Re: how to fix old lights?

[The Murphy-Fahlgren Family <efhome@master.adams.com>]

Fred & Decsi,

Actually, if the headlights are worth saving (in terms of $$$, of course),
then you could remove the lens, strip the old coating off (use lye, wear
goggles), and then send the reflectors off to a telescope mirror place
that does aluminizing and overcoating.  You can find these places in
astronomy mags (Sky & Telescope, for instance), and the rates used to be
pretty reasonable.  I haven't made a telescope in 20 years or so, but I
think it only cost about $20 for an 8" diameter mirror back then.  (Ah,
just found US$30 for 8" in S&T.)

In addition to just the aluminizing, most places do fancy overcoating that
will 1) improve reflectivity, and 2) greatly enhance durability.

This, of course, is complete overkill for crappy lights like old type 44
DOTs, but for a set of clean Euros it might be a cheap way to bring them
back to life.

Eric Fahlgren

Fred Munro wrote:
> 
> Hi Decsi;
> 
>     These red spots are usually caused by corrosion of the reflective layer.
> The corrosion is caused by condensation or a leak letting water into the
> light. As far as I know, there is no way to repair the coating. When the
> corrosion gets bad enough to affect the light pattern, you have to replace
> the light. You should find the source of the water and seal it to prevent
> further corrosion.

-- 
The Murphy-Fahlgren Family            Try to take over the world.
efhome@adams.com                                  Canton, MI, USA