Sun damaged Smartcraft gauges

[Jizm]

Any one who has old smartcraft gauges will know they can become yellowed by sun damage and as a result are incredibly difficult to read. Anyway I bought some cheaply off Tim M a while ago which were worse than mine to see if they could be sorted. I tried to source new lenses with no luck so decided to attempt a repair. The mrs painstakingly prised them apart and removed the damaged inner lens but left the outer and the seal intact. The result is below and is pretty good. I realise they may mist up easily but at least that will clear and for the price I paid coupled with the fact they are very hard to find it was worth a go.

[willk]

Nice work Mrs Jizm. As regards the misting, you'll probably recall Biffer's tip of inserting a double glazing demister stick through the back plate of the gauge - he sworn by it.

But then, he swears at everything...

[biffer]

Originally Posted by willk

Nice work Mrs Jizm. As regards the misting, you'll probably recall Biffer's tip of inserting a double glazing demister stick through the back plate of the gauge - he sworn by it.

But then, he swears at everything...

go kiss a a moving train, you f"$%^7g bar steward

[willk]

Originally Posted by biffer

go kiss a a moving train, you f"$%^7g bar steward

Mug of TEA needed there sharpish Biff

[biffer]

Originally Posted by willk

Mug of TEA needed there sharpish Biff

just taking a gulp out of my third cuppa this morn

[Waterman]

My gauges are in a similar condition to what yours were. May have a look at what you have done.
Is there any less protection from water ingress now??

[Cookee]

If anyone is looking for a brand new pair - let me know!

[Jizm]

Here's a picture of the ones on my boat, not as bad but getting difficult to make out the LCD part.
The mrs removed the black bezel and very slowly prised the lens out but lost a couple of the retaining lugs in the process, pretty unavoidable I think. She then removed the seal and discarded the inner lens (the damaged part) and was left with a clear outer. She then put the seal back on the lip and pushed it back in the gauge followed by the bezel. Patience required which is why I let her do it!

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by Jizm

Patience required which is why I let her do it!

did you not have the right hammer!

[Jizm]

Originally Posted by Andy B

did you not have the right hammer!

No, you've borrowed them all mr cowboy builder...

[Rodan]

did that on mine last year - worked a treat and no problems with water getting in despite the British summer's best attempts

[Jizm]

Originally Posted by Rodan

did that on mine last year - worked a treat and no problems with water getting in despite the British summer's best attempts

cheers, good to know.

[Waterman]

Finally got around to attempting this on mine. The yellowing had gotten so bad the screens were almost unreadable.

When I managed to get the screens out it was immediately apparent just how bad the sun damage was. The inner screen literally crumbled and fell apart when I touched it.

All seems good now though.

I am still thinking of adding a bead of silicone over where the outer screen now seats in the unit.

[Jizm]

Nice job. Mine don't really suffer from misting either.

[Bjohnson]

Might help anyone looking to do this, I swapped the lenses on my gauges.

I used a heat gun to carefully warm the white plastic body of the gauge, making the top section that holds the glass in place more pliable. I then used a windscreen sucker to ease/pull the glass off the gauge.

Managed to swap 2 gauges without breaking any of the plastic tabs.

The ‘sucker’ I used was just a simple sat nav windscreen mount! Gave enough purchase to pull the glass out.

[Waterman]

Mine are still going strong six years later [emoji6]