Cleaning Reflectors?

Okay guys, I've got an issue I can't seem to fix. The reflectors have collected dust and needs to be cleaned off. These things are extremely smooth and one little wipe managed to scuff the clarity of the reflector. Air-blower failed at 130psi and the dust remained.

Are we supposed to even clean the reflector? If so, how to do so without making scuff marks on the reflector?

This question has been asked many times previously, a search of CPF.

Norm

You can blow canned air into the head, but as for wiping--trust me--not a good thing to do. It will scuff and surface of the reflector and make it less reflective. Most of us have learned the hard way and don't clean reflectors. If you have a surefire and one of their bulbs exploded in your head you could call them for an RMA. They are pretty good about replacing stuff that you did not damage.

Yep, this has been elaborated on CPF over and over again...

To sum up: wiping the reflector is a big no-no, even with a softest cloth. Blowing compressed air - yes, but beware of "compressed air" labelled cans that contain propane/butane propellant - they tend to mess up the reflector surface with unknown oily substance.

Some folks have tried to rinse the reflector with solvents (trichlorethylene, acetone, ethanol) or dishwashing detergent/degreaser solutions and distilled water (without wiping whatsoever!) but results were never as good as expected.

I've quit trying to blow the dust out of my Solarforce L2's reflector after few unsuccessful attempts. Dust just seems to cling onto the surface with immense power...

All you have to do is think about cleaning a MagLite reflector and you've already ruined it.

I realized it after putting up my post...Stupid me

I ruined my XML dropin for my G2...It's fogy reflector for me

I found this suggestion works really good:http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?330011-vinhnguyen54-How-Clean-A-P60-Reflector

If it's really bad, I ended up filling an ultrasonic cleaner with distilled water and adding a couple drops of dishwashing detergent. I run it for a minute, then I rinse generously in more distilled water, just rinse it, no ultrasonic rinsing necessary. Then I blow it clean with distilled water. This gets all the dust off and manages not to scuff it up, but you'll never get it 100% clean as the surface is just so delicate you'll still have ever so slight fogging, but it's better than a layer of dirt.

We should make a reflector cleaning sticky but then again stickys often get overlooked and you end up linking to either another thread or the sticky itself, Grease and Lube for example.

In the past I tried to clean reflectors and quickly learned it is a mistake to even try, qwertyydude if I'm not mistaken I think you've posted how you clean them a couple times but I've never had the guts to try.

You don't have even a spare junk p60 module to try? I usually have several from different modules I either took apart for parts and or experiments.

I don't have any spare P60's but I have some old reflectors I'm thinking of trying your method with. Let me ask you though doesn't it leave water marks or streaking from blowing the water? That's really why I never tried it I figured the little dust on some on some of my reflectors wasn't worth trading it out for water marks, I'm guessing though using the distilled water helps with that.

jhc37013 said:

We should make a reflector cleaning sticky but then again stickys often get overlooked and you end up linking to either another thread or the sticky itself, Grease and Lube for example.

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Before starting a new thread, try a quick search of CPF using the google search box at the top of the page, you will often find an existing thread.

Norm

Some reflectors are simply too delicate to be cleaned. The better-quality ones can be washed with warm water, mild liquid soap, and VERY CLEAN FINGERS. Don't use anything other than your fingertip to touch the reflector. After rinsing thoroughly, pat-dry the outside of the reflector and blow the water off the inside with compressed air.

jhc37013 said:

I don't have any spare P60's but I have some old reflectors I'm thinking of trying your method with. Let me ask you though doesn't it leave water marks or streaking from blowing the water? That's really why I never tried it I figured the little dust on some on some of my reflectors wasn't worth trading it out for water marks, I'm guessing though using the distilled water helps with that.

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That's why you rinse in distilled water. Distilled water leaves no mineral traces because it is essentially pure water with nothing else in it to contaminate things.

I bought a Surefire 6P about a year or two after they first came out and realized that I got a brand new reflector every time I replace a lamp I was thrilled and made the high cost seem so much more acceptable.

I never attempt to clean a reflector. But optics people will use 100% methanol & the highest megohm DI water they can get to rinse.

Tiresius said:

Okay guys, I've got an issue I can't seem to fix. The reflectors have collected dust and needs to be cleaned off. ...

Are we supposed to even clean the reflector? If so, how to do so without making scuff marks on the reflector?

Click to expand...

I am obviously not using my flashlights hard enough. My Quark AA has been riding around in my pocket for 18 months, an environment not easily confused with a Class 100 semiconductor fab clean room, and once I wipe the filth off the lens I can't see any dirt on the reflector. I used to work in a steel mill and again, some pretty dirty flashlights but I don't ever recall picking one up and thinking that the reflector was the problem. (Sometimes finding where the switch was, was more of a problem...or which end was supposed to have light coming out.)

So how do you get dirt *inside* the optics? Most of these lights are supposed to be flinkin' water-tight - it's not like there's a lot of air blowing through between bulb and lens.

Puzzled,

Bill

tam17 said:

Yep, this has been elaborated on CPF over and over again...

Some folks have tried to rinse the reflector with solvents (trichlorethylene, acetone, ethanol) or dishwashing detergent/degreaser solutions and distilled water (without wiping whatsoever!) but results were never as good as expected.
(

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I never used it on a flashlight reflector, but i had to clean interferometer mirrors (Gold on Silicon), and found that a bath using hot isopropanol, then rinsing with clean (deionized) water and then drying using dry nitrogen worked pretty well. Although its an effort I would not do for something that costs less than $100...

Reflector cleaning HELP!

Okay so the reflector in my torch had dust on it out the box. I went on eBay and got an "air duster" to clean it with and its left loads of marks like water marks on it! I know not to touch the reflector but how do i clean of these marks! help!

Re: Reflector cleaning HELP!

Best I've ever been able to do was by using a Q-tip very very lightly. I purchased (well traded) for a light that the guy had touched the reflector a d they tried to clean it off himself. I got it pretty damn good with a Q-tip but had it not been horrible to start with I would have just dealt with a swirl or two or dust.

Re: Reflector cleaning HELP!

paddyred said:

Okay so the reflector in my torch had dust on it out the box. I went on eBay and got an "air duster" to clean it with and its left loads of marks like water marks on it! I know not to touch the reflector but how do i clean of these marks! help!

Click to expand...

Air duster cans are prone to spittle and spew it's liquified contents especially if it's new and filled to capacity or shaken when spraying. You can't machine gun your way with it onto a reflector dude. That said your reflector now has residue from the evaporation of spewed *-fluoroethane on its surface.

I'm unsure if a pure alcohol bath would clean it.

For anyone needing to clean dust off the reflector it can be done with this following method I created. Works for lens optics as well:

Using a clean scissor or knife, cut a length of cotton sewing thread and string it through a snipped length of the airduster's original nozzle tube - about 3". You want to seat the nozzle tube back into the head with only about 2mm of thread exposed at the end. There is a reason why you want so little:



The exposed thread will stretch when output pressure is applied. It will extend a few extra millimeters and begin to twirl
making it an ultra gentle agitator to grab dust and blow it away.



You only want to apply minimal pressure and some surgical maneuvering to ensure you don't bump the plastic tube on the
reflector surface. Minimal pressure also helps ensure the liquid contents from sputtering out.

Hope this helps.