Telescope Reviews: Don't do what I did. MORAL: live with dust specks!

My Tale of Woe or How I Learned a Life Lesson (LONG)

Where It All Began...

Picked up a used 12.5mm X-cel for a song the other month. Wanted it for some toss-in-the-pocket solar observing. Discovered it had some dust specks... Aargh! I'm sure the seller didn't notice--one wouldn't at night, but against the Sun's face, well it made it looks as if the Sun was rapidly coming out of solar minimum! Several tiny sun spots.

Mr. Clean

I thought, well, this will be easy (right!), just brush off the accessible top and bottom lenses (with camel's hair fine arts brush). No dice. Tried a lens cloth moistened with lens solution. Specks still there. Then figured, well if I remove the bottom barrel maybe I'll expose a lens I could brush off. You see where this is going, right?

But I was smart... I followed the standard advice and flipped the eyepiece upside down. MISTAKE! The Xcel/Epic lines should be worked on straight up. Fortunately, no damage occurred as the avalanche of lenses spewed forth. But what order were they in?

I cleaned them off with a solution of alcohol, water, and dish-washing liquid, dried them with a clean, lint-free handkerchief. (Or so I thought!) Re-assembled... in most cases, the lenses and spacers only went in one way. Whew!

More Specks...

Held the eyepiece up to my eye... Oh, no! Far more specks than there were before. Redid the entire process, this time drying with a camera lens cloth. Aargh! A different set of specks. Tried another... Ugh! At one point holding up the top lens, I magnified the specks and saw one with feelers that was moving--a dust mite?!! Yuuch!! (Your house and environment are probably filled with these things.) Re-assembled and let it all sit for several days as I just couldn't face it.

New Plan Leads to First Disaster

Yesterday, had a bit of time, and so took up a new plan. Work in a "steamy" bathtub so there wouldn't be dust in the air to contaminate the lenses. Sloshed the lenses around in a nice plastic cup filled with the cleaning mixture. Cleaned each part, and gently repositioned it within the eyepiece barrel. Had everything in place--except for the final, top lens. Picked up the lens out of the solution, it slipped out of my hand, hit the bottom of the cast iron tub-- and chipped! Aarghh! Double-aargh!!

Mission Impossible

On re-assembly, everything was pristine-- no dust specks, mites, or anything. Save for water streamers everywhere-- hadn't dried it enough. Brought out another lint-free handkerchief. Took apart and dried each part. Re-assembled. Perfect, save for a handful of small bubbles. Should've stopped. Went for perfection. On second drying, dust specks again! Tried special mini-cloths received with an eyepiece. Oh, no! Left little cloth strands everywhere. Tried a cotton ball for drying-- even more strands. (How does anyone ever get these things dried without leaving flecks, specks, and strands?!)

I'm Really Stuck!

After another couple of tries, with the occasional strand or speck, the bottom lens gets stuck at an angle and won't come out. Tried tapping side. Tried rapping barrel against ground. Gave it a vigorous shake. No luck! Then tried a pen knife to get between the edge of the lens and inside of the barrel. Doesn't budge. Try again. Edge of lens chips. Try screwdriver, no luck. Try screwdriver with a small tapping hammer. Chips worse.

The Solution

Open up trash can. Discard eyepiece. Vow to never again open up an eyepiece!