Orion SkyQuest XX12g Instruction Manual page 29

4. Submerge the mirror, aluminized face up, in the water;
you want about 1-2 inches of water above the mirror face.
Let the mirror soak for 10 minutes or more while swishing
the water over the mirror with your hand, by moving you
hand back and forth. Be careful not to touch the mirror
surface while doing this!
5. Then, with the mirror still submerged, wipe the alumi-
nized surface with clean cotton balls, using extremely
light pressure and stroking in a straight line across the
mirror. Use a different cotton ball for each wipe across
the mirror.
6. Now drain the water from the sink or tub and rinse the
mirror with room-temperature distilled water; a gallon
should suffice.
7. Set the rinsed mirror on a soft towel face up and let it
air dry in a warm place. Water will run off a clean sur-
face, so keep the mirror slightly tilted while drying. You
can remove any random drops of water with the corner
of a paper towel. When it is completely dry your mirror
should be clean and spot free, ready to be re-installed in
the mirror cell.
Cleaning the XX14g Primary Mirror
The XX14g's primary mirror should not be removed from its
support cell, so we must use a different method for cleaning
the mirror from that outlined for the XX12g.
1. Fill a clean sink or tub – not a bath tub but rather a small-
er plastic tub or bin – with room-temperature water, a few
drops of liquid dishwashing detergent, and if possible a
capful of 100% isopropyl alcohol.
2. With the mirror still in its support cell but with the rear end
ring removed, grasp the mirror cell and hold the mirror
upside-down. Submerge the aluminized face of the mir-
ror in the solution and gently swish it around for a minute
or so.
3. Now remove the mirror from the water and keep it tilted
for a few seconds to allow the water to drain off.
4. For the next steps you might want to prop the mirror at a
slight angle on your work surface so that water will run off
and not collect in the middle.
5. To help dislodge any remaining particulate matter, use a
squeeze bottle filled with water to spray a "jet" of water
across the mirror surface.
6. Now you're going to use wet cotton balls to clean the
mirror. Dump out the solution used in the above steps,
rinse the tub, then refill it (or a smaller container, since
we won't be immersing the mirror in it this time) with new
solution following the same recipe. This will ensure that
no particles that came off the mirror in the previous steps
are picked up on the cotton balls and rubbed across the
mirror in the next steps.
7. Completely submerge a cotton ball in the solution.
Starting on one side of the mirror and using extremely
light pressure, wipe the cotton ball across the aluminized
surface in a straight line. Wipe just once, then discard
the cotton ball. Submerge another cotton ball and wipe
it across the mirror in a straight line right next to the first
wipe, then discard this cotton ball.
8. Repeat this procedure using wet, clean cotton balls for
each swipe until you'd cleaned the entire surface of the
mirror.
9. Now rinse the aluminized surface of the mirror with room-
temperature distilled water; a gallon should suffice.
10. Let the mirror air dry in a warm place. Water will run off a
clean surface, so keep the mirror slightly tilted while dry-
ing. You can remove any random drops of water with the
corner of a paper towel. When it is completely dry your
mirror should be clean and spot free.
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