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#1
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foggy headlights
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy.
It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. |
#2
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foggy headlights
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva)
wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. http://www.permatexrepair.com/product/lens "Headlight restoration kit" -- My son works at a dealership in the prep bay. He was a skeptic when they told him to restore a couple headlights on a used car-- Now he's a believer. [but for *his* car, he'd just buy a new set of glass, despite the cost.] Jim |
#3
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foggy headlights
On Apr 28, 6:34*am, (Herb Eneva) wrote:
* *On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? *Please help. yes auto parts stores sell headlight rejuvenator kits. i have sed them. first clean headlights well with fantastic or 409. let dry then use the mld abrasive they provide with their buffing wheel, repeart till things look good buy the kit with the sealer included. it does help he improvement to last. look at this as a yearly maintence job, its not hard, just a nuisance. do check inside of lenses for water, once i had them nearly full of water. leakers should be replaced,, although a buddy of mine drill holes in the bottoms of his to let the water out |
#4
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foggy headlights
Herb Eneva wrote the following on 4/28/2012 6:34 AM (ET):
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. I've used polishing compound with the drill and buffer and had good results. Even the TV advertised products don't do any better. -- Bill In Hamptonburgh, NY In the original Orange County. Est. 1683 To email, remove the double zeros after @ |
#5
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foggy headlights
On 4/28/2012 7:23 AM, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva) wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. http://www.permatexrepair.com/product/lens "Headlight restoration kit" -- My son works at a dealership in the prep bay. He was a skeptic when they told him to restore a couple headlights on a used car-- Now he's a believer. [but for *his* car, he'd just buy a new set of glass, despite the cost.] Jim Instructional video is good. You could duplicate materials. I used to use toothpaste to polish up a plastic watch lens. Any mild abrasive would work but at all costs, avoid solvents, as they could ruin the plastic lens. |
#6
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foggy headlights
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#7
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foggy headlights
When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface
or the outside surface that needs polishing? |
#8
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foggy headlights
On Apr 28, 9:57*am, Home Guy wrote:
When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface or the outside surface that needs polishing? Duh! |
#9
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foggy headlights
Frank wrote:
When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface or the outside surface that needs polishing? Duh! I'm serious. Which side of the lens turns cloudy or milky - and why? You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be made from the same plastic... |
#10
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foggy headlights
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck. Jimmie |
#11
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foggy headlights
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 12:22:47 PM UTC-4, JIMMIE wrote:
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck. Jimmie |
#12
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foggy headlights
Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Harbor Freight also sells a headlight polishing kit. |
#13
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foggy headlights
On 04/28/2012 12:22 PM, JIMMIE wrote:
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck. Jimmie what he said. the "headlight restoration kits" you see advertised are basically just the same thing. Just sand them down with some fine grit (1000, 1500 etc.) sandpaper, then buff with rubbing compound, polish, then wax. Or just buy the kit - if you don't have a good auto body supply around, and/or don't do body work and therefore have the need to keep supplies around to cut and buff orange peel out of paint, then it's not that expensive in the grand scheme of things. Just understand that once you've done this, you've removed the UV-protective layer of your headlights, so they will "fog" up that much more quickly again. A good way to maintain them is to simply polish and wax them whenever you do your paint. What you're seeing is a combination of actual sandblasting by road debris (which you probably won't get out) and degradation of the top layer of the plastic due to UV damage (which you *can* polish out for a nice improvement.) nate -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel |
#14
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foggy headlights
On 04/28/2012 11:41 AM, Home Guy wrote:
