Re: Silverplating Needed - Headlamp Reflect

[Frank O_ The Mountain]

silverplating. Does anyone know of a place to get this done. I am in
> Ontario Canada but the names/address of platers anywhere would be
[/quote]appreciated. >>

Now that we know that Viv modifies his TC's with modern stuff, may I suggest
this!! Instead of Silvering, may I suggest "Aluminizing"? I do all my head
lights this way in order to improve the reflectivity for safely night
driveing. You start off by having your reflectors nickel plated, then you
send them to Uvira , UVIRA Laser Optics, Inc
310 Pleasant Valley Road
Merlin, Oregon 97532
503 474 5050

for about $45 a pair, he will aluminize them, put them under a coating of
glass and presto, no more tarnishing. Works great.

Uvira, not to be confused with Elvira, is in the laser lense business, but is
an old car hobbiest too. If you run into Elvira, you want to dim those
lights!!!

Terry

[PMS GB Ltd]

Message text written by INTERNET:TATERRY@aol.com

>Instead of Silvering, may I suggest "Aluminizing"? I do all my head

lights this way in order to improve the reflectivity for safely night
driveing. You start off by having your reflectors nickel plated, then you
send them to Uvira , UVIRA Laser Optics, Inc<

This is an interesting "solution", but Aluminium is not as good as silver
for
reflecting light. I've previously compared reflected light intensity of a
silvered and an aluminiun (and a chrome) finished reflector with a light
meter and the silvered reflector comes out just over 10 percent better
than the aluminium. The aluminiun was better than the chrome but I dont
recall by how much. The same type of reflector and therefore the same
profile was used for each finish, and the same bulb.

This was a few years back - but the results were in line with what Physics
predicted.

Cost for silver or aluminium was the same whichever method was chosen,
though Chrome was more expensive.

I'd say if you went to Aluminium you would have to upgrade the wattage
of the bulbs, with consequential power drain to get the same light output.

Clive Sherriff

[Frank O_ The Mountain]

In a message dated 1/16/00 2:23:03 AM Pacific Standard Time,
100070.740@compuserve.com writes:

>

Clive, this is true for fresh silver but Uvira has run test and has curves
that show that in a matter of hours/days, the reflectivity of silver falls
dramatically as it tarnishes and falls well below that of the glassed in
aluminium......hence the long term benefit of this approach. The problem is
oxidation. I don't know why he can't put silver under glass like aluminium,
probably something to do with the temp. of the process but what you end up
with is a reflectivity that approaches that of a sealed beam light. No
wattage in bulbs is needed. The look of the final product is similar to that
of fresh silver. Of course, if you have a show car, you would want the
yellowish look of the tarnished silver and those don't normally get driven at
night or at all......

Did I mention that that SA lense that I need is 9" in diameter?? Hope you
can help with it.

Cheers
Terry

[Peter Pleitner]

Clive,
Terry is right about aluminum with a silica coating. I used to be involved
with mirror systems and optics for scientific spectroscopy with airborne
optics exposed to atmosphere. Coated aluminum gave the best performance.
My TC's reflectors are silver plated however. I brighten them up every
couple of years by pulling the rims from the buckets, popping the bulb
holder out, pouring a little "Tarnex" in and swishing it about, followed up
by distilled water rinse and a blow air dry. This brightens the silver to
as new.
Cheers, Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: TATERRY@aol.com [mailto:TATERRY@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2000 11:16 AM
To: 100070.740@compuserve.com
Cc: mg-tabc@egroups.com
Subject: [mg-tabc] Re: Silverplating Needed - Headlamp Reflect

In a message dated 1/16/00 2:23:03 AM Pacific Standard Time,
100070.740@compuserve.com writes:

>

Clive, this is true for fresh silver but Uvira has run test and has curves
that show that in a matter of hours/days, the reflectivity of silver falls
dramatically as it tarnishes and falls well below that of the glassed in
aluminium......hence the long term benefit of this approach. The problem
is
oxidation. I don't know why he can't put silver under glass like aluminium,
probably something to do with the temp. of the process but what you end up
with is a reflectivity that approaches that of a sealed beam light. No
wattage in bulbs is needed. The look of the final product is similar to
that
of fresh silver. Of course, if you have a show car, you would want the
yellowish look of the tarnished silver and those don't normally get driven
at
night or at all......

Did I mention that that SA lense that I need is 9" in diameter?? Hope you
can help with it.

Cheers
Terry

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