«

Epoch wrote:
> Can anyone in the UK point me to a readily available lens cleaning fluid?
>
> I've been using Eclipse, but have run out and it's only available from a
> couple of on-line stores in the UK - which means waiting until at least next
> Tuesday for delivery, and that only if I pay about £7 for overnight
> delivery.
>
> I've tried some stuff that claimed to be lens fluid - which turned out to be
> greasy water with the evaporative qualities of concrete!.
>
> What I need is a high grade alcohol type fluid that will evaporate cleanly
> and leave no residue. The trouble is that in Nanny UK it now seems
> impossible to get hold of anything suitable, lest you sniff it, or drink it,
> or give it to the cat, or some other bizarre use.
>
> Any easily available solution would be greatly appreciated.
Non-Streaking
Non-Residue
Non-Toxic
Fast Drying
Panavision Pancro
We use it on the movie set for all things optical.
Best regards, David

Not going to help him in the UK, but since this has become a bit of a
lens cleaning thread:

What I've been using is Edmund Tech Spec Lens Cleaner

http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlineca...fm?productID=1
367&search=1

It was originally designed for astronomical telescope optics, and
combines isopropanol and 2-Butoxyethanol (and presumably blue dye).
Seems to work better than anything else, especially on tricky
multicoated lenses. Bit tricky to get, though.

frederick wrote:
> Epoch wrote:
> > Can anyone in the UK point me to a readily available lens cleaning fluid?
> >
snip
> >
> Pure isopropyl alcohol from a pharmacist.
> Slower evaporating than Eclipse (methanol).

Indeed the techs in our optics shops would use isopropyl if there was
no documentation with a lens that called for some other cleaner.

Epoch wrote:
> Can anyone in the UK point me to a readily available lens cleaning fluid?
>
> I've been using Eclipse, but have run out and it's only available from a
> couple of on-line stores in the UK - which means waiting until at least next
> Tuesday for delivery, and that only if I pay about £7 for overnight
> delivery.
>
> I've tried some stuff that claimed to be lens fluid - which turned out to be
> greasy water with the evaporative qualities of concrete!.
>
> What I need is a high grade alcohol type fluid that will evaporate cleanly
> and leave no residue. The trouble is that in Nanny UK it now seems
> impossible to get hold of anything suitable, lest you sniff it, or drink it,
> or give it to the cat, or some other bizarre use.

Kodak lens cleaning fluid is widely available and a 16 oz bottle will
last you a lifetime. Use very sparingly (and even on oft used lenses
only a couple times per year).

Use with Kodak cleaning paper.

The Kodak lens cleaner does not contain alcohol, the active ingredients
are water, ammonium carbonate and nonionic and cationic surfactants.

First blow/brush away loose debis and dust. Then use a tiny amount of
cleaner with the Kodak tissue in a circular motion. For upkeep, get a
microfiber cloth and occasionally wipe the lens in a circular motion
with moderate pressure. Make sure the fibrecloth is kept free of grit.
They may be washed, but then you must avoid fabric softeners.

Avoid getting the rear element dirty and avoid cleaning it unless
absolutely necessary.

Cheers,
Alan

--
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-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

According to Epoch <>:
>
> "DoN. Nichols" <> wrote in message
> news:...

[ ... ]

> > I'm answering from the perspective of someone in the USA, so
> > things may well be different where you are.
> >
> > Isopropanol *should* be readily available from a pharmacy, as it
> > is often used for cleaning areas around wounds prior to applying
> > bandages. Our local pharmacys (and the drugs section of the supermarket
> > as well) offer 70% and 91%.

[ ... ]

> About 10 years ago Tandy (now defunct in the UK) used to sell some wonderful
> stuff called 'Freon' (I think) I used it for cleaning tape heads and it was
> the best stuff ever! - it evaporated almost instantly, left no residue, and
> made a first class job of cleaning heads and rollers.