Frank wrote: When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface or the outside surface that needs polishing? Duh! I'm serious. Which side of the lens turns cloudy or milky - and why? You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be made from the same plastic... I've seen it, on cars that sit outside all the time. Polishing/waxing your light lenses at the same time that you do the paint keeps them looking shiny however. I recently bought an old Jeep Cherokee and apparently a PO had gouged the 3rd brake light either by backing into something or else loading something on top of the vehicle, so while collecting parts for some other stuff I wanted to do (specifically, adding a factory fog light switch and cruise control) had a guy that was parting out a wrecked vehicle send me his 3rd brake light. It was all kinds of pink and hazy looking, but I just hit it with some old Zymol that I found in my box of detailing stuff, now it looks like new. I've also noticed that the clear turn signal repeaters on A4 chassis VWs seem to age particularly badly, although fortunately for owners of those cars, replacements aren't expensive if they don't buff out. Now why headlights, probably the most important light of the vehicle, seem to weather worse than most other light lenses, I don't know - but they do seem to. Maybe it's because a lot of them are "laid back" so they are more exposed to the sun's rays than a typical taillight? In any case most of the weathering seems to be on the outside of the lens, and it's always related to sun exposure. This is a reason that I like good old sealed-beam format headlights (so I can replace them with E-code assemblies with glass lenses) I have seen some European vehicle-specific headlights w/ glass lenses (VW Corrado for example) but I don't think I've ever seen a glass lens on a US market car outside of a sealed beam; I don't know why that is. Plastic is definitely a step back in durability and clarity (at least after they fog up) for sure. nate -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel |
#15
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foggy headlights
Home Guy wrote in :
Frank wrote: When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface or the outside surface that needs polishing? Duh! I'm serious. Which side of the lens turns cloudy or milky - and why? The outside. The problem appears to be UV light from the sun. You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be made from the same plastic... I believe headlamps are made of polycarbonate. Other lenses are usually made of acrylic (PMMA). By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion epoxy. It's that epoxy which discolors as a consequence of UV. No other plastic lenses need be so coated, so those generally don't go yellow or cloud-over. As for a fix, most garages, bodyshops, and detailing places offer headlamp- lens-cleaning services. They work surprisingly well. Auto-supply stores, Walmart, and other retailers offer DIY kits that do much the same thing. -- Tegger |
#16
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foggy headlights
"Herb Eneva" wrote in message ... On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becoming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. I have 3 vehicles. 1992, 2001 and 2007. 3 different brands. All have good clear headlight lenses. I when I wash and wax them I use Nu Finish wax even on all the plastics. This is good for fiber glass on motor homes. Found this out from a friend that has a motor home. All my vehicles still look like new despite being out in the sun. My $.02 worth WW |
#17
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foggy headlights
willshak wrote in
m: Herb Eneva wrote the following on 4/28/2012 6:34 AM (ET): On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. I've used polishing compound with the drill and buffer and had good results. Even the TV advertised products don't do any better. I used plastic polish and a foam pad on my cordless drill. But after a few months(in central Florida),it clouds up again. the key is that the lenses are coated with a UV protectant at the factory. I discovered a restorer kit that includes a packet of coating/sealant that has the UV protectant,and it lasted over a year before my 94 Integra GS-R was stolen,stripped and torched. the name of the kit is CrystalView Headlight Restorer/Defogger,and I bought it at WalMart for $20. It comes with polishing compound,ultrafine sandpaper,and polishing cloths for badly scratched lenses. I haven't seen it there lately but they may still have it at the online WalMart store. The MGF website is MyHeadlight.com Disclaimer; have no financial connection with the company or WalMart. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at localnet dot com |
#18
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foggy headlights
Nate Nagel wrote in
