Halogen Projectors

[Steve916]

Is the front of the lense on a halogen projector supposed to be a slight milky colour or meant to be totally clear?
It looks like a coating of some sort but if it's meant to be clear, how do I clean them?

[T-Cut]

All headlamp lenses should be clear and colourless. Weathering and road debris slowly abrades the surface so they become milky/cloudy. It's basically covered with micro-scratches. The cure is to use a plastic abrasive polish to bring them back to normal. You can buy plastic lens polishes from motoring outlets or on eBay.

TC

[Steve916]

They are mk 2 light units, so do I unclip the front plastic cover to get inside. I was a bit worried it might break if I tried to remove it

[Reebs]

No as far as I'm aware they are sealed units, so the polishing has to be done 'in situ'

[Steve916]

Originally Posted by Reebs

No as far as I'm aware they are sealed units, so the polishing has to be done 'in situ'

Therefore I can't get to the convex projector lense to clean it then
Maybe I was misunderstood in my op (story of my life)
The plastic at the front of the light unit is clean. It's the actual lens inside the unit that seems to be coated

[Spanky]

No, the actual projector lens shouldn't be clear and see through, they are a kind of milky colour as you say, maybe the others were meaning the headlamp lens cover as a whole....

[Steve916]

Originally Posted by Spanky

No, the actual projector lens shouldn't be clear and see through, they are a kind of milky colour as you say, maybe the others were meaning the headlamp lens cover as a whole....

Thanks for that. Yes, that's what I was meaning

[T-Cut]

Yes, I thought you meant the outer cover glass/lens. The bulls-eye projector lens is nominally clear glass. The spherical shape may cause reflected light effects that make it look cloudy, but it shouldn't have any opacity. There may be traces of dust covering it, which has got inside the lamp casing somehow, but that won't significantly affect the output. I just checked mine and they are visually clear glass. At a certain angle, there appears to be a 'dusting' but no so much that you would notice specifically. My impression is that the OP's lenses are clouded. If so I'd suggest it's most likely dust from a bad fitting cap.

A photo would be useful.

TC

[Steve916]

Originally Posted by T-Cut

Yes, I thought you meant the outer cover glass/lens. The bulls-eye projector lens is nominally clear glass. The spherical shape may cause reflected light effects that make it look cloudy, but it shouldn't have any opacity. There may be traces of dust covering it, which has got inside the lamp casing somehow, but that won't significantly affect the output. I just checked mine and they are visually clear glass. At a certain angle, there appears to be a 'dusting' but no so much that you would notice specifically. My impression is that the OP's lenses are clouded. If so I'd suggest it's most likely dust from a bad fitting cap.

A photo would be useful.

TC

Thanks TC I'll try and get a close up photo at weekend

Steve

[T-Cut]

Update:
I just took some closeups of my lamp lens and there does indeed appear to be a surface texture that you wouldn't normally notice. Whether this is added onto the lens surface or 'cast' with the lens, I don't know. This can be seen from certain angles and not others.

Photo 1


In the above photo, I think you may see the adjustable mask which cuts out the upper edge of the beam to prevent blinding the oncoming traffic. This is attached to the adjuster lever for swapping it to LHD system.

Photo 2


The next one is a similar shot of a HID lens. Whether these are intrinsically different I don't know.

Photo 3



TC