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My GPS screen is cloudy


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  • #1307891
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    My GPS screen is cloudy. Scratched. I've used it a lot so I'm not complaining.

    Any way I can smooth it? Some liquid that like melts the plastic a little?

    I have a hard time reading it

    #2026817
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    I used Brasso (brass/metal polish) to do that on my Kestrel screen.
    Try a small area first.

    #2026823
    M B
    BPL Member

    @livingontheroad

    Plastic polish.

    Chances are, you may need successive grits, and it wont be perfect if you have deep scratches. The way to polish anything is to start with heavier grits to remove the deepest scratches, then work down to ultra-fine grit.

    I have used Micro Gloss before for that, it helped some. Not totally. Its about 1 micron rating as a final polish, about as fine as it gets. I would need something more coarse probably to do better.

    Perhaps a headlight polish, followed by something finer like micro gloss.

    Whitening toothpaste also has mild abrasive. Test on small area first.

    #2026839
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    if I wipe some water on it's perfect

    until the water dries : )

    #2026843
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    I found my own thread on that.
    Turns out that for that job I used car polish , the cut and polish type.
    But I have also used Brasso for other jobs.
    Here are the before and after shots :
    Kestrel before
    Kestrel after

    #2026859
    Mike W
    BPL Member

    @skopeo

    Locale: British Columbia

    I've also read that Brasso will work but I've never tried it.

    If it were me, I'd try adding an Invisible Shield screen protector… I know sounds crazy as the damage is already done but the Invisible Shield screen protectors somehow cover up badly damaged screens (I've done it with mine a few times and it really works).

    It's only a small piece of plexiglas over the real screen so you can replace it, the actual screen is fine. A friend of mine cracked the plexiglass and managed to replace it and he said it wasn't that hard to do (subjective, I know).

    #2028666
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    I talked to Garmin. They said for $110 I could exchange my 60CSx for a refurbished one with a new screen panel. Typical of Garmin, you have a problem and they want to charge a bunch to resolve it. I'm not paying no $110 for a GPS that's now sort of obsolete.

    They also suggested I talk to an eyeglass repair place, myabe they'de have an idea.

    Then I searched amazon.com for plastic scratch repair and I got this – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UD0GIG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Novus scratch repair. It's an abrasive similar to Brasso. $9 for 2 ounces which is a lifetime supply for me. Used #3 for maybe 15 minutes. Then #1 to clean it off. Used their cloth. It's not perfect but I can now see the contour lines which I couldn't see before.

    I'de call this a success. If your screen is so scuffed it's hard to read, try it.

    #2028667
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    Oh, I could have returned it to REI, but that would have violated my ethics because I've used it so long and maybe it's unreasonable to expect it to last forever.

    Oh, that's another thread, nevermind…

    Actally, I think I bought it somewhere else because it was cheaper – maybe you get what youu pay for?

    But I later saw it on sale at REI for that same price – another lesson?

    #2034168
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    You might try one of those headlight lens cleaning/polishing kits. Available at most auto parts stores.

    #2034195
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    That would probably work. Many abrasives would.

    I've used my GPS on a trip now and it's much better, I could barely use it before

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