: On 04/28/2012 12:22 PM, JIMMIE wrote: On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. I applied it by hand instead of a drill but I didnt start taking care of the problem after 10 years. I have been doing it about once a year starting at about the second year I owned my 10 year old truck. Jimmie what he said. the "headlight restoration kits" you see advertised are basically just the same thing. Just sand them down with some fine grit (1000, 1500 etc.) sandpaper, then buff with rubbing compound, polish, then wax. Or just buy the kit - if you don't have a good auto body supply around, and/or don't do body work and therefore have the need to keep supplies around to cut and buff orange peel out of paint, then it's not that expensive in the grand scheme of things. Just understand that once you've done this, you've removed the UV-protective layer of your headlights, so they will "fog" up that much more quickly again. A good way to maintain them is to simply polish and wax them whenever you do your paint. What you're seeing is a combination of actual sandblasting by road debris (which you probably won't get out) and degradation of the top layer of the plastic due to UV damage (which you *can* polish out for a nice improvement.) nate note; CrystalView restorer kit includes the sealant that has UV protection,and it lasted over a year on my Integra,but then the car was stolen. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at localnet dot com |
#19
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foggy headlights
Bob F wrote:
Herb Eneva wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Harbor Freight also sells a headlight polishing kit. I just tried a quick couple minutes of polishing on my 94 Caravan headlights using Bonami and a wet paper towel, which appears to have nicely done the job. Thank you Doug! |
#20
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foggy headlights
Nate Nagel wrote in
: On 04/28/2012 11:41 AM, Home Guy wrote: Frank wrote: When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface or the outside surface that needs polishing? Duh! I'm serious. Which side of the lens turns cloudy or milky - and why? You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be made from the same plastic... I've seen it, on cars that sit outside all the time. Polishing/waxing your light lenses at the same time that you do the paint keeps them looking shiny however. I recently bought an old Jeep Cherokee and apparently a PO had gouged the 3rd brake light either by backing into something or else loading something on top of the vehicle, so while collecting parts for some other stuff I wanted to do (specifically, adding a factory fog light switch and cruise control) had a guy that was parting out a wrecked vehicle send me his 3rd brake light. It was all kinds of pink and hazy looking, but I just hit it with some old Zymol that I found in my box of detailing stuff, now it looks like new. yeah,any plastic polish works good for plain fogging. I used a foam pad on my cordless drill. I've also noticed that the clear turn signal repeaters on A4 chassis VWs seem to age particularly badly, although fortunately for owners of those cars, replacements aren't expensive if they don't buff out. Now why headlights, probably the most important light of the vehicle, seem to weather worse than most other light lenses, I don't know - but they do seem to. Maybe it's because a lot of them are "laid back" so they are more exposed to the sun's rays than a typical taillight? In any case most of the weathering seems to be on the outside of the lens, and it's always related to sun exposure. This is a reason that I like good old sealed-beam format headlights (so I can replace them with E-code assemblies with glass lenses) I have seen some European vehicle-specific headlights w/ glass lenses (VW Corrado for example) but I don't think I've ever seen a glass lens on a US market car outside of a sealed beam; I don't know why that is. Plastic is definitely a step back in durability and clarity (at least after they fog up) for sure. nate the headlight lenses are polycarbonate plastic that's dipped in a coating that is hard and protects from UV. Glass lenses were great,but would shatter from stones thrown up by semis and other vehicles. They also could not be molded into complex shapes without great cost,and then there was the advent of halogen bulbs in the headlight/reflector assembly. Polycarbonate(Lexan) is less prone to shatter from such road debris,but NEEDS the anti-UV coating to last. But it eventually wears away,and then the lenses degrade. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at localnet dot com |
#21
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foggy headlights
"Herb Eneva" wrote in message ... On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. harbor freight has a kit for about 10 bucks |
#22
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foggy headlights
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:23:49 -0400, Jim Elbrecht
wrote: On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva) wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. http://www.permatexrepair.com/product/lens "Headlight restoration kit" -- My son works at a dealership in the prep bay. He was a skeptic when they told him to restore a couple headlights on a used car-- Now he's a believer. [but for *his* car, he'd just buy a new set of glass, despite the cost.] Nothing better than new lens, but you can defog/descratch pretty well much more cheaply with the DIY remedies. I used this on 2 cars. Bought it for 7 bucks or so. http://www.amazon.com/BlueMagic-725-...pr_product_top I did a Amazon review July 4, 2011. That about covers it in my experience. Just needed a clean rag. -- Vic |
#23
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foggy headlights
