Issue with 230mm glass dome port (foggy)

Hello!  

Just curious to see if anyone has had this issue with their glass dome.  Their seems to be some kind of fog that seems impossible to remove on my dome.  Iv'e tried a spot clean with some vinegar, but that didn't seem to do anything at all.  It's not really that noticeable when under water, but not great for split shots anymore.  The dome has seen a fair amount of use over the years, but I am very particular when it come to rinsing ect.   Any info would be great  

Cheers,

Matt 

I use denatured alcohol on glass. Glass can be lightly coated my minerals in water. This stuff works as a "solvent" on glass that makes it sparkle. Be careful to NOT get it on painted surfaces. I use a glove and a very clean microfiber rag. You can get is most anywhere; Walmart, Home Depot or Lowes. 

P.S. Do not use on coated lenses

Thanks Bill, 

I might give that a shot on a small test section.   

I assume it's on the outside?

Cerium oxide will buff it out. Not for coated glass:(

Used for polishing optical glass, mildly abrasive

Available on Amazon.

I used a glass scratch repair kit to remove hardwater and calcium stains from some of my ports and wet lenses.  I even managed to remove a couple of scratches from my Zen 4" mini dome port with it.  This is the kit:

https://www.glasspolish.com.au/products/glass-scratch-repair-kit-diy-gpwiz

Forget about using it with the pads in an electric drill, I just used the microfibre cloth and some elbow grease to do the job.

As everyone else has said DON'T USE ON COATED SURFACES!

Thanks for the input everyone.  I originally assumed the issue was on the outside of the glass,  but the more I look into the problem the more I think it's something wrong with the reflective coating and may not be so easy to fix.  

Cheers!

I once jumped off a boat through a thin oil slick and when I surfaced I went through the same oil again. Afterwards my housing and port were covered in an un-removable foggy film. Tried all kind of soapy liquids until someone suggested to submerge the whole thing in coca cola. 24 hours in 3 litters of coca cola and my housing is back to how it was before (even the glass). Needless to say, I stopped drinking cola...

Wow, first time I've heard of using Coke. Interesting!

It's the Real Thing, eh?

I had the same problem once in Lembeh on a macro port. I tried everything I could get my hands on - other than Coke - but couldn't clean it. I ended up replacing the glass.

I think someone on WP a good while ago also suggested the UK metal cleaning liquid, Brasso.

Well there you go, I would have never thought about using Coke, but will try and report back  

21 hours ago, TimG said:

It's the Real Thing, eh?

No joke, believe me on my Sea&Sea housing it worked. Had the oily film on the housing for about 5-6 days until I did the coke thing. It also cleaned the class on my macro port.

Not tried it on a dome - but this brought this D2 strobe back to life after a nasty battery flood. 

Back in the dark ages, when I worked as a mechanic's assistant in a gas station at 16 years old, we would use Coke to clean the corrosion off auto battery terminals.  The phosphoric acid in it works well for that, but then you need to flush it thoroughly with fresh water to remove all the sugar.  I have used this trick multiple times since then.

Makes you wonder why anybody would want to drink that stuff .....

Because it tastes great, Andre. Especially with rum...

I would first send the pic to the manufacturer and ask them how to clean it and where the coating came from.  Does the glass have a non reflective coating added to it?  I have an Aquatic dome and would be interested in finding out both questions.

The Meltdownman

We have somewhat of hard water and for the glasses I soak them in white vinegar overnight.  Works good.

38 minutes ago, meltdownman said:

I would first send the pic to the manufacturer and ask them how to clean it and where the coating came from.  Does the glass have a non reflective coating added to it?  I have an Aquatic dome and would be interested in finding out both questions.

 

The Meltdownman

Yes, I have spoken with the local supplier (not Aquatic, so cant comment on yours)  It seems that it may have something to do with a coating and would more than likely not be able to be fixed without a glass replacement.  This dome is many years old and has dived in some harsh environments over it's life so I guess that's just how it goes sometimes, still a bugger though as they're not cheap.  Over those years I spent a lot of time in the Micronesia and the fresh water that I used to rinse the dome every dive may have been fairly hard and could have bought on the issue, but I don't really know.   As I have been advised that the glass needs replacing I have nothing to loose so it's now soaking in 8 litres of Coke.  I will see what it looks like in a few more hours and report back.  The dome is still very useable underwater as the fog only appears when it starts to dry.  

16 hours ago, Alex_Mustard said:

Not tried it on a dome - but this brought this D2 strobe back to life after a nasty battery flood. 

Haha, Nice one.  It just doesn't seem right to pour a liquid in a sealed compartment, but hey... if it works that's great  

Had this same issue with my 13 year old dome. After research I got some Mother's Chrome Polish and it buffed out nicely with some elbow grease and multiple applications. Supposedly Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish works too.

Chris