I may have inadvertantly destroyed an important lens! Help sought!

roodpe · Jun 27, 2006

glennfromwy said:
Another thing I always keep on hand for removing stubborn crud from lenses is Cerium Oxide. The finest grit available. A tiny amount on a wet cotton ball will really make it sparkle, without danger of harming the lens. Unless you rub for two weeks.

Cerium oxide will also remove older "cold" coatings from lenses so be careful if this lens was coated this way. Using cerium oxide is a good method to remove older deteriorated coatings from lenses. You should not use it with modern coatings.

I think using acetone should be Jim's first trial method. Make sure you apply it with 100% cotton/cotton rag. Do not use any cloths/rags with polyester, etc., because the acetone will break down the material and deposit it on your lens.

Peter Roody

jimgalli · Jun 27, 2006

John Kasaian said:
glennfromwy:

Is that anything like "Hasn't scratched yet" Bon Ami?

How about 'Glass Wax' ?
Maybe Elmer's Glue---let it dry and peel it off?
WD-40?
Coca Cola?
Sprayway Glass Cleaner?
Efferdent?
Alka Seltzer?
A-1 Steak Sauce (let the dog lick it clean?)
Cascade in the dishwasher?
Mrs Paul's Sudsy ammonia(diluted of course)
White wine
Club soda
Jalapeno pepper juice from a jar of J-peppers.

Any combination of the above

Maybe if I screw a good sized lens shade on and drink my red wine out of it for the next month? Not that fond of white wine. My daddy brought me up on dago red. Actually I'm considering Curt's suggestion carefully.

k_jupiter · Jun 27, 2006

I think Donald is onto something. I would start with distilled H2O but I suspect that won't touch it. I would then go down the list:

Carbonated water,
Vinager - white distilled,
IPA - no, not India Pale Ale,
acetone.

Stop there.

The idea of using rottenstone or any other compound scares the devil out of me. How many microns need come off before you've hosed the lens? Not many from my experiences grinding telescope mirrors.

tim in san jose

raucousimages · Jun 27, 2006

Try the coca cola, and no I am not nuts. It contains a very mild concentration of phosphoric acid. I have used it to clean salt water spray off of the glass globe of a nautical compass with out damageing the brass mounting.

mitica100 · Jun 27, 2006

I was given an old camera (worthless) with a lens, they were both so filthy from hard water (I guess someone had them near their kitchen sink or something...) and decided to salvage the screws, springs and what not from the camera body. I took off the lens and experimented with ZAP (which is for shower doors, pretty much the same thing as CLR). I put some on a swab of cotton and rubbed it gently. The dirt and grime went away, I rinsed then with some windex solution and dried with a microfiber cloth. The glass looked like new. BTW, it was uncoated.

Phillip P. Dimor · Jun 27, 2006

I'd go with acetone as well, however; Beware of hardware-store acetone..
Especially ones from WalMart, they are loaded with stuff to hamper those who use their solvents for clandestine drug manufacture. Things that won't dissolve cleanly, etc. So i've read. It might not be a big deal at all because you aren't boiling the stuff down, you know?

The best lens cleaner (commercial, that is) that i've used is the Rexton Optyl-7 stuff. Note that this won't really remove things that are stubborn.
Just clean it nice and easily, not too rough. You knew that though, i'm sure

DirkDynamo · Jun 27, 2006

hannibal crossed the alps with vinegar... if it can break down boulders, maybe it can break down calcium

jimgalli · Jun 28, 2006

Well, I did try the vinegar last evening. Swabbed full strength with a cotton pad and rinsed about 3 times. It didn't touch the nasty deposits. I'll move on to acetone tonight.

MattCarey · Jun 28, 2006

jimgalli said:
Maybe if I screw a good sized lens shade on and drink my red wine out of it for the next month? Not that fond of white wine. My daddy brought me up on dago red. Actually I'm considering Curt's suggestion carefully.

Are you sure that wasn't a dagor red?

Sorry...had to do it.

Matt

k_jupiter · Jul 2, 2006

jimgalli said:
Well, I did try the vinegar last evening. Swabbed full strength with a cotton pad and rinsed about 3 times. It didn't touch the nasty deposits. I'll move on to acetone tonight.

And?

tim in san jose

DBP · Jul 2, 2006

I would let it soak for a while in the vinegar - those deposits took a while to form.

phfitz · Jul 2, 2006

Hi Jim,

"In a worse case scenario, use rottenstone or whiting mixed 1:1:1 with ethyl alcohol (denatured will do but everclear or other 95% grain alcohol is better) and distilled water. Rub it on lightly with a soft and clean cotton rag, and wipe the dust off.

This mixture is a great glass cleaner detailed in 19th century manuals, usually used to clean glass before coating it with collodion. It will in my experience not scatch uncoated glass, but will ruin a coated lens..."

You can use "Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish" for the same results, it's even finer and will not remove any glass, just use really soft paper towels. Careful, it will remove the paint from the beauty ring. If this does not remove the stain, it needs repolishing.

********** DO NOT TRY THIS ON A COATED LENS ************

Bad thing do happen to good people.
Good luck with it, nice lens.

jimgalli · Jul 3, 2006

k_jupiter said:
And?

tim in san jose

Sorry, I've been at a standstill for a couple of reasons. Haven't tried the acetone yet. My internet connection has failed so I haven't been able to chatter much. Plus, I've been pushing on getting my '39 Ford Pickup running so a lot of things that I would have done are sitting. Tonight I immersed the surface in orange juice and will leave overnight. I also discovered a 2nd lens is affected but not as badly. Hope I can get some results. For you gearheads, first road trip in the '39 today. 55 miles to Goldfield NV and return.

phfitz · Jul 8, 2006

Well???

"Enquiring minds want to know"

Hope it didn't become a really expensive spittoon.

I may have inadvertantly destroyed an important lens! Help sought!

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