Binocular maintenance?

[Paul Riley]

Evening all.

Does anyone have any special advice when it comes to caring for your binoculars?,other than the pretty obvious dont drop etc.I got a special cloth with my new 15 x 70 binocs which should clean up the lenses if they get dirty or smeared without scratching them.How about also adding special applications like alcohol to the lenses?,is this ok if they get REALLY dirty over time?

I also read that the lenses could get misaligned over time too,so if thats the case would it be advisable to learn how to realign them yourself or would they need professional work on them?

Thanks.

[brianb]

Does anyone have any special advice when it comes to caring for your binoculars?

Keep the caps on the lenses when not in use. Keep your fingers & other foreign objects off them. I've had my Swaros for over 3 years, used them frequently (probably 5 days a week on average) & have not done any "maintainance" other than the above - certainly not cleaned them ... they don't need it, maybe sometime around their 10th birthday they might get a puff from a rubber bulb blower.

Alignment of binoculars is not intended to be an end user procedure - you really need an optical bench designed for the job. The better binoculars (nitrogen filled) also need a special atmosphere for doing the required stripdown, testing and rebuilding in.

[Paul Riley]

Keep the caps on the lenses when not in use. Keep your fingers & other foreign objects off them. I've had my Swaros for over 3 years, used them frequently (probably 5 days a week on average) & have not done any "maintainance" other than the above - certainly not cleaned them ... they don't need it, maybe sometime around their 10th birthday they might get a puff from a rubber bulb blower.

Alignment of binoculars is not intended to be an end user procedure - you really need an optical bench designed for the job. The better binoculars (nitrogen filled) also need a special atmosphere for doing the required stripdown, testing and rebuilding in.

Silly question here,but,you ARE safe to wipe them with the provided cloth though? if ever I find they may need it,however I wont be putting my fingers anywhere near the lenses.

And they are nitrogen filled also,which I understand prevents or minimizes fogging?

Cheers.

[brianb]

you ARE safe to wipe them with the provided cloth

Not if the cloth has ever touched anything else. Blow loose bits off first (rubber bulb blower), you don't want to grind grit into the surfaces.

I don't know whether your bins are nitrogen filled or not. The idea is to keep the inside surfaces free of condensation, it works very well indeed.

[Peter Drew]

Keeping the caps on when not in use is the best advice, however, in use, natural grease (?) from your eyelashes will eventually smear the eyepieces and help to accumulate dust. When necessary, it should be reasonably safe to clean them with a specialist product as sold by FLO.

[Paul Riley]

Not if the cloth has ever touched anything else. Blow loose bits off first (rubber bulb blower), you don't want to grind grit into the surfaces.

I don't know whether your bins are nitrogen filled or not. The idea is to keep the inside surfaces free of condensation, it works very well indeed.

Can you just elaborate a little on the rubber bulb blower?

Thanks mate.

[brianb]

elaborate a little on the rubber bulb blower?

Somethig like this - though this particular item is overpriced, the retail price is around £9. "Free P+P" I suppose.

[Paul Riley]

Somethig like this - though this particular item is overpriced, the retail price is around £9. "Free P+P" I suppose.

Interesting,and this allows you to blow debris away without touching the lens itself,nice.

Thanks for that,looks like this is also sold at Amazon for about £6 too

[Paul Riley]

Would it also be safe to apply a sort of alcohol solution to the cloth after blowing the initial debris away with the blower? I am naturally very cautious here due to the anti reflection coating the lenses have and dont want to damage that in any way.

God I would be so gutted if I noticed a scratch because of a bit of dust

[brianb]

Would it also be safe to apply a sort of alcohol solution to the cloth after blowing the initial debris away with the blower?

You should be able to go a very long time without having to do this.

Optical cleaning solutions are in themselves safe enough but the cloth usually isn't. A brand new microfibre cloth (opticians) is OK but must only be used for one wipe. An ancient cotton handkerchief, which has been laundered very many times so that all the harshness has gone, is OK again providing that dirt picked up by the cloth on one wipe is not ground into the surface by the next stroke ... use a fresh corner each time (untouched by the lens or fingers).

[Paul Riley]

You should be able to go a very long time without having to do this.

Optical cleaning solutions are in themselves safe enough but the cloth usually isn't. A brand new microfibre cloth (opticians) is OK but must only be used for one wipe. An ancient cotton handkerchief, which has been laundered very many times so that all the harshness has gone, is OK again providing that dirt picked up by the cloth on one wipe is not ground into the surface by the next stroke ... use a fresh corner each time (untouched by the lens or fingers).

Thanks for that