That was probably "Freon TF" -- one of the list of now banned
chloro-fluoro-carbons.

> Then, without warning, it was gone - withdrawn because of a European
> directive. I don't know what was in it, but I've never been able to find
> anything similar since. even Eclipse fluid isn't as good.

The entire line of Freon compounds -- which were originally
developed as "safe" refrigerants (no harm to humans from breathing the
vapor -- compared to the ammonia which was previously used as a
refrigerant) has now been banned totally, or set up to be phased out,
because of their effect on killing the ozone layer, resulting in UV
damage to humans (and other creatures) exposed to lots of sunlight.

> Perhaps I could ask you my question about Isopropyl alcohol? - does it leave
> any residue?, and is it safe for lens coatings?

That is going to depend on just what is used to dilute it. I
would not use either the 91% or the 70% for cleaning lenses. Some
of them include oils to help with muscular aches when rubbed onto the
human body.

If you can get near 100% pure (at least until you open the
bottle, at which point it starts absorbing water from the air), you
should have no residue other than perhaps what is dissolved in the
process of cleaning the sensor. If you have a clean microscope slide,
try putting a few drops on there, then letting it dry, and placing it
over a flat black surface, such as black velvet -- and you should be
able to see whether it leaves any residue.

If you've been cleaning your sensor with something which leaves
a residue, you may need several cycles of cleaning before the sensor
comes truly clean, because you can't flood the sensor with the solvent
without risking damaging other parts of the camera.

I've even seen Freon TF leave a white powdery residue depending
on just what was being cleaned off of whatever.

I do have a 2-gallon bottle of Freon TF, and one of Isopropanol,
bought from an industrial electronics supplier some eight years ago or
so. I doubt that I could get the Freon TF from *anywhere* now. These
were for cleaning the heads on computer 9-track tape drives. The
isopropanol, however, should still be available.

As for lens coatings -- I don't know of any damage which it
could do to the coatings on the lenses which I have -- but I have no
idea what other coatings may be in use -- there may be something in some
of them which is soluble in such solvents -- but I think that most
coatings are minerals and metals applied via vacuum deposition, and are
pretty immune to organic solvents.

Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: <> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

"DoN. Nichols" <> wrote in message
news:...
> According to Epoch <>:
>>
>> "DoN. Nichols" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>
> [ ... ]
>
>> > I'm answering from the perspective of someone in the USA, so
>> > things may well be different where you are.
>> >
>> > Isopropanol *should* be readily available from a pharmacy, as it
>> > is often used for cleaning areas around wounds prior to applying
>> > bandages. Our local pharmacys (and the drugs section of the
>> > supermarket
>> > as well) offer 70% and 91%.
>
> [ ... ]
>
>> About 10 years ago Tandy (now defunct in the UK) used to sell some
>> wonderful
>> stuff called 'Freon' (I think) I used it for cleaning tape heads and it
>> was
>> the best stuff ever! - it evaporated almost instantly, left no residue,
>> and
>> made a first class job of cleaning heads and rollers.
>
> That was probably "Freon TF" -- one of the list of now banned
> chloro-fluoro-carbons.
>
>> Then, without warning, it was gone - withdrawn because of a European
>> directive. I don't know what was in it, but I've never been able to find
>> anything similar since. even Eclipse fluid isn't as good.
>
> The entire line of Freon compounds -- which were originally
> developed as "safe" refrigerants (no harm to humans from breathing the
> vapor -- compared to the ammonia which was previously used as a
> refrigerant) has now been banned totally, or set up to be phased out,
> because of their effect on killing the ozone layer, resulting in UV
> damage to humans (and other creatures) exposed to lots of sunlight.
>
>> Perhaps I could ask you my question about Isopropyl alcohol? - does it
>> leave
>> any residue?, and is it safe for lens coatings?
>
> That is going to depend on just what is used to dilute it. I
> would not use either the 91% or the 70% for cleaning lenses. Some
> of them include oils to help with muscular aches when rubbed onto the
> human body.
>
> If you can get near 100% pure (at least until you open the
> bottle, at which point it starts absorbing water from the air), you
> should have no residue other than perhaps what is dissolved in the
> process of cleaning the sensor. If you have a clean microscope slide,
> try putting a few drops on there, then letting it dry, and placing it
> over a flat black surface, such as black velvet -- and you should be
> able to see whether it leaves any residue.
>
> If you've been cleaning your sensor with something which leaves
> a residue, you may need several cycles of cleaning before the sensor
> comes truly clean, because you can't flood the sensor with the solvent
> without risking damaging other parts of the camera.
>
> I've even seen Freon TF leave a white powdery residue depending
> on just what was being cleaned off of whatever.
>
> I do have a 2-gallon bottle of Freon TF, and one of Isopropanol,
> bought from an industrial electronics supplier some eight years ago or
> so. I doubt that I could get the Freon TF from *anywhere* now. These
> were for cleaning the heads on computer 9-track tape drives. The
> isopropanol, however, should still be available.
>
> As for lens coatings -- I don't know of any damage which it
> could do to the coatings on the lenses which I have -- but I have no
> idea what other coatings may be in use -- there may be something in some
> of them which is soluble in such solvents -- but I think that most
> coatings are minerals and metals applied via vacuum deposition, and are
> pretty immune to organic solvents.
>
> Good Luck,
> DoN.



