Cleaning the Inside of the Corrector Plate on a Celestron 11" Edge Telescope
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- It's been nearly 6 years since I bought my Celestron 11" EdgeHD telescope and I've noticed the inside portion of the corrector plate somehow got dirty. This is how I managed to clean it.
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I caught myself holding my breath a couple times while watching this one lol. Glad to see it all came out ok!
What's good about any video if I can't get you on the edge of your seat?
me too Joe! I literally chewed all my nails off haha!
Same! Absolutely!
I had to clean it after i bought a used 11 like yours, but it was mouldy on the inside of the corrector plate. Telescope has been stored for many years, and left open at the back. Warm water and lemon washing up soap with fingers, gently removed everything with a microfiber sponge, and dried with microfiber tissue. Like new !
Great to hear.
I just cleaned my corrector plate again as it ... somehow ... got some blemishes on the inside. I put the plate back on and the recollimated the secondary and it's working like a champ. Here is the video concerning that, but this video was mostly about the Optolong light pollution filters ... th-cam.com/video/iPzBoueT0TQ/w-d-xo.html
We had to clean our corrector plate a few months ago, to say it was far from a pleasant experience is an understatement. We also got a lot of dust and debris into the tube we hoovered out. The best advice here is the same as with a mirror, do not clean unless you have to. One thing though, always use a blower on the corrector plate first to blow off any debris, dust which might first be moved, then use a celestron camel brush to try to bush off any dust. Then clean with a cloth. Thats how we did it. Marking the position of the plate off before you remove it also aids with easier collimation when its replaced. We used a sharpie marker.
We had to do ours as a fly found its way into the OTA some years ago, getting that out was interesting. A reason too why you should never leave the ep hole open for prolonged periods, esp in the summer months!
Thanks for posting this, I'm getting ready to try this on my 8" Celestron SCT. I can't believe you did that outdoors on a day with a breeze. I'm glad it worked out for you.
Interesting video Pat. Great to see your garden made it through the storm
Thank you, Peter.
Well, at least the garden and lawn is green and healthy.
Who needs to watch movies to be on the edge of your seat. Great job Pat nice to see it went smoothly.
Thanks, Ollie,
I got to tell you, I was scared stiff pulling that plate off not knowing it I would get it back alright, particularly since I forgot to put on the painter's tape to mark the locations.
Hope you’re enjoying retirement-looks like you certainly are :-) I’ve been serving in public hospitals for over 45 years, love my job but would love to retire. I use a 1980s Classic C8 and an original 1975 C5 (with superb uncoated optics) and have cleaned my Schmidt plates about every decade. The C5 uses cork shims to horizontally align the plate.
Hi Michael,
Sounds like you certainly know how to maintain good equipment.
Yes, I am loving retirement... doing what I love most, gardening during the day and astronomy at night while observing the weather.
This gave me major anxiety. Lol. Especially because it was pointing downward. You, Sir, have nerves of steel.
Ha, more like nerves of rubber. Since that video, I clean it again, but this time, I took it off the mount and placed it on a bench in my work room. That would be a lot less anxiety.
Thanks for watching my video.
Great job Pat! - loved the comment 'I want gravity as my friend and not my enemy' while reinstalling hehe, glad to see everything went smoothly!
Thanks, Luke.
That quote came from several of my physic classes many many years ago ... Let gravity be your friend, otherwise, you will need some form of energy to offset its pull.
Your very brave, I took mine indoors out of the dusty wind and cleaned it on a table. That was a couple of years ago, and it needs cleaning again. I’ll do it indoors again!
Hi Al,
Yep, I am a bit lazy. That 11" scope is quite heavy and difficult to take it down and then hoist it back up. Plus, I have the mount as high as it will go to help cut down on elevated horizons around it. So, I figured a clear dry day would work. But yes, inside would be a better clean solution.
That was terrifying to see you take that apart and put it back together with the tube at that angle. I have a C11 also and recently cleaned my corrector but I had the tube pointing up about 45° from horizontal. All the while you were fumbling about in your trepidation I could see the plate falling out and hitting the ground breaking... same for the secondary mirror! Glad that didn't happen.
Thanks Pat. Just cleaned and culminated my newtonian, which was scary enough. This is something I have to as well for my SCT. Your example is encouraging.
Thanks, Doug. I hope this video helps you somewhat
WOW no glove, and in daylight! I am amazed by the cavalier approach. Dab dab dab is good 👍 I found myself holding my breath too. Fortune favours the brave. Good job Sir! 👍 👍
Totally agree David ... I should have worn gloves. Live and learn I suppose. Not to mention, it was 92°F and humid and I was sweating profusely
@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy I’ve got a C11 that I deforked from a Nexstar 11 GPS. It needs some TLC and your video has lit the fuse that I believe will fire up the gumption to give it a good cleaning.
Well done Pat! Thanks for making this video. Hopefully I won't have to worry about this for a while. Cheers Kurt
Well, now that I have done it, it is not quite as scary. I even took the plate off again today (day after the video) to check it.
Looks like a job well done Pat. Astrobill
Thanks, Bill.
I am very pleased with the results. I did have to collimate it slightly. The last two nights I was able to capture some targets, ... The Eagle Nebula and Jupiter & Saturn. These are the best pictures I have ever captured. I am making a follow-up video to show the results.
This is great- I just bought a used Edge 11 and I have to do the same thing! Great timing. :-)
Thank you, Dennis.
One other thing ... I should have worn gloves. I did take the plate inside to clean it after the "dab dab dabbing.
I'm not brave enough to do that. I could hear the stress in your breath Pat. 😄 But well done final image looks amazing! 👏👏👏
Thank you, Leon. Yep, there was plenty ... and even more so in the video that I edited out.
