Telescope Reviews: Re: mirror cleaning

I cleaned my 8" primary for the first time last month. It is ~ 1.5-2 yrs old. I used De-ionized water (ultra pure - available thru local water treatment seller - and at my laboratory

) and a pure cotton swab to free the stuff that was stuck. I really flooded & rinsed the surface, GENTLY wiped the obvious surface solids where the water showed them. Then I tilted the mirror vertical and rinsed the heck out of it again. I have an advantage of ultra high purity, 0.2 micron-filtered oxygen access. I used this to blow down the mirror and blow all of the water off. Worked very well and I did no physical damage to my mirror surface (I checked under my microscope).

Something worth mentioning - aluminum surfaces are easily damaged by alkaline chemicals. This is a qual test used to see how long they last! So hard water & its deposits and alkaline cleaners will dissolve the stuff pretty rapidly. Avoid them....
Good Luck
Steve

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DSO 8" f6 DOB w/ 8x50 RACI & 2"Crayford
1958 Sears Discoverer 76mm Refractor
GSO SV 30mm 2",21mm Hyp,13mm Strat,BO/TMB ver2-6mm & 4mm
1.25"Filters: DGM-NPB, 25%ND
1.25" plossls: 25mm,20mm,15mm,9mm
Orion 2X Shorty Barlow
Garrett Gemini LW 11x56mm binocs
BTG-10 4.0mW green laser pointer

"What is that burning in the sky? Tell me y'all..." Jeff Beck/Jan Hammer

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