Condensation On Eye Piece's

[Penfold]

I got to use my Scope for the first time last night.

All was going fine had a look at Jupiter, M42/M45 probably the usual first light stuff.

I then had to go inside for a couple of hours, on returning out side I had awful problems with condensation on my eyepieces... Is there any form of prevention i.e. would a heated Dew Shield or Dew Heater prevent this problem as I thought it was only for the mirrors?

[John]

I keep my eypieces in a warm place until I use them, then put them back in the warm place in between use. In my case the warm place is my foam lined eyepiece case. If they get really cold they will dew just like the scope does. They will also fog as your body heat gets near them - so try and keep them a bit warmer than the outside temperature.

[The Bat]

You can buy dew heater strips for eyepieces.

If I am going inside for any length of time I take the eyepieces indoors with me. That way they're warm and mist free when you go outside again. Staves off the dew for a bit longer.

I also cap them every time I switch eyepieces so that they're not gathering dew while they're sitting in the accessory tray.

Rachel

[Stu]

I use an eyepiece dew heater and it works very well. You can get different lengths to suit different size ep's. The other advice is great too though, I always cap them when I go inside or when not using them. Normally cap the scope too if going in for a while, it all helps

Stu

[Penfold]

Great advice cheers... I think I should have brought them back inside then obviously the heat from my eye helped fog them up very quickly... Can't remember if I put the caps on either... Grrrr

Once I get my battery sorted will have to investigate a dew heater.

[John]

Don't get tempted to wipe the dew off the lenses - use a hairdrier or let it clear natually. The coatings on the glass can get damaged by over-zealous cleaning / wiping.

[Penfold]

Don't get tempted to wipe the dew off the lenses - use a hairdrier or let it clear natually. The coatings on the glass can get damaged by over-zealous cleaning / wiping.

Noted for future reference.

I tried drying them off over a convector heater, but by the time I'd got back outside they'd misted up again so I presume they hadn't got up to sufficient temperature...

If they've smeared I have some camera sensor cleaning fluid and lint free cloths, would that be OK to clean them with? Or best just don't touch them