Thanks, and thanks also to everyone who chipped in. I have been given some
stuff that is used by Agfa - high grade Isopropanol, I think - so that
should do the job.

It's actually to clean an angle finder that I've disassembled due to dust -
but I'll also do my lenses while I'm at it.

Thanks again for the helpful suggestions. I was correct about Nanny UK
frowning on sales of Isopropanol/Ethanol based fluids, btw - I tried several
stores and generally received the sort of reaction that one might have
thought would be reserved for someone popping in and asking for a kilo of
enriched Uranium!

One pharmacy I tried told me that they no longer even sell ordinary
Methylated Spirit!! (I'm probably now on a secret Government database for
even asking for such forbidden chemicals....)

According to Epoch <>:
>
> "DoN. Nichols" <> wrote in message

[ ... ]

> > As for lens coatings -- I don't know of any damage which it
> > could do to the coatings on the lenses which I have -- but I have no
> > idea what other coatings may be in use -- there may be something in some
> > of them which is soluble in such solvents -- but I think that most
> > coatings are minerals and metals applied via vacuum deposition, and are
> > pretty immune to organic solvents.

[ ... ]

> Thanks, and thanks also to everyone who chipped in. I have been given some
> stuff that is used by Agfa - high grade Isopropanol, I think - so that
> should do the job.

Good!

> It's actually to clean an angle finder that I've disassembled due to dust -
> but I'll also do my lenses while I'm at it.

O.K. Another place to be careful of any of the alcohols, since
you have a disassembled optical device. Multiple element lenses are
often cemented together with Canada Balsam -- and *that* can be
dissolved by the alcohols. (It is actually *thinned* with an alcohol.)
Careless use near the edges of joined elements can result in it wicking
in and dissolving out some -- but not all -- of the cement, and it will
need to be fully cleaned and re-cemented. I was previously assuming
that you were talking about exposed lens and sensor (really filter)
surfaces.

More recent lenses were cemented by synthetics -- including a
specialized product by LocTite, which I cannot get in the US, but I
believe that it is still available in the UK. It is some form of
cyano-acrylate, I believe, but I don't know for sure.

> Thanks again for the helpful suggestions. I was correct about Nanny UK
> frowning on sales of Isopropanol/Ethanol based fluids, btw - I tried several
> stores and generally received the sort of reaction that one might have
> thought would be reserved for someone popping in and asking for a kilo of
> enriched Uranium!

That is absolutely insane! I wonder on what they are basing
that restriction?

