Hatch Plexiglass Resoration

[spadaforaj]

Is there anything out there that can remove the oxidation and fogging of typical plexiglass port lenese (mine are Grey Industries on an old Hunter 33) - there are alot of them and they are expensive to replace !

Jim

 

[JerryA]

Maybe

Maybe the plastic cleaner/polish used on convertible top plastic windows. I've seen some pretty amazing results. I can't remember the name, but a car restoration place probably will. Maybe you can google it.

JerryA

 

[kczach]

Has anyone tried the headlight cover polishing kits that you see advertised on tv?

 

[dscribner]

I design skylights. Some of the commercial style (that I really don't do much with) are made from acrylic or polycarbonate. First of all, NEVER use glass cleaner or anything with ammonia. That's probably what caused the fogging. Also, I have seen some amazing results when the occasional dome gets scratched and it must ship . . . NOW! The'll use plastic polish and a buffing wheel. It takes it right out. Another option would be to get some drop plexi from a local glass company and replace the glazing yourself. It can be cut on a bandsaw or with a jig saw. Sand the edges to shape and reinstall.

 

[heart of gold]

I'm going down this road soon. My brother swears by stuff called "Micro Mesh". It's used in the aircraft industry although he uses it to polish guitars. Check this site out.

http://www.chiefaircraft.com/airsec/Aircraft/Windshields/ScratchRemoval.html

 

[rardiH36]

When I bought my boat, the hatches and ports (I've got Gray ports as well) were heavily oxidized. Responding to a query much like yours on the Cherubini forum a ways back I opined as follows:

If your plexiglass isn't crazed deep and its just oxidized on the surface, using very fine wet/dry sandpaper in the wet mode (1000 grit then 1500 then say 2000), followed by a special plastic polish with ultra fine rubbing compound built in will restore the surface of the plexiglass to a good shine and a fine view looking out. However it seems to me that plexiglass must have a special coating on the surface. Once its gone, then oxidation ocurrs more rapidly, so the polish will have to be used every so often to maintain the improved look.

Here's a link to the polish I've been using. I bought mine at a local hardware store that has a small automotive section: http://meguiarsdirect.com/detail/MEG+G12310

 

[Dan Johnson]

Just tested...

the Meguire's Plasti-X headlight lens cleaner on my two smallest hatches. Bought just the polish, not the whole kit (three times the stuff's price!).

Applied by hand and rubbed off with a clean terry rag. Worked great! Next trip to the boat am taking my 6" polisher down to do the larger hatches (and save my arm strength).

Have used cleaner waxes previously and feel that this product works better as it is more of a micro-polish and able to get the oxidation off better.

 

[catsailor]

the Meguire's Plasti-X headlight lens cleaner on my two smallest hatches. Bought just the polish, not the whole kit (three times the stuff's price!).

Applied by hand and rubbed off with a clean terry rag. Worked great! Next trip to the boat am taking my 6" polisher down to do the larger hatches (and save my arm strength).

Have used cleaner waxes previously and feel that this product works better as it is more of a micro-polish and able to get the oxidation off better.

I've used ordinary 3M rubbing compound followed by cleaner/wax on 14-old Beckson ports with good results.

I'm sure the answer varies with the situation.

 

[Steve Dion]

Jim: A lot of these products seem to clean them up for a while and then they seem to cloud up again.

I would try to wet/dry sand them in progressive steps as mentioned in an earlier post.

I just had my headlights on my VW Passat treated by a local class company. I do not know what they used, but the company is Techna Glass. They look great for now.