Thanks for quickly showing us this. I have noticed a lot of dust/dirt on the inside of my Edge 11. Some even on the primary mirror :( Guess it's time I do surgery and do some cleaning.
Hi Mark,
Just be sure to place of painter's tape on the edge of the plate with the rim of the scope. Then cut the tape at the seem. This will be to assure that you put the plate back exactly as it was. (I failed to mention that in the video. Also, it wouldn't hurt to wear gloves.
You are so brave. That’s terrifying to remove it!
I certainly was scared to death, particularly when I forgot to put the painter's tape on the edge of the lens as reference markers. But It is working just fine with a CLEAN plate
I found cleaning only the outside of my corrector plate scary enough so I can see why you were feeling the stress but it seemed to have worked out well with a fine image to show at the end of the procedure.
Thank you, Logan. Yep, certainly was a learning experience.
Great video, thanks!! I've subscribed! I have a question please if I may - you removed the 8 small screws that hold the black ring onto the corrector plate. But in a video on someone else's channel they also remove 4 small screws on the outside of the front metal surround (where you have your dew heater strip) I don't think they should have done that as I have heard those screws are adjustment scews for centering the corrector plate. So can you confirm please that you only removed the 8 inner screws? Thanks
I don't think you want to mess with those 4 side screws and they appear to adjust the angle of the plate. If you have issues removing the plate after removing the 8 front screws, then you might want to loosen those 4 side screws but be careful.
I think I chewed all my Nails off! Haha
Educational , thanks !
You're welcomed, Dell
There are 4 very small grub screws holding the corrector plate in place. How did you not see them?
It would be great if you could do a video on the actual collimation process involved in the collimation of an SCT
Hi Ian,
That is certainly something I need to work on first ... learning how to do that. Then I could make a video.
@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy
You said that you were going to collimate it on a star
LOL! What about astrophotography attracts video professionals? :) I worked as a CMX / Avid editor and graphics artist also for 30 years. And in my retirement rediscovered my love of astronomy. BTW, I thoroughly enjoy your videos. (In future, details like which cloth and lens cleaner you used would be helpful to include in the video).
Thank you, Tom.
Yes, astrophotography is addictive (and expensive)
Hello Pat. Greetings from Toronto, Canada. I just subscribed to your channel. Very illustrative video. I wonder if the problem I encountered when I attempted to clean the corrector plate only happened to me. I noticed the thread that holds the secondary was not not firmly glued to the corrector. It was hanging. I guess the corrector kept the secondary mirror from falling. Anyways, I was able to safely remove the secondary mirror but the thread glued to the corrector plate fell inside the OTA. Luckily it did not hit the primary mirror. Can you or another subscriber advise what glue should I use to attach the thread inside the corrector plate.
Hi MG,
Hmmm, I thought there was a mounting ring inside the corrector plate that screws onto the secondary mirror holder that connects to the mounting plate. I don't think there is any glue involved. I might be wrong though. That might be a "Celestron Help Desk" question
@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy . Thank you Pat. You are right. There is no part glued. But the baffle inside the OTA was not well threaded to the the fixed part that holds the secondary and the retainer ring. I think it’s been like that the whole time. I got lucky that the secondary did not fall off inside the tube. I have to remove the corrector plate and thread these two parts. Clear skies!
Why would one want to remove screws outside and risk dropping them in the grass?
Hi Thomas,
Call it LAZY. I have a torn rotator cuff on the right side and wasn't up to taking the scope off the mount. So I just mde sure to be super carefull. Oh, yes, I have dropped scews in the grass before ... never to be found again.
I had no doubt that you could do it.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. It scared me while I was doing it.
What if you miss placed the corrector plate and the telescope went out of collimation? How you can fix that ?
There is a mark on the edge of the plate that was placed there when the scope was constructed. You would need to match it with the mark on the inside of the tube. It's best just to do what I didn't do and that is to place a small bit of painter's tape on the edge of the plate extending to the tube then slice it with a knife before removing the plate. Some people place two different pieces of tape on the plate about 30° apart for extra assurance.
Any shim between the corrector edge and the tube? Or the corrector gets hold into the tube simply by the retaining ring.
Yes there are some shims and they are adjusted by screws on the outside of the rim around the corrector plate. In my case, I didn't have to loosen them to pull out the plate nor readjust them to put the plate back in. Still, it would be a good idea to have the scope parallel to the ground when removing the plate ... you don't want gravity to be your enemy.
@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Thanks for your prompt reply. Glad to know you don't need to turn the four screws behind the shims as I know it would affect the centering of corrector plate. Do you need to squeeze the corrector plate when puttung out/in the corrector due to the shim? Or just without much resistance? I am planning to do some maintenance on my C925HD. Thanks for your video. 😃
@@dicksonfuhk ... In my case, there wasn't much resistance ... actually, it was perfect resistance ... just enough to fool gravity but not enough to fool me.
Maybe, wear surgical gloves?
You can buy 'em by the box almost anywhere.
Took some guts
What is the best cleaning agent to use ?
Hi Mike,
I just use the Orion Optics Cleaning Kit which contains MultiCoated Lens Cleaner fluid. DO NOT USE products like Windex window cleaner as that could dissolve the anti-reflective coating on the lens
@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Nice one, thank you.
A word to the wise...direct sunlight is the worst way to clean glass
Ha ... totally agree. After the experience of doing this, the next time will be inside my garage.
Why do this outdoors? You lost me there.
Good point. It would be done better within a enclose room. I just didn't want to unmount the scope. LAZY
@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Got it. Cheers. (I did mine, turns out only the outside needed cleaning.)