Sticky Bins

salar

salar

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Joined
5 May 2009
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990
Location
Hampshire, UK
harley25refit.blogspot.co.uk
I have some mid-price bins that incorporate a compass, and have used them happily for a few years. I recently noticed they were sticky to the touch and put that down to a disgusting mix of fish slime and bait that gets transferred to them on the rare occasions that I have a successful day fishing. I took them home for an overdue clean and found the stickiness was not bait but appeared to be the satin surface coating that had degraded. I cleaned it with meths and the surface is now non-sticky but glossy, not that it matters. I have also lost any of the markings, again that hardly matters because I just twisted the lenses without looking at them. I'm curious if this is a common problem or was I unlucky? Should I have treated it differently and saved the markings? I also have a range finder feature that I have not cleaned because those markings matter. What should I do to finish the job?
 
i have a pair like that (old ones given to me) - thanks for the meths tip, i would not have thought of that. i think its just old plastic of whatever sort that doesn't age well?
 
It is a common effect. The same happened to my old bins - not expensive but quite usable quality even after 25 years. I had tried white spirit without success, but I'll give the meths a go, too, as that's worked for you.

I have had the same problem with the plastic parts of a guitar stand. I'll be really pleased if the meths works on that, as it's otherwise a really good stand.
 
The stickiness is a coating that breaks down over time, frequent use will remove it as it happens. Sometimes alcohol doesn't work so well, try baking soda in water in that case.

I wonder if this is related to the non-veggie new fiver issue.

To OP, the part that you don't dare clean because of the range finder scale. Could you make a new legend to attach after cleaning?
 
I had similar problems with a pair of bins and an infrared, handheld thermometer. The rubberised coating became sticky to the touch.

I didn’t try meths but pretty much everything else found in my garage, white spirit, cellulose thinners, acetone. After a lot of elbow grease I managed to remove all traces of the sticky coating. They no longer look good and I was going to attempt to spray them using an airbrush. The optics and compass were unaffected so as it was purely cosmetic I did nothing.
 
davidjackson said:
I had similar problems with a pair of bins and an infrared, handheld thermometer. The rubberised coating became sticky to the touch.

I didn’t try meths but pretty much everything else found in my garage, white spirit, cellulose thinners, acetone. After a lot of elbow grease I managed to remove all traces of the sticky coating. They no longer look good and I was going to attempt to spray them using an airbrush. The optics and compass were unaffected so as it was purely cosmetic I did nothing.
Click to expand...

Both my Aldo binos have gone the same. They are many years old so no complaints. I was thinking or trying artists lacquer if I ever get around to it.

Similar problem with old fenders. I find you can get it off with a solvent but it soon comes back.
 
Thanks for all the replies - glad it's not just me. Meths worked well enough but it did strip off any decals or screen print. The graduations are etched so if I can be bothered I might try wiping over with white paint.
 
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