My cabin portlits have become not clear do to age and cleaning agents. Is there any thing I came do to clear or resurface them. Charlie
I don't think you can clean them. Replacement lenses are available at catalinadirect.com.
I got my replacement lenses through Selectplastics.com They usually have a booth at the major boat shows.
If they are just dull, with no cracks.
Anyone here have try the kit they sell at autoparts to refinish, repolish car headlamps.
It could worth to try before buying new ones, they're probably expensive.
Just an idea.
They are $38-$47 each at Catalina Direct. Depends on size. If you can buff out the dullness, let us know how you did it. You can't see anything out of any of mine.
I polished mine with Meguiars Mirror Glaze Plastic Polish. If you do it by hand, you'll rub alot, but it does a pretty good job. It's eaisier if you take the lens off & work on a flat surface. At West Marine-I think it was about $12.
Guys : You can buy McGuires Plastic polish/cleaner and most auto parts store fro a few dollars!!
It does a great job an making hazy plastic clearer. I've used it with success.
Or you can contact Beckson, who are still in business, and get new ones.
Follow Stu's advice if your port lenses are crazed, because any polish will only take out the smoky haze film left from UV.
Thought this is an old thread, it helped me figure out how to deal with my hazy port lights. I have the older Beckson opening ports and they were very hazed so much so that it was difficult to see out of them. I contacted Beckson who recommended Meguiar's #10. My local autoparts store did not have #10 but had Meguiar's PlastX which is a new formula with #10 and a polish mixed together to remove an extra polishing step. I used this on both my Beckson ports (no need to remove) and my top hatch just aft of the mast with great results. Just applied with a soft rag and a minute or so of rubbing on each one and then wipe off excess with a clean rag. I was shocked at the difference as you can see here in the before and after shots.
Wow,
Great results. I'm going to try it on my top hatch.
holy sh*t, i'll be able to see where I'm going! :-)
Guys : As I mentioned that Meguiar's Plastic polish works great!!
You can use the same Meguiar's on the clear hazy plastic covering your auto headlights!
A thought
I was in Walmart today (I admit it! :D) and found that product but was part of a kit.
Does one buy the kit or try to find just the PlastX?
I was able to find just the Plastx alone (not in a kit) at Advanced Auto Parts for $8.99
Does anyone have a solution to the crazing on the newer ports and hatches? I was wondering if one of those headlight restoring kits would do the trick. I'm not wild about spending the big bucks to replace the lenses.
Crazing is a completely different thing than hazing. Crazing is much deeper and is caused by something in the production process that weakens the material. I don't believe anything other than sanding layers off the hatches will work. I found this article interesting on the topic. http://selectplastics.com/?p=132 (http://selectplastics.com/?p=132)
George : Sue is correct, crazing is a series of small CRACKS. You can't polish out cracks!!
The best protection for your hatches is to prevent crazing, is to make a sunbrella cover and keep them covered when the boat is not in use.
A sunbrella cover over the Vberth hatch also protects against - "moon burn" at night.
A thought
So, my hatches are already crazed. Has anyone replaced the damaged hatch lens, and if so, how? Or am I resigned to spending big bucks at Lewmar? I was hoping that I could sand with 400 - 600 grit and then polish from there. :cry4`
George,
If your hatches are very bad, it's probably worth trying extremely fine grit sand paper (600 or much finer). I've seen 2000 grit in auto part stores. You might want to try wet sanding.... Worth a try on a small section. If it works, great.. If not, you're still with a crazed hatch....
Quote from: George Bean on July 15, 2015, 10:53:38 AM
So, my hatches are already crazed. Has anyone replaced the damaged hatch lens, and if so, how? Or am I resigned to spending big bucks at Lewmar? I was hoping that I could sand with 400 - 600 grit and then polish from there. :cry4`
George,
It all depends on how deep the crazing is. If you think it's only on the outer surface, then Roc's idea makes sense. If they go deeper, then it won't work, as previously described.
IIRC, there have been some discussions on our board about redoing lenses only. I'll see if i can find some.
Quote from: George Bean on July 15, 2015, 10:53:38 AM
So, my hatches are already crazed. Has anyone replaced the damaged hatch lens, and if so, how? Or am I resigned to spending big bucks at Lewmar? I was hoping that I could sand with 400 - 600 grit and then polish from there. :cry4`
George,
I did a search on "lenses" and found this one, there is a link in Reply #3 that shows how to with pictures.
http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4389.0.html (http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4389.0.html)
You might also do your own search on "forward hatch" and see what else you may find.
If you do your own search on "lenses" there may be more there that would interest you. I got two pages of "hits."
Good luck.
Charlie,
I have McGuires Plastic polish/cleaner on board you can use and see if it works for you. It does help on fogged lenses. See you at the lake.
George : Even with 3000 grit paper you'll never sand crazed lenses to where they are clear!!!
Just bare your pocket book to Select Plastics (not Lewmar)!!
After all "you are a yacht owner!!
A thought