik suggests, and It works well.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Saganite

[John]

8 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Hi Neil,

I use Baader fluid to clean mt Objectives and pretty much do as Nik suggests, and It works fine.

As above for me.

I recall that it is mirrors rather than lenses that the Baader fluid is not recommended for. 

 

[Littleguy80]

Excellent. Thanks Steve and John! Feeling more confident about it now  

[Littleguy80]

Thank you all. I have a much happier looking Equinox 80. Very much appreciate everyone’s advice