And you can certainly get ethanol based fluids -- try Vodka or
any of the other alcoholic beverages. (Of course -- to get ones which
are sufficiently clean for your purposes, you would probably have to set
up a private still, and run it through several times. Probably Vodka or
Gin would be good starting points -- but the still may well be illegal
there. I know that it is (when used for alcohol) here. Though that
does not keep people in more remote locations from setting their own up
from time to time.

> One pharmacy I tried told me that they no longer even sell ordinary
> Methylated Spirit!!

O.K. That is a name which is uncommon here. Is it perhaps
ethyl alcohol (ethanol) to which methyl alcohol has been added to render
it unsafe to drink?

> (I'm probably now on a secret Government database for
> even asking for such forbidden chemicals....)



I'll have to look in the drugstore next time I go there to see
whether Isopropanol has disappeared from the shelves.

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Email: <> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Mike Coon wrote:
> frederick wrote:
>> The only way we can still escape fairly well for a few days at a time
>> is on our small yacht.
>> Sadly, and always "justified" by the irresponsible actions of a few,
>> there is always talk of new regulations for this.
>
> I'm amazed, because I had read (I have a subscription to a yachtie magazine)
> that NZ were one of the most stringent and wouldn't even let you get your
> feet wet without meeting their list of working safety gear on the yacht.
>
> Mike.
Yachting NZ do have lists of minimum equipment requirements for when you
enter in competitive events but these don't apply if you just want to go
out boating - not in a race.
If you intend leaving NZ waters, then it is different. NZ authorities
got fed up with rescuing ill-prepared locals and foreigners - not just
from NZ waters - but 1000km and more in any direction. Sending navy
vessels and orion aircraft gets expensive.
Perhaps the big difference here is that if you intend leaving NZ waters
- then you are going a long way. There's no equivalent to popping
across the channel to France. Popping across the Tasman to Sydney would
normally be expected to be a little more challenging...
For coastal waters - unlike many countries - no license is required for
the boat or skipper, there is no requirement to display registration
numbers (except IIRC for PWC now in Auckland and possibly other waters).
Next will come registration for all power boats, then licensing. It's
just a question of time.

"Epoch" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Thanks again for the helpful suggestions. I was correct about Nanny UK
> frowning on sales of Isopropanol/Ethanol based fluids, btw - I tried
> several stores and generally received the sort of reaction that one might
> have thought would be reserved for someone popping in and asking for a
> kilo of enriched Uranium!

For many years I got 1/2 Litre bottles of Isopropyl Alcohol from my local
chemist. Not very often, a bottle every 2 years or so, mainly for cleaning
tape heads but also for more general electronic equipment cleaning. Then he
retired and the pharmacy was taken over by a young woman who, when I
enquired about the stuff, reacted with a horror that would have been comical
were it not so disconcerting. I've since resorted to the aerosol option,
usually Servisol Video (otherwise Servisol IPA170(*), same thing - different
market). It isn't my preferred option but at least you can ask for it
without being regarded as an anarchist, terrorist or social-disruptive.
Unless you are dealing with plain metal parts never apply directly to the
object of interest - particularly if plastic is involved. The spray can be
cold enough to craze the surface of some plastics.

> One pharmacy I tried told me that they no longer even sell ordinary
> Methylated Spirit!! (I'm probably now on a secret Government database for
> even asking for such forbidden chemicals....)

Drop into Homebase and get it by the gallon! (If you don't mind being
video-recorded from all angles)

(*) http://www.servisol.co.uk/wwwcrc/tds...A_170_DATA.PDF

--
Regards,
Chris Luck



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In rec.photo.digital Epoch <> wrote:

