Hi! I've been enjoying the many discussions about vintage porro binoculars here on bird forums, and am so thankful for all the knowledge and experiences shared. Up for discussion: I picked up a pair of Belmont (Swift?) 7x50 binoculars at a local thrift. The image seemed fine. Only later, while looking at the objectives did I notice a tiny white circle, less than an 1/8" in diameter, towards the center of the right objective. Looking through the binoculars, I had to look for the colony to notice it was there ( I guess it is translucent in nature.)
I had inherited a pair of Zeiss compact binoculars from my Dad, which had been unused for years, here along the Coast. When I finally got around to checking them out, there was white mold completely covering the lenses! So I have a real aversion to the stuff. Last night, it came to me in a flash that there might be a way to kill the mold, if not clean it away. So this morning, in bright sunshine, I took my binoculars in one hand, and a magnifying glass in the other, and focused the sunlight into the layer of mold. The mold is dead, and slightly browned. The view through the binoculars is still fine, though the mold area is slightly more noticeable if I look for it.
I present this as an option for binoculars that are not likely to be sent in to be cleaned (the heated mold will likely be harder to remove). This is probably most useful when the mold is just starting and small. I would suggest several passes, stopping when the mold seems changed. The longer you burn it, the darker it will get, and the more noticeable it will be. My main concern was stopping the growth. I hope that this proves more useful than harmful.
I had inherited a pair of Zeiss compact binoculars from my Dad, which had been unused for years, here along the Coast. When I finally got around to checking them out, there was white mold completely covering the lenses! So I have a real aversion to the stuff. Last night, it came to me in a flash that there might be a way to kill the mold, if not clean it away. So this morning, in bright sunshine, I took my binoculars in one hand, and a magnifying glass in the other, and focused the sunlight into the layer of mold. The mold is dead, and slightly browned. The view through the binoculars is still fine, though the mold area is slightly more noticeable if I look for it.
I present this as an option for binoculars that are not likely to be sent in to be cleaned (the heated mold will likely be harder to remove). This is probably most useful when the mold is just starting and small. I would suggest several passes, stopping when the mold seems changed. The longer you burn it, the darker it will get, and the more noticeable it will be. My main concern was stopping the growth. I hope that this proves more useful than harmful.