Silica gel, orange drying agent, 125ccm, with eco-friendly color indicator
Why drying agent?
If you do not want your expensive optics, optical accessories, eyepieces, CCD cameras or the inside of your telescope tube to suffer from moisture when in their closed containers, then it is recommended that you take the same precautionary measures that is common practice in research labs with expensive instruments by placing a small bag or pouch of drying agent in the telescope tube or accessory cabinet.
This can help prevent the extremely annoying buildup of condensation on the inside of eyepieces, telescope lenses, mirrors or Schmidt corrector plates - especially if fresh moisture can be prevented from entering the telescope tube later when changing accessories by using a prism diagonal or smooth glass filter to keep the telescope tube closed.
Note:
We offer a 2" filter holder for SC telescopes into which any 2" filter (e.g., clear glass, UV/IR cut-off filters, UHC-S nebula filters) can be inserted to prevent moisture from entering the inside of the tube.
Narrow-band solar filters (LUNT, Daystar H-alpha, SolarSpectrum, etc.) are especially sensitive to moisture.
Baader silica gel with color indicator:
After some searching, we have discovered a particularly reliable drying agent that is foolproof. in indicating its remaining effectiveness....
The drying agent beads have a bright orange/pink color when dry, but are white and transparent when saturated.
The beads become paler in the transition phase, so you can easily estimate the saturation level.
Start
after 2 hours
after 4 hours
To reuse, just put the pearls on a plate, put it in an oven and heat it slowly to a temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius (do not preheat the oven because it can cause the pearls to break). After about five to six hours, the silica gel returns to a bright orange/pink color and can continue to be used.
WARNING: Drying in a microwave oven is NOT possible.
This procedure can be repeated indefinitely. Nothing should be thrown away, as is unfortunately often the case with normal drying agents.
