Juliet Titanium oxidation issue

[cheshirecat]

I have an old pair of Juliet Titanium sunglasses, and as I understand, they have undergone oxidation. Has anyone encountered a similar issue, and what solutions have you found to resolve it? Which chemical compounds or reagents could effectively remove the oxidation? I have read through old forum discussions on this topic but have not found a definitive answer regarding the right solution to eliminate the problem. I would appreciate any advice or recommendations you can share.

 

[Mystiko Neossia]

@zwc0442 Zach or @THE X-MAN will know.

 

[Dan beers]

Refinish is probably your only option.

 

[zwc0442]

The coating has failed unfortunately. Only way to really make it look better is to refinish it.

 

[cheshirecat]

Is it possible to etch this off with some kind of acid, and if so, which one would be suitable? What would be the best way to restore these areas on my own? Would specialized titanium cleaning solutions be effective in this case?

 

[zwc0442]

The original coating has corroded and failed. The factory coating for the 1st generation plasma and titanium finishes were a plating on top of the titanium. The gray spots are the titanium under showing. There's no way to fix it aside from refinishing the entire frame.

 

[cheshirecat]

The original coating has corroded and failed. The factory coating for the 1st generation plasma and titanium finishes were a plating on top of the titanium. The gray spots are the titanium under showing. There's no way to fix it aside from refinishing the entire frame.

Understood, thank you. I hadn’t even considered that the base titanium was covered with an additional layer. From a chemical standpoint, what exactly is this layer? Is it some kind of metal oxide? I would appreciate any clarification you can provide.

 

[cheshirecat]

I am also curious to know how such a situation can be avoided and what causes this coating to peel off. Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Numpty]

All Juliets are made from Titanium alloy, but they have different finishes. Carbon, x-metal, plasma etc.

 

[zwc0442]

It's some sort of plating. I'm really not sure exactly what they used.

If you have a pair and you want to keep it from happening just have to keep them clean. Most of the problems seem to be caused by skin oils and sweat staying on the frames for years and it would cause the coating to corrode, turn black and green in spots and then come off.