How to clean the glass of a Raymarine plotter

[MapisM]

Now that we are "at home", I'm beginning to deal with my list of small & not urgent jobs.
One of them is as per thread title: in the pic below, you can see that the glass of the screen on the right is not as clear as the other one.
Actually, it's almost unnoticeable when the instrument is turned on, so I could as well not bother at all.
But while jrudge was onboard, he suggested that the scratched surface (it ain't really scratched, but looks like, sort of) is just a superficial anti-glare treatment, which over time wears out.
And since the instruments is inside the p/house, there's no real need for anti-glare anyway.
He suggested to clean it with some toothpaste, removing the remainders of this superficial treatment and bringing back the glass as transparent as it should be. Now, I gave that a try, but maybe my toothpaste ain't strong enough, because it did something, but not much.
Any other ideas welcome, TIA!

 

[Nigelpickin]

Toothpaste with baking soda might work. What about Nilglass and newspaper, that’s what we used back in the day on the heads mirrors....
Otherwise a tiny bit of brasso liquid, very gently will work - but be careful, use a soft clean cloth an circular motion...

 

[julians]

Now that we are "at home", I'm beginning to deal with my list of small & not urgent jobs.
One of them is as per thread title: in the pic below, you can see that the glass of the screen on the right is not as clear as the other one.
Actually, it's almost unnoticeable when the instrument is turned on, so I could as well not bother at all.
But while jrudge was onboard, he suggested that the scratched surface (it ain't really scratched, but looks like, sort of) is just a superficial anti-glare treatment, which over time wears out.
And since the instruments is inside the p/house, there's no real need for anti-glare anyway.
He suggested to clean it with some toothpaste, removing the remainders of this superficial treatment and bringing back the glass as transparent as it should be. Now, I gave that a try, but maybe my toothpaste ain't strong enough, because it did something, but not much.
Any other ideas welcome, TIA!

I've used a a car paintwork polish to do the same on my raymarine tridata log screen, it worked really well.

 

[JerryC]

A word of caution about using toothpaste to clean cloudy plastic surfaces: it is recommended a lot on Youtube as a cheapskate way to restore car headlights which are made of a kind of polyester which goes cloudy over time due to exposure to UV light from the sun. I tried it, it made a slight difference but on close inspection the surface is now covered in tiny scraches so the headlight beam is only a little bit less scattered than before. I then used brasso with a microfibre cloth, this didn't remove the scratches so maybe I should have used that first.

Most auto shops sell a chemical cleaner for this job, which is claimed to leave no scratches. Haven't got round to trying it yet, maybe someone else on here can say whether it works or not and whether it would be suitable for your screen.

BTW I have those same Raymarine screens, they have plastic covers which push over when not in use to shield them from UV light, which I believe is the cause of the surface deterioration.

 

[Nauti Fox]

For car headlights I've used this ( which worked )but I wouldn't try it on a plotter...https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/...poT8VDSGOtJYByh6TqTCpK1URp0gI2rhoCaM8QAvD_BwE

 

[jrudge]

If toothpaste failed then upgrade to metal polish and that will fix it !

 

[jrudge]

A word of caution about using toothpaste to clean cloudy plastic surfaces: it is recommended a lot on Youtube as a cheapskate way to restore car headlights which are made of a kind of polyester which goes cloudy over time due to exposure to UV light from the sun. I tried it, it made a slight difference but on close inspection the surface is now covered in tiny scraches so the headlight beam is only a little bit less scattered than before. I then used brasso with a microfibre cloth, this didn't remove the scratches so maybe I should have used that first.i

Most auto shops sell a chemical cleaner for this job, which is claimed to leave no scratches. Haven't got round to trying it yet, maybe someone else on here can say whether it works or not and whether it would be suitable for your screen.

BTW I have those same Raymarine screens, they have plastic covers which push over when not in use to shield them from UV light, which I believe is the cause of the surface deterioration.

With Raymarine you are trying to remove the old anti glare coating that “flakes” off. So there is no attempt to make less cloudy etc

 

[Assassin]

Jewellers rouge for badly marked items or for a finer cut I would use Auto Glym paint renovator on a damp cloth.

 

[MapisM]

If toothpaste failed then upgrade to metal polish and that will fix it !

