Re: (SNES) Cleaning LPR Filters

[edward magowan <edward_magowan@yahoo.com>]

Ernie, I worked on optics for 22 years for Uncle Sam,
and I clean my telescope and camera optics whenever
they need it.  My liquid of choice is acetone but
there are a few caveats.  Acetone will eat plastic and
paint.  I have cleaned literally thousands of lenses
and once and only once encountered a coating that
acetone harmed, that was on an internal lens element
on a Minolta lens in 1975.  I still remember it only
because it was the only instance.  Acetone will not
hurt your LPR filters, I use it on all my filters and
eyepieces.  That being said, if you feel more
comfortable using denatured ethyl alcohol instead, go
for it.  Ethanol will do the trick and won't attack
plastic.  Fingerprints are another matter, give them a
day or two and they're permanent, or at least try to
be.  The best weapon I've found for fingerprints is a
dilute dish soap (Dawn, 1/2 teaspoon in a cup of
water) and cleaning with a cotton swab.  Followed by
cleaning with acetone (or ethanol) to clean the soap
film.  The biggest problem I find when using ethanol
is water spotting.  Acetone evaporates quickly and
will normally not leave spots.  Ethanol evaporates a
bit more slowly, often causing condensation on the
lens.  I keep acetone in a bottle I got from a beauty
supply store, it has a bowl shaped lid with a hinged
cover.  Flip the cover open and push on the lid with
the cotton swab and it dispenses a small amount of
acetone,  handy gizmo and it prevents the hydroscopic
acetone from absorbing moisture from the air.  My wife
is constantly 'borrowing' it to remove nail polish. 
You could put denatured ethanol in one of those and do
fine.  I use store-brand non-plastic swabs for
eyepieces and small lenses, plain toilet paper for
larger lenses and the corrector on my C8.  I have only
RARELY cleaned the primary and secondary on my C8; no
matter how gentle you are, a front surface mirror will
eventually get damaged from overcleaning.  Hope this
helps.


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