>"DoN. Nichols" <> wrote in message
>news:...
>> According to Epoch <>:
>>>
>>> "frederick" <> wrote in message
>>> news:1158356575.741661@ftpsrv1...
>>> > Epoch wrote:
>>> >> Can anyone in the UK point me to a readily available lens cleaning
>>> >> fluid?
>>
>> [ ... ]
>>
>>> >> Any easily available solution would be greatly appreciated.
>>> > Pure isopropyl alcohol from a pharmacist.
>>> > Slower evaporating than Eclipse (methanol).<
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks to all who replied (even the comedian)
>>>
>>> One question - will a pharmacy actually sell me the stuff?
>>
>> I'm answering from the perspective of someone in the USA, so
>> things may well be different where you are.
>>
>> Isopropanol *should* be readily available from a pharmacy, as it
>> is often used for cleaning areas around wounds prior to applying
>> bandages. Our local pharmacys (and the drugs section of the supermarket
>> as well) offer 70% and 91%.
>>
>> Here -- to get pure *ethanol* (well -- something like 95%, as it
>> tends to absorb water from the air) in *this* state (Virginia) you go to
>> the Alcohol Control Board -- where you buy the various stronger
>> alcoholic beverages (wine and beer you can get other places) and you can
>> buy it -- with a rather stiff tax on it, because it is being sold there
>> for consumption by humans.
>>
>> When I worked for the US Government, we kept some bottles around
>> for lens cleaning purposes (we worked with night vision equipment,
>> mostly), and we had to go through a major pain of record keeping for the
>> bottles, with only one bottle open and available for use at a time. The
>> rest had to be locked up.
>>
>>> - I mean, you
>>> can't even buy more than 24 paracetamol tablets these days - just in case
>>> you're thinking of trying escaping from the misery of New Britain - can't
>>> even buy wood glue, for that matter, unless the store manager decides
>>> that
>>> you're not going to inhale the stuff! What a nasty little country this
>>> has
>>> become.
>>
>> Glues and such have been under some level of control here for
>> many years -- because of kids inhaling them, and some dying of liver
>> damage or other things of the sort. Those glues have had additives
>> tossed in to make them a bit less good as glues, but very unpleasant to
>> inhale. IIRC, the control of the glues (at least model airplane cements
>> and similar) started in the late 1950s. But -- if you are buying from
>> an industrial supplier, you are presumed to be beyond the sniffing age.
>> The restrictions are more likely to be enforced in a place which
>> typically sells to kids, like model shops.
>>
>> Other solvents, such as carbon tetrachloride, have been pretty
>> much unavailable except in chem labs, because of the number of people
>> who have died while using it. For that matter, I had a rather nasty
>> bout when I used it to clean the gates of two 16mm movie projectors at
>> school. I was one of those allocated the job of projection for the
>> classes.
>>
>> Good Luck,
>> DoN.


>About 10 years ago Tandy (now defunct in the UK) used to sell some wonderful
>stuff called 'Freon' (I think) I used it for cleaning tape heads and it was
>the best stuff ever! - it evaporated almost instantly, left no residue, and
>made a first class job of cleaning heads and rollers.

>Then, without warning, it was gone - withdrawn because of a European
>directive. I don't know what was in it, but I've never been able to find
>anything similar since. even Eclipse fluid isn't as good.

>Perhaps I could ask you my question about Isopropyl alcohol? - does it leave
>any residue?, and is it safe for lens coatings?

Freon is the agent responsible for much of the damage to
the ozone layer protecting us from ultra-violet radiation.

It is banned in most places for most uses by international
agreement.

The problem with solvents is that most people, even sensible
folks, misuse them. They *are* dangerous. Just working with
some of them in an unventilated area can cause serious damage,
often to the liver.

The problem is that most folks feel that they would not be
able to buy them if they were not safe.

Since that clearly didn't work, now most of us are not able
to buy them because they are NOT safe.

All that said, isopropyl alcohol should be OK. If you want
to make sure, let a small drop evaporate on a clean bit of
glass and then look with a magnifying glass to see if there
is any residue. There shouldn't be.

As for the coatings, I doubt there would be any damage,
but I don't *KNOW*. Perhapg Googling for lens fluid would
help?

---- Paul J. Gans