Giving New Life To A Old Lens

[BriP]

Ouch on the melting. I wonder how often iridium bubbles/peels without significant damage to the lens underneath?

I thought about acetone as well, I just don't like the idea of putting something washed in a high percent acetone right next to my eyes.

Checked the experiment overnight with d'limonene. Nothing major as far as bubbling yet, but it looks to me like it's starting to peel a bit on the outside edge.

yeah i dunno. oh well they were pretty trash anyway so i wasnt expecting much. i AM out $5 for the etho though. i'll find something creative to dowith the rest. haha

 

[deegee]

Hey guys!

Newbie here, stumbled upon this thread yesterday, I have a beat up square whisker and lens coating was pretty much wasted, so I did try soaking it in 70% isopropyl for like 24 hours in a ziploc bag, and coating did peel off. I just had to polish it, although lens has some scratch on it at least I can use it again. anyway just wanna say thanks for the helpful topic.

 

[CarbonAmber6]

Hey guys,
I'm new here as well. This thread caught my attention in a search since I have a pair of Oakley Why 8.2 Amber Black Iridium polarized sunglasses, and a coating on the lenses have been peeling/flaking off. I own over 10 pairs of Oakleys and I have never had this problem with any other pair. It started off with what appeared to be a tiny scratch when I bought them (and got a small discount for it), but over time they have began to peel all over. I don't know if the scratch was unrelated, or a sign of something faulty, but the damage is now all over the lenses in different areas, mostly on the front, but some on the back too. And when I say peeling/flaking, I mean there is nothing visible peeling off here.. it appears almost as if they were burned off by acid. Now needless to say I take very good care of all my sunglasses, so they weren't exposed to any radical substances. I may have worn them to the beach, and I have exercised with them on so at worst they may have been exposed to sweat or sunscreen run offs. However, I always keep them clean, cleaning them after any exercise or trip to the beach, and always clean them when I haven't worn them in a while. It's not like I went swimming with them on or anything, so I don't understand what could have possibly caused this.

Oakley has discontinued the sunglasses, and the lenses so I cannot get any replacement for them. I really love this pair, it is possibly my favorite. I love the matte black/amber lens combination. At any right, this thread interested me because the thought of giving them new life is grand! However, I would only be willing to try this if the lenses would remain Amber. Does anyone know if the amber color is part of the iridium coating? Which coating is even peeling off for starters? I don't want to end up with a grey lens.

I called Oakley to try to find out what color the lens would be if I finished peeling this coating off, but she didn't know and couldn't tell me. She asked someone else who might know, and all she was able to tell me was that they said not to do it because the lens would become hazy and unusable without the coating. For those of you that have successfully finished peeling off the coating that was coming off, are the lenses now hazy and unusable?

If someone could at just tell me if I would end up with Amber colored lenses if I do this, I would really appreciate it! I would be happy to restore them to a decent looking condition if they look Amber even if they are hazy. Thanks!

 

[MaukaRunner]

Hey guys,
I'm new here as well. This thread caught my attention in a search since I have a pair of Oakley Why 8.2 Amber Black Iridium polarized sunglasses, and a coating on the lenses have been peeling/flaking off. I own over 10 pairs of Oakleys and I have never had this problem with any other pair. It started off with what appeared to be a tiny scratch when I bought them (and got a small discount for it), but over time they have began to peel all over. I don't know if the scratch was unrelated, or a sign of something faulty, but the damage is now all over the lenses in different areas, mostly on the front, but some on the back too. And when I say peeling/flaking, I mean there is nothing visible peeling off here.. it appears almost as if they were burned off by acid. Now needless to say I take very good care of all my sunglasses, so they weren't exposed to any radical substances. I may have worn them to the beach, and I have exercised with them on so at worst they may have been exposed to sweat or sunscreen run offs. However, I always keep them clean, cleaning them after any exercise or trip to the beach, and always clean them when I haven't worn them in a while. It's not like I went swimming with them on or anything, so I don't understand what could have possibly caused this.

Oakley has discontinued the sunglasses, and the lenses so I cannot get any replacement for them. I really love this pair, it is possibly my favorite. I love the matte black/amber lens combination. At any right, this thread interested me because the thought of giving them new life is grand! However, I would only be willing to try this if the lenses would remain Amber. Does anyone know if the amber color is part of the iridium coating? Which coating is even peeling off for starters? I don't want to end up with a grey lens.

I called Oakley to try to find out what color the lens would be if I finished peeling this coating off, but she didn't know and couldn't tell me. She asked someone else who might know, and all she was able to tell me was that they said not to do it because the lens would become hazy and unusable without the coating. For those of you that have successfully finished peeling off the coating that was coming off, are the lenses now hazy and unusable?

If someone could at just tell me if I would end up with Amber colored lenses if I do this, I would really appreciate it! I would be happy to restore them to a decent looking condition if they look Amber even if they are hazy. Thanks!

No the alcohol process will take everything off including the color. It will turn to the base color of the lens. Iridium and all coatings will be gone.

