Cleaning an eyepiece

[jonathan]

Hi,

Just wondering if I have done this right... I noticed that my eyepiece had all sorts of bits of me in it, from eye lashes to dandruff. I blew out what I could, but had to lightly pick the larger objects out with my fingers. I then used a brand new micro-fibre camera lens cloth to wipe away the grease left by the objects. It looks good and clean, no obvious signs of scratching (though I know on a micro-level it's impossible to avoid this). Do you think this will be OK? This was the supplied 25mm eyepiece so to be honest I wasn't mega-fussed about it, but I'm wondering what the best thing will be when it comes time to clean other more expensive eyepieces.

I read about using cotton buds and alcohol, is this really any different to using a micro-fibre cloth?

[mdstuart]

If the coating is still intact you are probably fine.

I recommend the celestron lens pen of similiar which is amazing on lenses that are not too small..

Mark

[Capricorn]

Plossl's are easy to disassemble and reassemble, just 2 elements (4 lens of 2xachromatics) with the bulging surfaces on the inside facing each other. You have the chance to get bits out of the tube if necessary.

The 5 lens/3 element wide angles are pretty much the same, best is to take apart and lay out on paper in front of you.

Cleaning is therefore simple, clean each element and carefully put back together.

Never yet had cause to take the more complex ones apart. One day the excuse will occur.

[glowjet]

If you want a good quality cleaner for most of your optical surfaces, its worthwhile investing in a bottle of Baader Wonder fluid and the micro cloth from FLO.

[E621Keith]

I'd avoid wiping unless it's absolutely necessary, and if I had to wipe it, I'd use some liquid cleaner. That said, I lost a 10mm X-cel recently when I uses Eclipse and lens tissue. The eyepiece's coating just melted. The Eclipse stuff I used was a high grade fluid for cleaning CCD, so I doubt the fluid was the problem. I had no problem using it on my DSLR's CCD, lenses and my other eye pieces.

[perrin6]

Hi,

I read about using cotton buds and alcohol, is this really any different to using a micro-fibre cloth?

The good thing about using cotton buds is you can use a fresh one each time. If you keep using the same cloth you are increasing the likelyhood of a piece of grit getting trapped in it and scratching the eyepiece.

[Moonshane]

my method is after blowing with a bulb blower to use isopropyl alcohol (sometimes acetone and even mr muscle window cleaner depending on the 'stain' with a 100% cotton make up pad (not bought by me for that purpose!!) which I cut into quarters. if the blowing does not remove some stubborn bits I then use one of these pads to flick them off.

them put the tip of a pad in the liquid and swirl this round from the centre, chasing the liquid in a spiral to the outside. don't use pressure.

this usually works without streaks but sometimes you still get them. if sure there's nothing hiding on the coatings that may damage them then you can polish off with a microfibre cloth but I avoid this unless really needed.

don't be obsessive about cleaning unless it impacts on the view.

others use the same sort of process but with Baader Wonder Fluid which they swear by. might try this sometime myself.

[Nexus 6]

Just used my good friend Google and discovered you can buy land on the Moon, Venus and Mars.

Scandalous!!!!

It's all gonna be a lot cheaper now due the credit crunch!

Alan

[Nexus 6]

OOPS how did that get here?

Alan:icon_scratch:

[brianb]

The eyepiece's coating just melted. The Eclipse stuff I used was a high grade fluid for cleaning CCD, so I doubt the fluid was the problem.

I'm sure it was ... the sort of coatings used on CCDs are not the same as those used on eyepieces ... if you really must use a liquid, use a 33% solution of (chemically pure) isopropyl alcohol in distilled (not demineralised) water, and nothing else.