No, no , no... Sap on corrector plate and EP!

[Jarndyce]

Thanks for those who helped with my earlier post regarding collimation.

I'm getting there slowly.

I only popped inside for a few minutes to reply to those posts, but when i went back outside, there are small drops of tree sap all over the SCT corrector plate and my brand new Hyperion eyepiece.

I could weep...

That'll teach me to leave the covers off. I'm normally obsessive about this sort of thing.

Anyhow, how to get the blasted stuff off? I have a Nikon lens pen. Would this do it? I'm not going to touch it until I've had advice from those wiser than me. I always assumed you couldn't clean EPs and corrector plates.

It's not been a good day...

[macipod]

Hi Richard,

Sorry to hear that, i would be gutted to,sounds tricky getting sap off as it so sticky.

How do you find the hyperion ? is it a major improvement over your other eps, i am thinking of getting some what size did you get?

[Jarndyce]

Hi Luke

Hyperion is gorgeous. Clear and much wider field of view than my Celestron and budget Revelation EPs.

This collimation lark is a real pain, though....

[Jarndyce]

Sorry, forgot to say:

24mm

[adamsp123]

Have a look at this on CN

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3003738/page/2/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

[moondog]

A camera lens cleaning pen is no good for cleaning a corrector plate.

Corrector plates can be cleaned with care, the correct technique (if you don't clean it in a certain way you can damage the corrector) and an astro scope cleaning kit. I've just done my C8 corrector plate inside and out.

Dried on sap I think will need specialist help. I doubt if the normal astro scope cleaning kit, with its mild cleaning fluid would do the trick.

Have you tried Google? - you may find someone has had the same problem. Good luck!

MD

[Jarndyce]

Have a look at this on CN

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3003738/page/2/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Cheers for that. Interesting thread!

I may try and get hold of some naphtha.

[Jarndyce]

I found a link to cleaning sap off corrector plates:

http://www.astro-physics.com/products/accessories/cleaningproducts/optcs-instructions.pdf

Does anyone have any experience of Baader Wonder Fluid and Purosol?

They seem to have good reviews, and FLO sell the Baader fluid.

[rickstanners]

I bought some of the Baader stuff from FLO and it works a treat. Haven't tried it on tree sap though!

Rich

[Sarah]

Hi Richard

Sorry to hear you're having problems. Glad you like the Hyperion though! Hope you get everything cleaned up ok.

Sarah

[Jarndyce]

Hi Richard

Sorry to hear you're having problems. Glad you like the Hyperion though! Hope you get everything cleaned up ok.

Sarah

Cheers Sarah.

It's really not been going well. Even getting the EP and diagonal delivered (I treated myself to a 2" WO) was a headache. (Not FLO's fault)

However, collimation is looking better, but not there yet.

A friend of mine who's a dob nut tells me he's never seen a properly collimated SCT. Of course he's biased.

But made me feel a little better about it.

I think...