9/11/2019

BSA Red Dot RD3022SB Gummy Sticky problem

Recently I happened across my BSA Red Dot  RD3022SB site which I had not used in many years. It was stuck in a drawer in my work room. I went to pick it up and it was horribly sticky. It seems it was coated with some kind of non slip compound that for unknown reasons had turned gooey.

Using my googlefu I found many forums with people reporting the same issue. most of them just got rid of the site saying it was impossible to clean. Other people reported it could be cleaned with alcohol but that was very laborious. Many people reported that Acetone did not work.

Here is what I did to clean mine.

You will need:
Real Acetone (your wife or girlfriends fingernail polish remove is NOT acetone).
Denatured Alcohol.
Thick Nitrile or Rubber gloves (5 mil or thicker).
rough paper towels.
q-tips.
a respirator or work outside.
Patience.

Put on the gloves and respirator (acetone is not good to breath or have on your skin).
If you have the lens caps put those on so you don't get acetone on the lenses.
Pour a liberal amount of acetone on a folded up paper towel and begin soaking and scrubbing the goo off. It will take several passes to remove it. You will know the gunk is removed when you see the greenish black anodizing under it. I was able to go over all the surfaces and no paint or anything was removed that I did not want removed.

Now go over all the cracks and crevices with q-tips until no more black stuff comes off on to the q-tips.

Remove the lens caps and using q-tips carefully clean around the area that was covered by the lens caps and around the lenses (avoiding contact with the lenses).

Next put the lens caps back on and drench everything with the alcohol and wipe that off. clean the lenses with soap and water. You are done.


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