Best way to clean a reflector?

[Justintoxicated]

I dropped a Maglite and the UCL lens shattered. It left particles all over my quad reflectors in my light. I have not found a proper way to clean them, I just blew out as much stuff as possible. It seems that any rubbing would likely damage the reflectors more than the small specs of glass dust would ever make.

Interested to hear a solution that would work for this situation.

 

[kosPap]

hmmm you might try this.....get soft paper or cotton pretty moist and touch off the particles..straight up and down...

but you know this is risky too...

then you can leave the realy stubborn particles and sputter the reflector to hide the mess....

 

[saabluster]

It was a bit buried but this has already been done before.

 

[Saint_Dogbert]

If there are glass particles on the reflector, touching it directly in any way will prob'ly result in scratches. I own a few camera lenses as well as a 12-inch reflector telescope and believe me, the coating on that mirror is much more fragile than the coatings on a camera lens. Blow on the glass particles (not with your breath) then if that doesn't take care of things run some clean water over things - blow or air dry. Rinsing with alcohol as others have suggested might work as well and avoid leaving residue.

In any case, I doubt the reflectance of the reflector will be very negatively impacted from a few small scratches or glass particles - so extensive cleaning probably isn't needed.

 

[enforcer]

If there are glass particles on the reflector, touching it directly in any way will prob'ly result in scratches. I own a few camera lenses as well as a 12-inch reflector telescope and believe me, the coating on that mirror is much more fragile than the coatings on a camera lens. Blow on the glass particles (not with your breath) then if that doesn't take care of things run some clean water over things - blow or air dry. Rinsing with alcohol as others have suggested might work as well and avoid leaving residue.

In any case, I doubt the reflectance of the reflector will be very negatively impacted from a few small scratches or glass particles - so extensive cleaning probably isn't needed.

One of those pc tiny keyboard hoovers or 100% isopropyl alcohol in a spray type bottle(like cd lens cleaner) so not too much is applied, might do the trick.

 

[NutSAK]

It's best left alone, as stated. If you're going to use water, use distilled water.

 

[Superdave]

You know what, for the sake of curiousity I'll see if I can find some flashlights I don't like (we have quite a few crappy lights around the house) and give them a whirl in my harbor freight ultrasonic.

it depends on the solution.. the stuff we use here at work actually took the anodizing off of a 2AA Mag. It was mixed a little strong though.. haha



+1 for alcohol.

http://www.invisibleglass.com/ is an alcohol based glass cleaner, i'll try that on a junk reflector tonight and see what it does.. I bet it works ok.

 

[Cataract]

I THINK I GOT YOUR SOLUTION:
I haven't tried this yet, but now that I think of it I will swear by it:

I got a binocular cleaning kit from opticsplanet, and god knows binocular lenses are very sensitive... if it work on a multi-coated lens, it just has to work for flashlight lenses.. you an get a decent one between 10$ and 20$ US, includes a "gummy" dust remover so you can take dust specks off without scratching anything... well worth the price when you consider I have flashlights that cost more than my binoculars!

If you have a lot of mud on your lens, I would recommend running warm water over it first to remove the worst, though.

 

[qwertyydude]

Optical lens coatings are tougher than people make them. I've got camera filters that are multi coated and a soft cotton cloth and breathing doesn't damage them but a soft cotton cloth on a reflector will definitely damage the reflector.

 

[fyrstormer]

Depends on the lense and the coating. I bought a couple of sapphire lenses from the Sandwich Shoppe, and the AR coating on the lenses was so weak that just pressing it against the O-ring in the wrong position was enough to damage the coating, and I ended up scraping off the remainder of the coating and saying to hell with it.

Oddly, the coatings on my McGizmos that came with AR-coated lenses are much more durable, to the point that I can have the coating on the exposed side of the lense and it still doesn't get scratched. I dunno.

 

[Henk_Lu]

Oddly, the coatings on my McGizmos that came with AR-coated lenses are much more durable, to the point that I can have the coating on the exposed side of the lense and it still doesn't get scratched. I dunno.

Well, I'm known as the coating destroyer, as I have "dustophobia" or in general "dirtophobia" and must always clean my lenses, wheter I should or not. I destroyed the coating on two Clicky lenses already, but I must say for their defense that there is no problem anymore since I don't rub hard anymore, but just wipe away the dust with my pullover. I ordered two sapphire lenses and saw only afterwards that they are coated on both sides too, so acting carefully will still be required.

