Does Deet Mar Gps Screens?

[+Thot]

Has anyone sprayed Deet on the display of their Magellan GPSr? I did it this afternoon and it appears to have permanently marred it – or at least Windex won’t clean it off. There are spots where the spray fell on the screen.

[+shawhh]

yep, deet will permanently mar gpsr screens, pda screens, laptop screens, watch crystals. you can contact the manufacturer to see how much a new screen will cost, or, assuming you can still see the information, wryly call the marred places battle scars. -harry

[+Stunod]

Yup, DEET melts plastic. I had a small bottle of DEET leak in the map pocket on the door of my last car. The plastic was still sticky/melted a year and a half later.

[+planetrobert]

Yup, DEET melts plastic. I had a small bottle of DEET leak in the map pocket on the door of my last car. The plastic was still sticky/melted a year and a half later.

that is creepy.

 

a LOT of chemicals damape plascit screens.

 

a possible solution is to slap a screen protector for a pda on your gps screen, the glue(sticky stuff) seems to fill/hide/something strange the scraches and stuff on a screen. This may help you, it helped me on a pda screen that mad scrached and scuffed all to heck, cant even see them with the sheet on it.

[+DiskDevil]

DEET will also screw up leather car interior. A small bottle leaked out in my car seat, it was only on there for 20 min tops. I cleaned it off with a mild soapy solution, but it was too late. It looks like a chemical burn (etched) even a good leather polish wouldn't fix it. So all of you that use it and have leather interior be warned...

[+Thot]

Thanks for the replies. It just never dawned on me or I would have been careful not to let the spray get on it. It would have been easy to do. I have a denim carry bag which it's in most of the time anyway.

 

Also, thanks for the tip about the screen protector. It's also true that a light film of oil will often make scars disappear. I didn't use a screen protector because I wasn't very worried about scratching the screen. I've never dropped it. I always carry it with the strap on my wrist or in my bag.

 

Anyway, thanks again.

Edited October 21, 2004 by Thot

[+Prime Suspect]

Thanks for the replies. It just never dawned on me or I would have been careful not to let the spray get on it.

Every can of DEET has a warning about this on it. It's always good to read the fine print. You might try a plastic polish on it.

[+Thot]

You might try a plastic polish on it.

Sounds like a good idea. Where does one find plastic polish? A prominent brand?

 

edited to add:

 

It's always good to read the fine print.

I'm sure you're right. But, the can I have has a LOT of tiny black print on a very dark green background making it almost impossible for my old eyes to read. I just did it but I had to have a magnifying glass and the light just right. Even then I had to work at reading it. As it turns out the warning about plastic is near the end of all this tiny print and buried in the middle of a long sentence.

 

Also, I assume that coverplate is Lexan, and I don't immediately think of Lexan as plastic. When I hear plastic, I think of Plexiglas and molded products like toys, hair dryer housings, Rubbermaid containers, etc. Obviously Lexan is a plastic, it’s just not what I think of when somebody says something is "made of plastic." So, if I’d read the warning I probably wouldn’t have thought of the GPSr screen. The body maybe, but not the screen.

Edited October 21, 2004 by Thot

[vagabond]

Try Meguiars mirror glaze 17, its a clear plastic cleaner. It comes in a 8 ounce bottle for about $7.00. I get mine at the local airport at the pilots store, they use it mainly on the plexiglass canopies of the planes. I've been using it for years and it works great for mars and light scratches. There is also a heavier duty cleaner that will take out deeper scratches. Hope this helps

[+Sputnik 57]

Meguiars has a full line of plastic cleaners, available at many auto parts stores in the car wash supply section (think convertible rear windows). You may also want to check out their web site

[+Thot]

Huh . . . I've used Meguiars one step car wax for some time but I'd never heard of plastic restorer.

 

Thanks. I'll give that a try. Gotta be cheaper than replacing the screen cover.

Edited October 22, 2004 by Thot

[marty621]

"Mothers" brand also makes a plastic polish I have used on motorcycle helmet shields. Works pretty well on small scratches. Its a real fine abrasive. I think its cheaper than Meguiars. I doubt it could hurt to try it.