Coating scratching off Arc LSH-P lens

There is a small coating of something that is scratching off the lens of the Arc LSH-P and it's starting to look bad. It does not affect the beam wuality at all, but is this a concern?

TIA, Dan

It's a plastic lens-cover. Free free to pull it off, then call ARC and ask them to send you a couple new ones for free. You'll need to send a SASE to them.

It's not a layer, but something that was adhered to the lens (some coating, I forgot). I'm pretty sure that it's not plastic.

Dan

Trust me, it is a plastic lens cover.

All right, I took this "plastic cover" off by scratching the extremely thin coating off. Basically after I got all of it shaved off by nmy fingernail, the lens look like he11. It's like there are scratches stuck in the glass...

What to do? TIA, Dan

You can polish them out with a plastic polish . /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I've also heard of people using toothpaste for polishing... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Lexan is not as scratch proof as the pyrex.

That thin fillm of plastic is a scratch protective adhesive sheet. To remove it without scratching the lens, just take a piece of scotch tape, stick it to the front of the lens and lift. It will come right off with the tape.

W

The person I got this from said that all his Arcs do not have this plastic and I may have scratched off the AR coating...


???

Dan

The AR/AS coating is typically a microscopically thin solvent-applied chemical coating. Usually a hard acrylic. You will not be able to remove it as a complete sheet. I would be pleased that this film is on my light. it means a lower likelihood that the lens will get scratched in transit or handling. I would remove it to maximize light transmission though.

In any case, if it was actually the AR you removed, you would see it as an area where reflections are brighter, clearer and more defined.

W

[ QUOTE ]
Ginseng said:
The AR/AS coating is typically a microscopically thin solvent-applied chemical coating. Usually a hard acrylic. You will not be able to remove it as a complete sheet. I would be pleased that this film is on my light. it means a lower likelihood that the lens will get scratched in transit or handling. I would remove it to maximize light transmission though.

In any case, if it was actually the AR you removed, you would see it as an area where reflections are brighter, clearer and more defined.

W

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a good definition of what it was: extremely thin coating that was scratched off, not peeled, and looks like a hard acrylic. Thanks, Ginseng!!

Dan

If this was not the lens cover and part of the actual lens, I'd ship that sucker back for replacement ASAP.

Email sent, Peter!!

Dan

Oops. Logicnerd, it does sound like the actual AR coating. I hope Arc can take care of it for you. Polycarbonate without a hardcoating has crappy scratch resistance.

W

Check me if I'm wrong...but the Arc uses a plastic optic for its LS, right? - not a lens?? The purpose of an AR coating is to prevent reflections from bouncing back into the reflector. With a solid plastic optic, like the Arc has, the outer surface of the plastic shouldn't reflect anything back in. I don't think we're talking about an AR coating here. An AR coating should be on the innermost surface of an optic or lens - the surface that the light from the source hits first.

Most AR glass is coated on both sides by default for ease of installation. Otherwise, it would need to be marked so that the person assembling it knew to put the AR coating on the inside - toward the light source.

My guess is that this mysterious coating is some sort of scratch resistant material.

**EDIT** - I just saw on the Arc site that the optic has an AR coating. Can someone who knows a little more about "photonics" explain how the outer surface of the optic would reflect light back in and warrant an AR coating. I can see having the coating on the inside (near the light source), but why the outside?? Am I missing something?

FLL,
The LS does use a polycarbonate front lens. I use the word "lens" as a generic term meaning "clear element which is situated in front of the lamp/LED and isolates it from the external environment." As a layman, the usage is imprecise but descriptive. In any case, the coating on the outside of my LS lens is not AR but AS, antiscratch. It has to be there because PC is a relatively soft polymer. It's tough, but soft and scratchable. The only reason to use an actual AR coating on the outer surface (as I have on my eyglasses) is to reduce the appearance of reflections from the viewer-side. This coating also is a relatively hard coating, thus, AS. I've had cheaper glasses that were only AR coated on the eyeball-side (to aid vision by reducing stray reflections) and only AS coated on the outside for max toughness.

All in all, I'm not impressed with the quality of the coating on the LS. It is highly non-uniform, with very visible ridges and streaks. I'd much, much prefer a UCL element in front but, oh well.

Wilkey

I wish I could get the UCL AR glass thinner, but no such luck. I could have my B270 glass coated, which should give light transmission values similar to the UCL, but it would cost like $5.00 a lens to do it. I don't think there would be a market for a $12 AR lens for a MiniMag....

Sorry to get off-topic here...

Email sent again, Peter.

Dan

I have recently purchased an Arc LS2 and was very dissapointed with the lens, Foggy and blotchy, until I examined it further and found out that it was a clear plastic similar to that covering audio/video displays. There was no paper from the manufacturer included in the light, maybe that would have made reference to taking this off. Anyway, after removing this plastic there was a tremendous difference! I wonder how many people are carrying their Arcs with this plastic still adhering to the lens?

That piece of plastic fooled me for a day. At first I was afraid to take it off (might break it?). I took the plunge, knowing I would scratch the lens forever. Didn't happen.