restoring cloudy ports

[WolfgangSeaLife]

Yesterday my Beckson ports made of Lexan were crystal clear.
Since I took them out I put them in a dishwasher to clean.
Now they are milky. As long as wet or wet with dishwasher lotion they clear up but as soon as they dry they are milky.
What happened?
Do I have to get polishing paste for polycarbonate ?
I tried wax but that does not work.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by WolfgangSeaLife

Yesterday my Beckson ports made of Lexan were crystal clear.
Since I took them out I put them in a dishwasher to clean.
Now they are milky. As long as wet or wet with dishwasher lotion they clear up but as soon as they dry they are milky.
What happened?
Do I have to get polishing paste for polycarbonate ?
I tried wax but that does not work.

Just get a headlight "restore kit" from an autoparts store. I did all 15 of my Beckson ports a few years ago and they've held up well.

This is the kit I used:

https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/...-kit-g2980-kit

[WolfgangSeaLife]

Got the auto lens restore kit and tried on hatches, did not work.
But I tried toothpaste on the port lenses, and it worked perfectly. First with a sander, but instead of sandpaper I used a wet cloth, then the hard work by hand. About 2 squ inches at a time hard rubbing about 50 to 100 times makes it perfectly clear. But this is just surface milkyness, not scratches and damage from chemicals like on my hatches.
Hope this helps others.
Wolfgang

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by WolfgangSeaLife

Got the auto lens restore kit and tried on hatches, did not work.
But I tried toothpaste on the port lenses, and it worked perfectly. First with a sander, but instead of sandpaper I used a wet cloth, then the hard work by hand. About 2 squ inches at a time hard rubbing about 50 to 100 times makes it perfectly clear. But this is just surface milkyness, not scratches and damage from chemicals like on my hatches.
Hope this helps others.
Wolfgang

Seems odd that the headlight restore kit didn't work for you as it has several steps starting with sanding with various grits from around 800 - 2000 then 2 grades of polishing paste. Maybe the kit you used didn't have the sanding steps...

[Bill O]

Lesson learned, just use mild soap and water as suggested for cleaning the ports.

We have 15 of the Beckson ports and just wash them by hand when dirty. Wouldn't have ever thought to take them apart and put them in the dishwasher as that seems like a lot more work.

[moctrams]

I've used Mr. Clean Magic Erasers with pretty good success.

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-Orig.../dp/B001339ZMW

[a64pilot]

Lexan is very strong, but soft, and as you found our dishwasher soap is abrasive, it will over time even dull glass.