The Why 8.X series lenses have same curvature as a Gascan lens. I compared my old Gascan lenses to my Why 8.1's. Dr. Chop could make new ones for you from your old lenses. Hey, if you have Dr. Chop make new lenses, can I use your old ones so I can cut a new set to convert my 8.1's to the nicer square shaped 8.2's or if you are willing to take a chance on my lesser skills I'll be willing to take a chance and cut a pair of new lenses for you at no charge as long as I can use your lenses to make a set for me.

 

[CarbonAmber6]

No the alcohol process will take everything off including the color. It will turn to the base color of the lens. Iridium and all coatings will be gone.

The Why 8.X series lenses have same curvature as a Gascan lens. I compared my old Gascan lenses to my Why 8.1's. Dr. Chop could make new ones for you from your old lenses. Hey, if you have Dr. Chop make new lenses, can I use your old ones so I can cut a new set to convert my 8.1's to the nicer square shaped 8.2's or if you are willing to take a chance on my lesser skills I'll be willing to take a chance and cut a pair of new lenses for you at no charge as long as I can use your lenses to make a set for me.

Gotcha! Thanks for the tip and the offer MaukaRunner!

So is the base color of the lens always grey?

Wow, that's very interesting. I'm new to these forums so I didn't even know cutting new lenses was possible. Are you saying if I bought a pair of replacement gascan lenses they could be cut to the shape of the why 8.2's for replacements? The only problem is the amber lenses are discontinued all across the board so I wouldn't be able to get a hold of them for gascan or anything else save maybe a snow shield or something. Which is another reason I'd be worried about having my original lenses damaged even more in the process. I'm not really familiar with it at all, I'll have to read into it. Would my original lenses be used as stencils during the cutting process? Also do you have any references pictures of your work by any chance? Regardless I don't have the funds for replacement lenses at the moment which is another reason I liked the idea of restoring the lenses with just alcohol, but I will consider it for later in the future! Thanks!

 

[MaukaRunner]

Gotcha! Thanks for the tip and the offer MaukaRunner!

So is the base color of the lens always grey?

Wow, that's very interesting. I'm new to these forums so I didn't even know cutting new lenses was possible. Are you saying if I bought a pair of replacement gascan lenses they could be cut to the shape of the why 8.2's for replacements? The only problem is the amber lenses are discontinued all across the board so I wouldn't be able to get a hold of them for gascan or anything else save maybe a snow shield or something. Which is another reason I'd be worried about having my original lenses damaged even more in the process. I'm not really familiar with it at all, I'll have to read into it. Would my original lenses be used as stencils during the cutting process? Also do you have any references pictures of your work by any chance? Regardless I don't have the funds for replacement lenses at the moment which is another reason I liked the idea of restoring the lenses with just alcohol, but I will consider it for later in the future! Thanks!

Yes you can cut lenses. Read this: http://www.oakleyforum.com/threads/cutting-lenses-what-works.12332/

Is yours the polished gold/ bronze pair?
http://www.oakley.com/products/2155/5855 Bronze Gascan lenses are still available. http://www.oakley.com/products/4134/16188

The base lens tint is almost always the color you are seeing when you look thru the lens. Not sure what Bronze is. Perhaps someone who has a bronze lens can chime in. If the lens is just bronze and does not have any colored iridium then the alcohol will only take off the coating. Also, just remembered this. If the lens has a hydrophobic coating then the alcohol will not take off the coating.

The curvature of the lens on my Why 8.1 looks the same as the Gascan. Can't say that it will work exactly since I didn't cut a set yet.

Dr Chop is the man for cutting lenses.

 

[CarbonAmber6]

No, the lenses are not bronze. They are Polarized Amber Black Iridium lenses on a matte black frame. I was hoping that the base lens color would be amber, just with a black iridium coating. If you look through the lenses while wearing them they are yellow, but from the outside when worn they look black iridium without a hint of amber. They are my favorite oakley lens.. and possibly my favorite pair all together, and yet they are discontinued I don't know WHY.

 

[vmotorman]

Wish I had found this thread earlier! I've replaced a handful of Iridium Sweep lenses because of scratches!

 

[Crew96]

Hello. I'm new to the forum and am loving all this info! I took apart my A wires to try the alcohol soaking you guys were talking about...both lenses have a decent amount of the bubbling already, so hopefully it will work. They are fairly unusable at this point, so I don't have too much fear of completely ruining them. They got retired to lawn mowing when the bubbling started. It would be awesome to be able to wear them again...fingers crossed! I'm going to try with the 70% isopropyl alcohol...

 

[Crew96]

Hey guys!

Newbie here, stumbled upon this thread yesterday, I have a beat up square whisker and lens coating was pretty much wasted, so I did try soaking it in 70% isopropyl for like 24 hours in a ziploc bag, and coating did peel off. I just had to polish it, although lens has some scratch on it at least I can use it again. anyway just wanna say thanks for the helpful topic.

Hi. Did you have to polish them based on how they looked or based on what you were seeing or not seeing when you put them on? What did you use to polish them? Thanks!