Can't fix residual mass of tiny scratches in Recsea flat port?

I've removed the deeper scratch from my Recsea flat port using P400, P600 and P1200 sandpaper (following a YouTube video) and the surface 'looks' and feels glossy after polishing with Brasso, but I cannot for the life of me remove the large 'mass' of small hazing scratches that now cover most of the small flat port resulting from sandpapering out the scratches, rendering it unusable in this state.  Any suggestions please?

Has anyone had success fixing Recsea (or other compact) flat ports with micro mesh and Novus, or anything else?

I'm wondering whether there's a different technique / tools required for compact flat ports, or whether Recsea ports can't be de-scratched? 

Is this port now cactus, or can it somehow be saved?

Grateful for all advice asap - thank you. 

It certainly looks a mess, I think your biggest issue is the small size of the port you are trying to repair, you really need to sand and then polish the entire surface in even strokes and the rim of the port prevents this.  I am also thinking the 400 grit sandpaper, might be a little coarse - I assume you used wet and dry paper and did the work wet? 

I see two possible solutions - the first might be to see if you can source a replacement  front element for the port.  They normally pop out and  mostly they are sealed with an o-ring.  This post talks about how to remove the port glass: 

View archived post in: Dome/flat port deconstruction

Second option is to pop it out and do the grinding with the front element out of the port.  Lay you paper flat and move the port over the paper so you cover the entire surface.   If you decide to pop it out I would source a new o-ring if you can  - the rim of any flat port would give you similar issues. 

The recsea port will be no different to any other acrylic port in repairability - I assume you have confirmed the front element is acrylic rather than glass??  What is different is getting access to it so it can be properly polished.  You would probably have to see if your retailer can source spare parts for you.

On 3/31/2022 at 5:04 PM, ChrisRoss said:

Thank you for your reply. Yes I did use wet and dry sandpaper wet. Have also done a follow up attempt with Novus kit. The surface feels super glossy and smooth but I think the damage has been done with the sandpapers. Appreciate your other suggestions and will follow up on them. Much gratitude.

 

On 3/31/2022 at 5:04 PM, ChrisRoss said:

Also, the manual for the Recsea port suggests it is 'manufactured using hard coat acrylic' and Novus says 'not recommended for coated plastics' so I'm wondering whether this suggests this brand of port cannot be repaired in the same way as other acrylic ports?

1 hour ago, Pink Tank Scuba said:

Also, the manual for the Recsea port suggests it is 'manufactured using hard coat acrylic' and Novus says 'not recommended for coated plastics' so I'm wondering whether this suggests this brand of port cannot be repaired in the same way as other acrylic ports?

Perhaps that is the case but further polishing to completely remove the the hard coat might be possible but need a huge amount of elbow grease.  I would definitely see is a spare element was available.

11 minutes ago, ChrisRoss said:

Perhaps that is the case but further polishing to completely remove the the hard coat might be possible but need a huge amount of elbow grease.  I would definitely see is a spare element was available.

I actually do have a spare acrylic piece and am now just trying to figure out how to remove the old one and replace it given the instructions you kindly linked to.

26 minutes ago, Pink Tank Scuba said:

I actually do have a spare acrylic piece and am now just trying to figure out how to remove the old one and replace it given the instructions you kindly linked to.

Be aware that you may also need a new o-ring seal.  I've never popped out the port glass so I'm not sure how difficult it will be to replace - you'll also want to test the port before using with the camera in the housing.

5 minutes ago, ChrisRoss said:

Be aware that you may also need a new o-ring seal.  I've never popped out the port glass so I'm not sure how difficult it will be to replace - you'll also want to test the port before using with the camera in the housing.

Yes thank you - shall do.