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Author Topic: Lense cleaning... Ron Davis Film Handler Posts: 23 From: Morgantown WV, USA Registered: Jan 2007 posted 01-30-2008 07:14 PM                        All: I have dust/dirt/debris on my projector lenses. I imagine these are pretty expensive so I want to be SURE I'm cleaning them right before I damange them. I have some 'lense cleaning tissue', but wasnt sure if they were supposed to be used by themselves or if I needed some kind of cleaning soloution as well? I know this sounds like a basic question, but I figure 'better safe than sorry' ... Thanks! -Ron  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-30-2008 07:44 PM                     when cleaning an optical surface I usually recomend the following 1 brush the lens with a camel hair brush to remove the dust ( if a camel hair brush is unavailable use a folded piece of lens tissue to make a puff type brush then moisten a tissue with a lens cleaning solution suitable for the lens in question and in a circular motion wipe it clean  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-30-2008 08:47 PM                        Also, don't clean lenses more than necessary. Daily cleaning is not needed. Too-frequent cleaning can damage the lens surface.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-30-2008 11:15 PM                     daily proper cleaning with an air, or camel hair brush will not damage a lens  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-31-2008 10:08 AM                        I was referring to rubbing the surface with a cloth. Some people think a lens is the same as a window.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-31-2008 10:28 AM                        I guess sandpaper is out of the question then, eh?  |  IP: Logged Floyd Justin Newton Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 559 From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 01-31-2008 01:44 PM                     Frank-- Use a JACK HAMMER... that'll get ALL that crap outta the barrel!  |  IP: Logged Alan Gouger Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 501 From: Bradenton, FL, USA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-31-2008 02:31 PM                        The good part about using Sandpaper is never having to question any cleaning method after that:)  |  IP: Logged Charles Caron Expert Film Handler Posts: 188 From: Billings MT, USA Registered: Jul 2005 posted 01-31-2008 09:01 PM                     A 50-50 mix of hydroflouric acid and uranium hexaflouride would work well....Once....Make sure to wear your gloves and goggles!!!  |  IP: Logged James Westbrook Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1133 From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa Registered: Mar 2006 posted 02-01-2008 11:36 AM                     Some of the lens are way too small for a jack hammer. That is what the SOS pads are for.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-02-2008 10:15 AM                     quote: A 50-50 mix of hydroflouric acid and uranium hexaflouride would work well....Once....Make sure to wear your gloves and goggles!!! Be sure to ONLY use this method if you are shielded behind 6" leaded glass with remote manipulator arms... HEX is pretty nasty stuff !! Also, it might discolor the Anodize of the alumnium barrell... just thought you guys should know......  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 02-04-2008 08:23 AM                        But seriously....I've noticed over the years that "dust" seems to change its composition from place to place and from one period in time to another. Years ago in Texas, in a small town with very little pollution, dust was this very light, gossamer kind of consistency; it was gray in color. It could be brushed off surfaces easily. When I lived in out on Long Island, practically farm country at the time, dust was of that makeup -- you could use the camel hair brush to easily brush it off lenses. Over the years, however in New York City, I've noted that dust has become something very different. It now is black in color and has a heavy consistancy and an oily quality to it. It won't just "dust" off surfaces lightly, but will smear and leave a black, sooty trail that needs a solvent to remove it. I am sure this has to do with the pollution in the air in various parts of the country and I am sure it has changed over the years whereas in some parts of the country and even areas within cities, dusting with a lens brush will not do the job. We have an ionizer in the booth that charges the air -- it puts negative ions into the air. It reduces static electricity and forces dust particulate to get charged and then the particles are pulled like a magnet to oppositely charged (grounded) surfaces. As little as 10-15 years ago when it was first put into the booth, you used to be able to just wipe the area around the ionizer off with a wet cloth. Now if you wipe that area around the unit, you just get a black smear on the wall that won't be removed by water or even by a household cleaner like Fantastic; you have to use a solvent. Quite the nasty stuff. I am glad the ionizer deposits it on the wall, however little of the overall amount in the air does get caught is that much less of that stuff in my lungs. It dramatically shows what garbage we constantly breath in. One of these days I want to collect a sample of this goo and have it analyzed for chemical content. The findings may be interesting....if not scary.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Hauerslev Master Film Handler Posts: 451 From: Copenhagen, Denmark Registered: Aug 2000 posted 02-04-2008 08:27 AM                        For large particles on the lens, lens hammers of rubber are quite effective too -  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-04-2008 09:44 AM                     More than likely the dust contains some remnants of 9/11...  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-04-2008 10:55 AM                        If you are interested in contemplating dust, here's an informative pop-science book to get you started: The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, the Big Consequences of Little Things by Hannah Holmes  |  IP: Logged

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