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:22:47 -0700, JIMMIE wrote:
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote: On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Ive used polishing compound on mine and it has worked great. Right... and if you don't have any polishing compound handy, toothpaste does a good job, too. :-) cheers Jules |
#24
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foggy headlights
On Saturday, April 28, 2012 6:34:54 AM UTC-4, Herb Eneva wrote:
On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? Please help. Watch TV for 15 minutes and you'll see at least one commercial for a headlight lens restoration kit... |
#25
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foggy headlights
Home Guy wrote:
Frank wrote: When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface or the outside surface that needs polishing? Duh! I'm serious. Which side of the lens turns cloudy or milky - and why? You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be made from the same plastic... Colors restrict uv destruction. That headlight compound has a lot of grit, as I found trying to polish a cd !!!!! Greg |
#26
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foggy headlights
By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion epoxy. It's that epoxy which discolors as a consequence of UV. No other plastic lenses need be so coated, so those generally don't go yellow or cloud-over. Ah so it's CONGRESS's fault Mark |
#27
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foggy headlights
On Apr 28, 8:24*am, "Doug" wrote:
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:54 -0400, (Herb Eneva) wrote: * On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? *Please help. Actually I just use Bonami or Comet (household cleansers) with a sponge and it works good on my 10 year old car. *Honestly it comes out almost as new. * If you look real for imperfections, of course not new but it's reasonably close .... surely works at nite a lot better without a doubt. *I never did this but I bet with a buffer, it would be even better but for me, its easy enough to do by hand and looks pretty good. I use rubbing compound by hand. Works great. No need to spend money on a headlight "restoration" kit. This is what I use. I bought it for a car that needed some oxidation removed. http://www.turtlewax.com/product-detail.aspx?prodid=76 |
#28
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foggy headlights
"The previous administration. It's worse than I thought. We're fighting for
legislaion to resolve this. Now, let me make my self perfectly clear." B.H.O. .. "Mark" wrote in message ... By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion epoxy. It's that epoxy which discolors as a consequence of UV. No other plastic lenses need be so coated, so those generally don't go yellow or cloud-over. Ah so it's CONGRESS's fault Mark |
#29
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foggy headlights
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#30
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foggy headlights
On 4/28/2012 11:59 AM, Tegger wrote:
.... By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion epoxy. ... .... Well, no, not quite... NHTSA has a bunch of requirements that lighting must meet but they do not mandate any specific material or manufacturing technique, only the performance requirements the end product must meet. There's a reg's that requires that _if_ a coating is used to meet the performance standards (brightness, color, etc.) that that coating must contain a UV-detectable component so that it (the coating) can be shown to be present in the production products but there's nothing that says if can make the specifications w/o a coating you have to use one for any purpose. The practicalities are that coatings are needed to meet the performance spec's but that's not the way the reg's are written. The tests are multitudinous and detailed, particularly for color matching. The weathering test is outlined as-- S14.4.2 Plastic optical materials tests. Accelerated weathering procedures are not permitted. S14.4.2.1 Samples. S14.4.2.1.1 Samples of materials shall be injection molded into polished metal molds to produce test specimens with two flat and parallel faces. Alternative techniques may be used to produce equivalent specimens. S14.4.2.1.2 Test specimens shape may vary, but each exposed surface must contain a minimum uninterrupted area of 32 sq cm. S14.4.2.1.3 Samples must be furnished in thicknesses of 1.6 ± 0.25 mm, 2.3 ± 0.25 mm, 3.2 ± 0.25 mm, and 6.4 ± 0.25 mm. S14.4.2.1.4 All samples must conform to the applicable color test requirement of this standard prior to testing. S14.4.2.1.5 A control sample, kept properly protected from influences which may change its appearance and properties of each thickness, must be retained. S14.4.2.2 Outdoor exposure test. S14.4.2.2.1 Outdoor exposure tests of 3 years in duration must be made on samples of all materials, including coated and uncoated versions, used for optical parts of devices covered by this standard. Tests are to be conducted in Florida and Arizona. S5.1.2 Plastic materials used for optical parts such as lenses and reflectors shall conform to SAE Recommended Practice J576 JUL91, except that: (a) Plastic lenses (other than those incorporating