toothpaste ruined my new M9's lens

[brightnorm]

toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

I just unpacked my new Pelican M9 which I got for its reputed great throw. I turned it on briefly to check the beam which looked promising, and then removed the bezel and looked through the lens which appeared a little dirty. I very gently rubbed it with a moistened paper towel and patted it dry but it still looked dirty. Then I remembered the trick of using toothpase as a polishing abrasive to remove subtle lens blemishes and used some Crest for that purpose. After rinsing and patting it dry I looked through the lens... ARGHHH! It had become almost translucent; it was ruined!

Then I remembered where I had seen the toohpaste technique. Peter Gransee had mentioned it as a scratch remover for LS Lexan (polycarbonate) lenses. Apparently the M9 lens was ordinary plastic which I never expected in a professional duty light. I hope I can buy a separate bezel; if not I'm SOOL.

I think I'm a leading candidate for the 2003 CPF Stupid Award.

Brightnorm

 

[Size15's]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

D'Oh!

Al /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

 

[JonSidneyB]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

well I don't think you stupid...just blazing new trails of knowledge so that we will not make the same mistake. Thanks for your service to CPF.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Maybe next time, use Aqua-Fresh instead of Crest. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Oh, and I agree with JonSidneyB.

Chalk this up as a learning experience, and other CPFers will not be as likely to make the same mistake since you posted your experience.

 

[Double_A]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Have you tried buying some commercial plastic polish and re-polishing using that?

I made your mistake on the plastic lens of a large 24 hr military time wall clock. After repolishing everythign came out ok.

GregR

 

[brightnorm]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

[ QUOTE ]
Double_A said:
Have you tried buying some commercial plastic polish and re-polishing using that?

I made your mistake on the plastic lens of a large 24 hr military time wall clock. After repolishing everythign came out ok.

GregR

[/ QUOTE ]

Greg, that's encouraging! Can you tell me what kind and where to get it?

Thanks,
Brightnorm

 

[charliek]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Get a Audio (or data) CD cleaning kit - it has a very fine polish and a cleaning solution that you may be able to use to salvage your lens- at this point you have nothing to lose....

 

[brightnorm]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

[ QUOTE ]
charliek said:
Get a Audio (or data) CD cleaning kit - it has a very fine polish and a cleaning solution that you may be able to use to salvage your lens- at this point you have nothing to lose....


[/ QUOTE ]

Good idea Charlie.

Thanks,
Brightnorm

 

[JasonC8301]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

www.zainobros.com for Zaino #14 plastic polish. A VERY fine polish for plastic. Might take some rubbing, but it should work.

www.meguiars.com for the Meguiar's #10, 17, and 18 plastic care kit.

 

[MR Bulk]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

SLICK used some kind of special polish that left a mirror-like finish on the Fraen optic when he cut down most of the front. Even gave particulars about specifically how to do it -- you'll have to do a search buddy. In the Homemade Section -- under "Slick" as the poster.

 

[MR Bulk]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

In fact HERE it is...

 

[raggie33]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

there is some odd things ive heard about toothpaste. im into buildings pc,s and when ya overclcock heat is a big issue. well a while ago there was rumer that toothpaste worked as good as artic silver. i never tested it but i remember reading about it every where

 

[TrevorNasko]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

wd40 works

 

[Roy]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Try taking the lens to your local optical shop! They routinely buff out scrtches on prescription lenses. Maybe they can fix yours.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

WD-40 is an oil with a solvent added. I'm guessing the oil will fill those *really tiny* scratches - at least until the oil becomes dirtied or until it gets washed out or heated out.
With an M9, I'm guessing that a combination of heat (from the bulb) and soil will foul the lens pretty quickly once you've put WD-40 on it. I think the goal here is to remove the toothpaste scratches, not fill them with a liquid.

No offense intended - WD-40 ought to work fine as a short term solution, but not a permanent one.

 

[tsg68]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Norm, there are several plastics suppliers down on Canal St. in Manhattan that carry plastic polish in squeeze bottles (can't recall the brand) and it works really well, I use it to take scratches out of my colored filter lenses. One of the things I use on Kydex (a PVC/acrylic alloy) to polish sheath edges is a soft cloth moistened with a mixture of WD-40 and a little Acetone mixed together. The acetone disolves and blends the scratches and the oil retards the action from etching or completely melting the surface. I'm not sure how it would work on clear acrylic or polycarbonate though.

TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Tombeis]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Brightnorm:

I have used 3M auto body polish on plastic with great success.

It is about $15.00 a bottle at auto paint stores.

Send me your address and I will send you a small bottle with which you may take the scratches out of at least fifty plastic flashlight lenses.

 

[brightnorm]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Thank you ALL very much. You've been very helpful!

Thanks,
Brightnorm

 

[TheBeam]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

Flitz

 

[Datasaurusrex]

Re: toothpaste ruined my new M9\'s lens

I used to use a McGuires (sp) product for polishing CDs that worked great... it was intended to be used for polishing the plastic face shields of motorcycle helmets.

I bought it at an automotive paint supply store.

If you can entierly remove the plastic lens to work on it try the following....

I used a regular orbital car buffer with soft terry cloth covering to polish the CDs, sometimes polishing, then applying a little bit (few drops) of water on the discs and buffing some more would work wonders.

Just make sure to apply even pressure, and don't let the disc 'fly' away while polishing.

I have used this method thousands of time, and I have found it gets consitantly excellent results.