Doh! I half remembered that you suggested toothpaste or something else, but I forgot what the something else was!

Thanks everybody for the suggestions, actually I'm not losing my sleep over this issue, but if and when I will tackle it again with metal polish or other stuff I will report back about the results.

 

[[165042]]

Not sure about the earlier plotters but C/E series are acrylic screens not glass. The anti-glare is applied under vacuum deposition and can't be replaced easily. I've polished off a lot of these coatings for the same reason and use Autosmart Evo 3 as it's a diminishing abrasive.

 

[jrudge]

Doh! I half remembered that you suggested toothpaste or something else, but I forgot what the something else was!

Thanks everybody for the suggestions, actually I'm not losing my sleep over this issue, but if and when I will tackle it again with metal polish or other stuff I will report back about the results.

Mine looked like new and there is no glare even without the anti glare!

 

[Assassin]

Maguires do a spray on coating if they are plastic as opposed to glass.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Toothpaste with baking soda might work. What about Nilglass and newspaper, that’s what we used back in the day on the heads mirrors....
Otherwise a tiny bit of brasso liquid, very gently will work - but be careful, use a soft clean cloth an circular motion...

Yes, toothpaste is what I used. It did the job well.

 

[Hurricane]

DON'T DO ANYTHING
We had EXACTLY that issue with the last boat.
I did some/all of the above and completely ?ucked the screen surface.
Just leave it alone - doing anything will make it worse and even harder to see.

Sorry - just my experience.

 

[MapisM]

Thanks for the warning M, but are you sure that we are talking of the same units?
I'm asking because my understanding is that in the above displays the external screen is NOT the LCD display, but just a glass protection, which was replaced with some plastic stuff afterwards in the C series (touch screens being yet another kettle of fish altogether).
Besides, I did use some toothpaste already, and while it didn't make the glass as transparent as the other one, it did improve a fair bit.
Bottom line, my guess is that it's the synthetic stuff that could be damaged.
Mind, I'm well aware that some chemicals can attack glass surfaces, but I don't think anything of what was mentioned is aggressive enough...

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks for the warning M, but are you sure that we are talking of the same units?
I'm asking because my understanding is that in the above displays the external screen is NOT the LCD display, but just a glass protection, which was replaced with some plastic stuff afterwards in the C series (touch screens being yet another kettle of fish altogether).
Besides, I did use some toothpaste already, and while it didn't make the glass as transparent as the other one, it did improve a fair bit.
Bottom line, my guess is that it's the synthetic stuff that could be damaged.
Mind, I'm well aware that some chemicals can attack glass surfaces, but I don't think anything of what was mentioned is aggressive enough...

They look like the same RL80/RL70 Pathfinder displays that were fitted to our old boat.
If so, they have an anti glare coating that cannot be cleaned with an abrasive cleaner.
All that does is remove the coating.
AFAIK, there isn't anything you can do.

As a result of using an abrasive cleaner on our old boat and knackering them, we have taken great care on the new displays fitted to the Princess to make sure that they don't get scratched.
SWMBO washes them by squirting soapy water and rinsing - no rubbing.

 

[longjohnsilver]

DON'T DO ANYTHING
We had EXACTLY that issue with the last boat.
I did some/all of the above and completely ?ucked the screen surface.
Just leave it alone - doing anything will make it worse and even harder to see.

Sorry - just my experience.

Well toothpaste made mine much better and easier to see. Maybe you were using the wrong brand

 

[SVMusic]

If toothpaste failed then upgrade to metal polish and that will fix it !

good advice

 

[jrudge]

Metal polish made made mine like new

 

[JerryC]

... my understanding is that in the above displays the external screen is NOT the LCD display, but just a glass protection, which was replaced with some plastic stuff afterwards in the C series...

Mapism, you beat me to it, it all depends what the underlying substrate is: in my experience glass will survive an immense amount of scrubbing without damage (providing you have no grit in contact with the surface). Polycarbonates, perspex etc can be damaged beyond repair very quickly even with brasso. I'm guilty of this, luckily not with the Raymarine screen but while trying to 'polish' out ( ie by micro-abrasion) some damage to the surface coating to the screen of an old microfiche reader. Maybe the reason for such differing comments on here reflects whether the screens being treated were glass or plastic.