reflex reflectors) used for inner lenses or those covered by another material and not exposed directly to sunlight shall meet the requirements of paragraphs 3.3 and 4.2 of SAE J576 JUL91 when covered by the outer lens or other material; (b) After the outdoor exposure test, the haze and loss of surface luster of plastic materials (other than those incorporating reflex reflectors) used for outer lenses shall not be greater than 30 percent haze as measured by ASTM D 1003–92, Haze and Luminous Transmittance of Transparent Plastic; (c) After the outdoor exposure test, plastic materials used for reflex reflectors and for lenses used in front of reflex reflectors shall not show surface deterioration, crazing, dimensional changes, color bleeding, delamination, loss of surface luster, or haze that exceeds 7 percent as measured under ASTM D 1003–92. There are something like 300 pages of more fascinating bedtime reading but the word "epoxy" doesn't appear. -- |
#31
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foggy headlights
On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 04:24:40 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote: On Apr 28, 6:34*am, (Herb Eneva) wrote: * *On my 10 year old van the headlight lens are becomming real foggy. It`s almost as if they have been sandblasted. What can I do to make them clear again? Can I use a buffer wheel in a drill with some sort of rubbing compound? *Please help. yes auto parts stores sell headlight rejuvenator kits. i have sed them. first clean headlights well with fantastic or 409. let dry then use the mld abrasive they provide with their buffing wheel, repeart till things look good buy the kit with the sealer included. it does help he improvement to last. look at this as a yearly maintence job, its not hard, just a nuisance. do check inside of lenses for water, once i had them nearly full of water. leakers should be replaced,, although a buddy of mine drill holes in the bottoms of his to let the water out More auto junk from Detroit. Back when they still made GOOD cars, you never needed to do **** like this. When a headlight burned out, you spent $5 for a new bulb, and 10 minutes to install it. If that was my vehicle, I'd raise hell with the manufacturer, and insist they replace it for safety reasons. If they dont, sue the *******s. Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver stranded, and the list goes on. Modern cars are GARBAGE! |
#32
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foggy headlights
dpb wrote in :
On 4/28/2012 11:59 AM, Tegger wrote: ... By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion epoxy. ... ... Well, no, not quite... NHTSA has a bunch of requirements that lighting must meet but they do not mandate any specific material or manufacturing technique, only the performance requirements the end product must meet. You're right. But meeting those performance requirements effectively means the application of a coating on the underlying plastic, since there currently does not exist a practical plastic with the stability and surface-hardness required to pass the tests without a coating being applied. My understanding is that the coating ends up being a cross-linked polymer, an epoxy. -- Tegger |
#33
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foggy headlights
wrote Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver stranded, and the list goes on. Modern cars are GARBAGE! Cars are far more reliable than years ago. Last time I was stranded was 1986. Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the road. Very rare today. |
#34
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foggy headlights
On Apr 28, 12:48*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
On 04/28/2012 11:41 AM, Home Guy wrote: Frank wrote: When it comes to fogged-up headlight lenses - is it the inside surface or the outside surface that needs polishing? Duh! I'm serious. Which side of the lens turns cloudy or milky - *and why? You don't see tail-light lenses turn cloudy, even though they seem to be made from the same plastic... I've seen it, on cars that sit outside all the time. *Polishing/waxing your light lenses at the same time that you do the paint keeps them looking shiny however. You probably would see it on rear light lenses to the same extent as the headlights if you drove the car backwards..... |
#35
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foggy headlights
On May 3, 9:02*am, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
wrote Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver stranded, and the list goes on. *Modern cars are GARBAGE! Cars are far more reliable than years ago. *Last time I was stranded was 1986. *Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the road. *Very rare today. Yup. I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every time. When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't reliably make it to the grocery store. I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. When I was a kid I did it so often I became skilled at it. |
#36
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foggy headlights (on reliable cars)
I'm with you, mine do break down, now and again. But much more seldom than
