[Chaos-l] [Medoc-mountain-men] lessons on mirrors and cleaning

[E. Allen Davis]

i contacted John Hudek first thing.  However, I got an automated response saying they were closed until the first week of September.  well, you know me..that won't do.  Since that large pinhole developed only a couple of months after I received the new coating, John had agreed to recoat for free the next time.  I would just have to pay shipping.

But Paul Z. whom i talked with at Spectrum in FL, said that given what I had told him, that he tended to think there were problems with this coating from the start. he said it is usually in inconsistencies in the overcoat.  the fact that a problem showed early on, and that the coating showed signs of deterioration in just over a year (i started noticing what turned out to be pinholes aoubt 3 or 4 months ago)..this led him to think this.

I have always had good dealings with John, and certainly don't have any problem with him.  After all mine is a Galaxy mirror and it is a good mirror.  But this time, I didn't want to wait and I thought it might be good to try a different company and see.  This fellow I talked to AT LENGTH yesterday said he has not had any of his coatings deteriorate this quickly.  and some intrnet searches and comments on Cloudy Nights and another forum led me to trust Spectrum.

Strange, I remember years ago with my 15 inch that the intial coatings, done by Clausing, deteriorated in 6 months.  I had it recoated by QSP in Santa Ana and those coaings still look good on my 15.  after 18 years.

anyway, hopefully i'll have it back within a couple of weeks in time for our program at Medoc and star parties in October.  Paul Z. says because of the economy he has noticed a definite slow down, hence the quick turnaround...he historically said that even on a 6" mirror he would at one time be looking at 6 weeks minimum.

you make a good point about the vinegar etc.  That might have worked on those rings.  But I tried the Tak enzyme fluid from my cleaning kit with them, and it didn't remove any of it either.  

all interesting but as i said, rather costly.  But this is one thing I won't skimp on.  allen



E. Allen Davis
 starstorm151 at embarqmail.com

 "M'Illumino              "I am enlightened
 D'Immenso"              by the immensity."

   -Ungaretti               -Ungaretti

----- Original Message -----
On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 9:36 AM, E. Allen Davis
<starstorm151 at embarqmail.com> wrote:
> Even acetone, a recommended procedure, would not remove these rings and anomolaies.  In a short period of time, literally 12 hours or so, the coating was damaged by the tap water.  I should have known better, but given what was on the mirror i thought I had nothing to lose.  and really I didn't because the coatings were on the verge of getting like they were before.

Any residue left behind by tap water shouldn't be soluble in acetone.
Acetone would be better at removing things like sap, finger oils, bug
grease, etc.
Adding a bit of distilled vinegar to water should help remove any
residues left by water and shouldn't be acidic enough to impact the
coatings.

>From what I understand, the overcoating they use on our mirrors really
should be pretty impervious to anything found in municipal drinking
water.
I'd say you got a bum coating.
What did Galaxy say when you contacted them?

I'm curious because my 18" is getting to the point that I'm
considering recoating it sometime in the near future.

Oh, since this isn't a public forum I don't mind saying this here....
A little birdie told me a certain Premium Mirror Grinder is going to
start offering Coating services in the very near future.  I wouldn't
want to be one of his first customers, but hopefully within the next
year or so he'll have his workflow hammered out.

j