[AZ-Observing] Re: oh-oh... mirror cleaning time
- From: "Thad Robosson" <starstarcracker@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 07:13:26 -0700
> It's been some years since I attempted a primary (12.5") mirror
cleaning...
> but I can't put it off any longer. I plan on holding it vertically next
to
> the sink and spritzing some bottled water on it.
>
> Any suggestions... and or, anything I must avoid? How about a surfactant
of
> some kind? Is there a way of doing the same for the secondary without
> removing it from the vanes in the tube? (I'm assuming that the salt in my
> softened water would be bad for the coating.)
Hey Stan, et al,
I've done a couple of mirrors in the laundry tub. First, I blow off the
entire mirror as much as possible to keep as much crud out of the bath as
possible. Then I simply fill the tub with room temp water, some dish soap
and a capful of alcohol. I swish it around and rinse with bottled distilled
water. IF you have some stubborn stuff, I've use STERILE cotton balls while
holding the mirror under the soapy water, using a VERY light pressure
rolling motion to avoid any one portion of the cotton ball to touch the
mirror twice. Of course, rinse off well with the distilled water. For the
droplets that won't come off, you can use the corner of a paper towel to
soak them up with capillary action.
Never thought about the soft water. While I've never noted any ill-effects,
can anyone verify that this may be a concern?
I've been keeping a can of canned air handy to (from an upright can at a
distance of a couple of feet) blow off any loose stuff from my mirror after
I set up and collimate. I've never had any problems provided I follow the
"upright, couple feet" rule. Beats accidentally spitting on your mirror....
I'd love to hear if my method is good/evil....
Thad
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