I removed the old standard Becksons on my F30 and converted to Beckson rain drains about four years ago. Major improvement in water shedding. I don’t take a shower when opening ports after a rough passage or rain.
However the glass is getting pretty oxidized and cloudy. Minor issue and new ones are $70 each so a low priority. I had them in the back of my mind for replacement someday.
So I happened to be watching YouTube shorts the other day and some guy was testing plastic headlight restoration techniques. He dismissed wd4o, toothpaste, and an orange slice covered in baking soda. Then he tested a 3M headlight restorer kit. The 3M kit worked pretty well.
Anyway, the light went on, no pun intended. I thought, well, if it works on plastic headlights it ought to work on Beckson port glass.
Ordered a kit and here are the results. I am pretty happy. If carefully inspected the restored lens does show some faint scratches from the 3000 grit sandpaper in the kit but is way way better than it was. The restore kit costs 10 bucks and I can get at least two ports out of the kit. The kit comes with a special UV coating which is applied after final sanding. On the next one I may use some of my 4000 and 7000 grit paper to see if I can get them to really look new. I may have to refresh the restore periodically but I don’t think I’ll be buying new lenses for quite some time.
Good results Mike! Looks great. I did and do same thing once a year. Not a 3M product but equivalent from a car after market shop. Re scratches, get one of those gel or paste silicon wax finishing compounds, also for car lights and paint job. It dries clear and has the same optical properties as the plastic itself, so scratches as invisible. I use this also on my solar panels (without the abrasive polishing). Improves light absorption measurably.
I agree. There are probably several ways to do this. I do like the fact the 3m kit (or equivalent) has all the stuff one needs .
My primary objective of the post is “don’t throw the foggy windows away” They can be brought back to near New. In my case it took about 15 mins of actual work and an hour for the protectant to dry.
For any who haven’t actually removed one, it is dead simple to get them off and into your workshop.
Well, I am staring at a very oxidized 100W flex solar panel. I was going to bin the thing cause it is only producing about 40W in ideal conditions. It is pretty beat up but I’ll try polishing it using a “finishing compound” and see what happens. If I actually get round to doing it I will post some before/after pics.
I believe I have achieved an unexpected benefit after polishing the ports. polishing seems to have substantially improved the performance of the port gaskets. I usually have at least one “dripper” after the first few days of rainy season here in California. We have been through several winter storms now with no leakage at any of the ports. This is a first.
I imagine this could make sense if the surface of the port is very smooth as opposed to slightly roughed up by UV damage near gasket faces??
In any event, I thought it was worth mentioning as a possible leak remedy for UV worn port plastic.
Mike, if they do start leaking over time, I have a cure. My old port lights used to leak and i would put some dialectic grease on the gaskets. No more leaks.
Eban, Yes, I have used it in past and it works. Unfortunately the boat and I live on the California Delta downwind of large farming communities. We get a lot of dust as the farmers do their thing. Consequently the grease, even used sparingly, picks up a lot of dust and becomes a bit of a mess which is a pain to clean up. I am thrilled that I can use the bare gaskets to get a proper seal and keep the grease as a backup. It is useful for a lot of other things on the boat.
