Corrector Plate needs cleaning

Looking for advice I have 12” LX200 SCT and the front of the Corrector Plate needs cleaning that’s the front that is open to the elements not the inside so the Corrector Plate does not have to be removed. Do any of you know the best and easiest way of doing this? Or is there some were in Ireland (SOUTH) or someone that you could recommend that would undertake this sort of a job.
Am just a bit afraid to tackle this job myself without advice first.

Hi,
I've an 11 year old 12" LX200 myself, the plates are fairly robust so long as you arent careless about it.
You need surgical cotton wool and isopropyl alcohol for cleaning, these you can get at a good chemists.
Dowse some of the cotton with the alcohol and gently clean off the corrector, if there are any large particles that could scratch it, then be carefull and dab them off, do not wipe in a spiral pattern go from center to edge and use a different piece of cotton each time, so any dirt cought up doesnt scratch the coatings.
Keep doing this till you get a nice smear free surface, then use dry cotton to dry it off.
Dont soak the corrector or else the fluid will get into what holds the corrector making it difficult to dry.
I have found that these coatings are far more robust then any mirror coating, so long as you dont scratch it then you'll be ok.

Have fun

Actually when it was time to clean my corrector plate, I got a good tip which works well. It's in this document

sctscopes.net/ASO_Cleaning_System.rtf

Don't use cotton wool at all. It just fragments and gets everywhere. Its next to impossible to get rid of the fibres off the corrector plate. So what do you use instead? Might sound surprising but the annswer is kleenex mansize tissues. Nothing else, no other brand, no scented versions, or balm infused. Just plain ol kleenex. I found this to be FAR superior to cotton wool.

The mix I use is 30% isopropyl and 70% distilled water

Why do you think you need to clean it? Trust me it it's just a thin layer of dust you dont need to clean it. If your not sure why not post a photo and let us have a look. Every time you clean you thin the coatings by a very small amount. So don't clean until your absolutely must.

DaveGrennan wrote: Actually when it was time to clean my corrector plate, I got a good tip which works well. It's in this document

sctscopes.net/ASO_Cleaning_System.rtf

Don't use cotton wool at all. It just fragments and gets everywhere. Its next to impossible to get rid of the fibres off the corrector plate. So what do you use instead? Might sound surprising but the annswer is kleenex mansize tissues. Nothing else, no other brand, no scented versions, or balm infused. Just plain ol kleenex. I found this to be FAR superior to cotton wool.

The mix I use is 30% isopropyl and 70% distilled water

Why do you think you need to clean it? Trust me it it's just a thin layer of dust you dont need to clean it. If your not sure why not post a photo and let us have a look. Every time you clean you thin the coatings by a very small amount. So don't clean until your absolutely must.

I used the above mix (I believe it was in a Meade guide), it worked very well but I think having a fair quantity of distilled water handy is a good idea - the isopropyl mix left a few streaks.

Kleenex also has the benefit of being tres cheap.

kleenex, interesting, must try that next time,

Just make sure you avoid the multitude of balm/scented/mosturised metrosexual ones and go straight for the man-sized ones.