Camera lens hazing..

[IGBT]

I have a few security cams around and about and one of them developed hazing on the plastic lens cover. Cleaning has no effect. Is there anything I can do short of prying the thing off to restore the camera ops??

 

[gradoman]

Have you tried polishing the lens to get rid of the haze? It might be possible to use toothpaste and a cloth to polish it.

 

[IGBT]

Have you tried polishing the lens to get rid of the haze? It might be possible to use toothpaste and a cloth to polish it.

Interesting...I'll give it a try since the camera i unuseable at this point I can't make it any worse...

 

[Fenixgoon]

if it's a plastic lens then yeah, it will haze over time due to UV degradation. same thing happens to car headlight housings. just gotta polish them and they should be good to go again for a little whil.e

 

[BoomerD]

if it's a plastic lens then yeah, it will haze over time due to UV degradation. same thing happens to car headlight housings. just gotta polish them and they should be good to go again for a little whil.e

They sell headlight restoration kits/compounds for de-hazing. I’ve had mixed results with some of them. I think the Mothers kit was the best I tried.

 

[mindless1]

Is it flat or could take a flat lens? Prying it off and replacing with glass might be the longest lasting option. How old are they?

Polishing plastic, toothpaste will work but being such a low abrasive formula, will take a while. Assuming it is a small lens, might go faster using a cotton swab in a rotary tool to do the polishing, or start with a more abrasive compound and let the toothpaste be the 2nd to last step, last step being an automotive type synthetic polishing sealant, meaning the modern equivalent of paint wax but the polishing type provides that last little bit of refinement.