before. My work van just rolled over 200,000 miles, and it's still a dependable vehicle. Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. "TimR" wrote in message news:d468c7ce-838c-4733-a837- Cars are far more reliable than years ago. Last time I was stranded was 1986. Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the road. Very rare today. Yup. I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every time. When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't reliably make it to the grocery store. I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. When I was a kid I did it so often I became skilled at it. |
#37
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foggy headlights
On 5/3/2012 7:59 AM, Tegger wrote:
wrote in : On 4/28/2012 11:59 AM, Tegger wrote: ... By law, plastic headlight lenses must be coated with an anti-abrasion epoxy. ... ... Well, no, not quite... NHTSA has a bunch of requirements that lighting must meet but they do not mandate any specific material or manufacturing technique, only the performance requirements the end product must meet. You're right. But meeting those performance requirements effectively means the application of a coating on the underlying plastic, since there currently does not exist a practical plastic with the stability and surface-hardness required to pass the tests without a coating being applied. My understanding is that the coating ends up being a cross-linked polymer, an epoxy. I've no clue on actual materials; whatever the treatment(s) are the spec's are performance not material based is the point. The abrasion one is probably as minimal of a one as any; I expect the photometry and UV testing are at least as difficult to meet. To my surprise an impact test itself didn't seem to be mentioned... -- |
#38
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foggy headlights
On 05/03/2012 09:41 AM, TimR wrote:
On May 3, 9:02 am, "Ed wrote: wrote Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver stranded, and the list goes on. Modern cars are GARBAGE! Cars are far more reliable than years ago. Last time I was stranded was 1986. Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the road. Very rare today. Yup. I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every time. When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't reliably make it to the grocery store. I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. When I was a kid I did it so often I became skilled at it. I don't think older cars are as bad as they're made out to me. My dad put about 300K miles on a '67 Cutlass before the frame rusted out. It probably needed a new carburetor too but other than that it was running well. He still has the '73 Chevy pickup that my grandfather bought new. The original 307 was replaced with a junkyard 350 years ago, and the points ignition was replaced with a junkyard HEI (back when you could still get HEI dists at a junkyard) but other than that it's got all the original mechanical bits. I don't know if he's got it back together yet, living in PA it's in the middle of its second mini-resto, the bodywork/paint job that I did on it when I was in high school was starting to look a little shabby, as are the bed floor boards that I made for it at the same time. nate -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel |
#39
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foggy headlights
On May 3, 12:32*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
On 05/03/2012 09:41 AM, TimR wrote: On May 3, 9:02 am, "Ed *wrote: *wrote Dont you just love the new technology, cheap plastic headlights, cheap fuel pumps (built like kids toys) that die and leave the driver stranded, and the list goes on. *Modern cars are GARBAGE! Cars are far more reliable than years ago. *Last time I was stranded was 1986. *Before that, it was common to see cars broke down on the side of the road. *Very rare today. Yup. *I'm driving a car with 100,000 plus on it, and it starts every time. When I was a kid, several! decades ago, a car that old wouldn't reliably make it to the grocery store. I haven't changed a flat tire in probably 30 years. *When I was a kid I did it so often I became skilled at it. I don't think older cars are as bad as they're made out to me. *My dad put about 300K miles on a '67 Cutlass before the frame rusted out. *It probably needed a new carburetor too but other than that it was running well. *He still has the '73 Chevy pickup that my grandfather bought new.. * The original 307 was replaced with a junkyard 350 years ago, and the points ignition was replaced with a junkyard HEI (back when you could still get HEI dists at a junkyard) but other than that it's got all the original mechanical bits. *I don't know if he's got it back together yet, living in PA it's in the middle of its second mini-resto, the bodywork/paint job that I did on it when I was in high school was starting to look a little shabby, as are the bed floor boards that I made for it at the same time. nate -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Most of those cleaners work fine. Problem is the uv resistance in the headligh plastic has deteriorated. You can make them look new again but it won't last long. It's fine if you don;t mind cleaning them again a few times a year. But if you want them fixed you need to get replacements. |
#40
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foggy headlights
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