Meade ETX-125 corrector plate cleaning?

[Mark D]

Hi JD, If this was all you done, then no, there's no way you could've
removed any coatings from the corrector plate.

What your probably seeing is a film. You might not have done a thorough
enough job of cleaning the Corrector Lens.

What I would've done first, before wiping ANY type of cleaning product
across the Corrector, would be to use a very soft Camel hair brush from
a camera shop to very lighty 'Dust" the Corrector to gently remove
(Lift) any dust particles first.
Then to move onto the clenaing with the liquid solution. This helps
prevent any sleeks-scratches in the coatings.

As a final wipe, you can try using small pieces of 100% Roll Cotton
available at a pharmacy like Walgreens, breathe on the lens, to fog it,
and then gently wipe with the roll cotton to dry. This is not that hard
to do with a 5" lens. Use the pieces of Roll cotton only for one
"Lifting" wipe, then discard. Roll cotton is relatively cheap, and
works very good. Mark

[Darren Hennig]

JD:

So long as you minimized the pressure used during cleaning, you should be
okay. Personally, I prefer Olympus photographic paper or a high quality
cotton to using microfibre cloths, myself.

Here's a sure way to clean your Mak surface an d have it sparkle, so long as
what you think happened [removed coating] did not happen:

Obtain a kettle and have it generate steam. Alternatively, you can use a hot
shower to steam your lens - in both situations, just be careful not to over
coat your objective with water - you basically lightly fog it.

Whilst fogged, obtain some 99% ISP isopropyl alcohol, and use a good quality
photographic paper. Form a "U-shaped" swab by folding the paper lengthwise
twice, and then folding it back on the long axis [as if going to fold it in
half lengthwise]. To the outside [bottom of the "U"] surface of the paper,
apply some isopropyl alcohol, moistening it only enough to not be dripping.
Hold the paper on the unmoistened portions of the "U" [ie: the tails, if
that makes any sense].

After lightly steaming the corrector surface, apply this paper gently over
your surface in radial strokes across the corrector, rotating between
"swipes". Repeat as necessary. This should leave your surface VERY clean and
streak free. I do this with my 4" refractor objective, and have suggested
same to other refractor owners. They have found a similar success in having
the surface back to "new".

Once you have done the procedure, leave the corrector to air dry for about
1h, then you're done. This sounds silly, but it WORKS, and is totally safe
for the optics.

Darren Hennig,
Edmonton, AB

[Peter M]

You might also want to take a look at
http://www.weasner.com/etx/buyer-newuser-tips/cleaning.html

Peter M


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