Cleaning newtonian mirrors?

[lotsafruit]

Hi everyone,

Been a while since i looked through my telescope, but coming back again with renewed interest due to raspberry pi

Anyway, going to start cleaning the mirrors as they not only look dusty but also mouldy...Did a search and found some instructions on internet.

Basically I am going
1. flush with warm water using showerhead
2. soak with some diluted mama lemon or similar liquid detergent
3. Lightly wipe with wet surgical cotton (although i saw a vid of person using hands??)
4. Flush with water and then distilled water before left to dry

If anyone else has any experiences to share that would be great, otherwise wish me luck!

Cheers,
KahWai

[kochu]

Yes I have done it in the same way. I will post the photos soon.
Kochu/4-6-15

[kochu]

Photos of GSO Mirror before and after cleaning.
Kochu/5-6-15


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[lotsafruit]

Wow, very clean, can't wait to do mine

[mrthomasyip]

Yes kochu is right, just remove the mirror from the primary mirror cell and let runnimg water to flow through the mirror. Use mama lemon, must be mama brand, hehehe(joking). If possible get a serilised cotton bud to gently wipe on the mirror surface. I have been doing the sAME many many times on my 12" dobsonian too.

Don't worry if the mirror get spoil or anything, if your mirror is not any angmo brand or above 10", it is still pretty cheap to get it replace.

[lotsafruit]

Thanks for all the tips, knowing that you guys have done, is the best assurance!

[lotsafruit]

Finally cleaned it just now, looks a lot cleaner now, seems brighter too mirror was smaller than expected, which made it easier to handle just as well.

Used half bottle of ntuc life distilled water and half pack of cotton balls from guardian. Couple of drops of joy dishwashing liquid, in fact quite a few drops more as I tried to remove some dirt on mirror.

Interesting experience, also got to understand my newtonian better while dismantling it.