Author Topic: Any way to recover worn etching?  (Read 660 times)
LightsAreBright27
Member
***
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery

Cheap LED Assassin


Any way to recover worn etching? « on: March 01, 2024, 06:35:41 AM » Author: LightsAreBright27
I have 2x crompton 70w "mercury vapour" lamps and I want to verify their wattages because I have never heard of a 70w "merc". Both etches are worn to a point where they are unreadable. One has the physical coating of the etch gone and only has a light yellow etch stains while the other has no yellow remains but has some of the etch left. If I angle it just right, I can barely read it. Is there any way to read it?
« Last Edit: March 01, 2024, 07:21:32 AM by LightsAreBright27 » Logged

Holder of the rare and sacred :sfl: F10T12/BL :sfl: lamps here!
Also known as LAB27 for short.
One of the only Indian members here!
245v 50Hz

Laurens
Member
***
Offline

View Posts
View Gallery

Re: Any way to recover worn etching? « Reply #1 on: March 01, 2024, 06:41:49 AM » Author: Laurens
Are you sure they're MV lamps and not mercury halide or other metal halide lamps? 70w makes me think of a SON mercury vapor replacement with built in ignitor.

As for your question - several methods are used by radio collectors.

- Cool down the tube a bit and then breathe on it to make the moisture condensate. Sometimes the condensation will appear on the glass but not on the print. Do NOT wipe the condensation off - that'll be the last of your print.
- Make a HDR photo of the print. Use Gimp or Photoshop to adjust the curves to get any faint detail out of the picture. That way you can usually see more than by eye.
- Use UV light. Sometimes you get lucky and the print is slightly fluorescent.
Logged
LightsAreBright27
Member
***
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery

Cheap LED Assassin


Re: Any way to recover worn etching? « Reply #2 on: March 01, 2024, 07:10:58 AM » Author: LightsAreBright27
I have tries all methods, including saturating and contrasting. I also created a representation of the etch based on what I found. I am not sure about the F in MBF but that is the closest letter. The pictures are of the original, saturated and edited.
Logged

Holder of the rare and sacred :sfl: F10T12/BL :sfl: lamps here!
Also known as LAB27 for short.
One of the only Indian members here!
245v 50Hz

LightsAreBright27
Member
***
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery

Cheap LED Assassin


Re: Any way to recover worn etching? « Reply #3 on: March 01, 2024, 07:21:02 AM » Author: LightsAreBright27
Update- Oops :-X! I read the etch wrong and it is a MBI-S/E. Sorry for the confusion!
Logged

Holder of the rare and sacred :sfl: F10T12/BL :sfl: lamps here!
Also known as LAB27 for short.
One of the only Indian members here!
245v 50Hz

BT25
Member
*****
Offline

Gender: Male
View Posts
View Gallery

You Can Be Sure...


Re: Any way to recover worn etching? « Reply #4 on: March 01, 2024, 03:19:19 PM » Author: BT25
This thread has some ideas for renewing etches.
https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=-7404&pos=5&pid=196960
Logged

Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak. :lol:

Print 
© 2005-2024 Lighting-Gallery.net | SMF 2.0.19 | SMF © 2021, Simple Machines | Terms and Policies