Ruined my motorcycle screen through petrol: can it be undone?
Ruined my motorcycle screen through petrol: can it be undone?
(OP)
Dear Friends,
Recently at the petrol pump I accidently sprayed a lot of petrol over my motorcycle screen. It is of a plastic of sorts. There are now milkywhite stains all over it.
Is there a method to undo this or to mask it in any way?
Thanks for your suggestions.
Greetings,
Ruud Muschter
the Netherlands
Recently at the petrol pump I accidently sprayed a lot of petrol over my motorcycle screen. It is of a plastic of sorts. There are now milkywhite stains all over it.
Is there a method to undo this or to mask it in any way?
Thanks for your suggestions.
Greetings,
Ruud Muschter
the Netherlands





RE: Ruined my motorcycle screen through petrol: can it be undone?
In case you're interested, the thing you just suffered from is known as "environmental stress cracking".
There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.
- James Branch Cabell
RE: Ruined my motorcycle screen through petrol: can it be undone?
Do someone else a favor; cut it into pieces before discarding it, so it can't be reused.
Actually, now that it's been sensitized, a few light hammer blows might cause it to crumble ... which is why you should discard it.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Ruined my motorcycle screen through petrol: can it be undone?
its surface than has a superior resistance to chemicals too.
PS.: these white stains are in fact microcracks. if you tend to break the shield, make sure you wear eye protection
RE: Ruined my motorcycle screen through petrol: can it be undone?
If it is acrylic, it can possibly be buffed out - buff in a wide ranging area so as not to enduce opotical distortion. The material properties will not be degraded and if it comes back to a smooth and glossy surface, you will be none the worse off.
wringme
RE: Ruined my motorcycle screen through petrol: can it be undone?
You are wrong on several points.
Polycarbonate has fair resistance to UV. This can be improved considerably by adding UV stabilisers to the resin.
Coatings on polycarbonate are mainly to improve scratch resistance. The scratch resistant coating also sometimes includes a concentrated UV absorber. It also improves chemical resistance.
If the scratch resistant coating had done its job, the screen would not be crazed. As it is razed, it is ruined, even if the marks do polish out, as the impact resistance will be severely compromised.
Acrylic has a brittle break and is no longer normally considered suitable for motor cycle screens.
In my opinion, scratch resistant PC followed by high impact acrylic are the materials of choice
Regards
eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.