Keeping HID reflector clean

[aquaregia]

I've put 3-4 dives on my HID and I'm noticing that the reflector is starting to seem duller than before. It's possible it's my imagination, but the underwater brightness seems less amazing than before. Basically, there are water stains (really, Ca deposits) on the reflector, most likely from my post dive rinse (municipal water here is fairly hard). It occurs to me that a light vinegar rinse could clear this up, but I'm concerned about damaging the reflector. Perhaps DI water would be sufficient?

Is there some maintenance I should be doing with the head other than freshwater rinse? This is basically the most expensive thing I own, so it's possible I'm just paranoid.

 

[Peter_C]

We own a couple of Salvo HID's and all I have ever done is wash them. The reflectors do get a little bit of white traces on them from our hard city water. Never worried about it enough to care, and didn't see any degradation in light output, but I didn't buy either of them new. There is a point that 1 hour of diving time requires 7 hours of work for. I try to keep that to a minimum.

Have you tried a little vinegar on a soft rag? The vinegar won't hurt the plastic.

 

[aquaregia]

Have you tried a little vinegar on a soft rag? The vinegar won't hurt the plastic.

How about the rag? Does soft mean 'old flannel sheets' or 'ferrari-branded chamois'?

 

[Peter_C]

I would use an old t-shirt myself, but I have a rag bag full of them.