As for the reflectors, I've tried to clean two ones until know. The one of my M20 Titanium had some dirt on it, which revealed to be greasy. I took a q-tip, the part I cleanes has minor scratches now, I hope I'll get a new one. The other one was from a Peak Caribbean, it had a sort or patina, I cleaned it also with a q-tip, still some patina and scratches of course. I doubt those scratches will affect the beam visibly, but it isn't nice to see of course.

When I got my Maglites, 20 years ago, I didn't know about the sensibility of those things and I cleaned them with a cloth... I must order new ones one day...

 

[Saint_Dogbert]

Well the Quarks are nice because the outer surface of the window supposedly has a sapphire coating; in any case, it is very resistant to scratching.

 

[how2]

I just bought an older light that has some haze on the reflector. I figure CAIG DeOxIt should pull that right off, but every time I've wiped down a reflector in the past it's left hairline scratches in the reflective coating -- not bad enough to affect the beam, just noticeable when looking at the reflector from the side while the light is on. What's the best way to go about this?

I too tried to clean my reflector with white spirit, and got fine scratches.
Lesson learned.

 

[kosPap]

I cleaned my drop-ins reflectros (both OP & SMO) with acetone and q-tips

The method i used was to lightly swirl the q-tip while pulling....got excellent results...

To me it seems the real danger is from the material used....A strict NONO to paper products....

Someday I will try those alcohol swabs

 

[Henk_Lu]

Well the Quarks are nice because the outer surface of the window supposedly has a sapphire coating; in any case, it is very resistant to scratching.

Hm, last weekend I carried my Quark 123 neutral white around, used and wiped it off a lot (see my post above...). It has now a few fine scratches, probably in the coating, which I never observed until now (only rubbed off coating).

As I wore stone washed jeans, pretty new ones, it is possible however, that sand got on the lens. The scratches are only visible if the light is on and shouldn't have any effect on the beam.

 

[Flashanator]

i never bother anymore I tried cleaning some finger prints off a new 9" & it leaves small scratches.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I wanted to resurrect this thread, and reference these two past ones:

• https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/127058

• https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/188776

I have always had good luck with using water/alcohol/acetone/Rexton Lens & Optical Cleaner until today.

I had an incan 1185 bulb that blew up inside of one of my treasured FiveMega 2" Deep Reflectors with a mirror SMO surface. I got all the glass pieces out, but there was some whitish cloudy residue that would not wash off.

I decided to try this small square of blue ultra-fine fabric that came with my Samsung SyncMaster LCD monitor. It feels like elegant silk as you rub it, and one side is somewhat shiny. It looks like this LCD cleaning cloth which promises to never scratch. It is way finer than any microfiber cloth, and does not have sewn edges. It does absorb water.

In any case, I was surprised to be able to wipe off the white residue with absolutely no sign of any damage/scratching of the SMO reflector, using this fabric. I was so happy, and thought I would share this type of product and experience.

 

[JNewell]

how about using a jewelry cleaner the one that uses ultrasonic would it work?

I tried this once with water (no chemicals at all) and the plating started peeling in several places. YMMV but I would not recommend using an u/s at all.

 

[ElectronGuru]

I tried this once with water (no chemicals at all) and the plating started peeling in several places. YMMV but I would not recommend using an u/s at all.

Our unit has adjustable power levels, I may give it a shot when there's more time.

BTW, a little dawn should be used when running plain water to reduce surface tension (acts as a surfactant). Otherwise, more force is required for cavitation (stronger, less consistent cleaning). Just a few drops is enough for a whole gallon.

 

[JNewell]

This was an old Kel-Lite reflector (boy did that result make me mad :mecry. The base metal was copper and who knows how well the plating was done in the first place.

I have thrown everything from carburetors to Garand bolts into my u/s, typically with great results. I will caution urgently against using standard Simple Green formulations with any aluminum product. It is capable of taking off the anodized layer and attacking the aluminum.

Our unit has adjustable power levels, I may give it a shot when there's more time.

BTW, a little dawn should be used when running plain water to reduce surface tension (acts as a surfactant). Otherwise, more force is required for cavitation (stronger, less consistent cleaning). Just a few drops is enough for a whole gallon.