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maybe your special interest can help me

kityoume

kityoume

Active Member
i noticed a strange dirt on my water meter and decided to clean it, i used polish and nail polish remover (acetone), this caused the whole meter to become rough and nothing can be seen on it now, i don't know if it came from -due to the chemicals I used (general polish, nail polish to try and cover up the scratches, and acetone to remove the polish) or perhaps friction when I tried to clean it off? do you think it looks like scratches or chemical deformation of the plastic cover from the counter? i smeared it with baby transparent body oil lol and the numbers became visible because of the oil.
What happened and what can I do now?
I think now I have to oil this cap to see the numbers haha I'm a fool
 

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kityoume said:
I read advice on the Internet that you can help rub the damaged surface with a stationery eraser, is this true?
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I haven't tried that so I don't know. I usually use headlight polish for problems like that. I would be a little surprised if an eraser fixed it but you could try, it can't make it much worse than it is so there's little risk in trying it.

As you mentioned, it might be enough with some baby oil on it. It's just a water meter so it doesn't have to be perfect, just clear enough to see through.
 
Forest Cat said:
I haven't tried that so I don't know. I usually use headlight polish for problems like that. I would be a little surprised if an eraser fixed it but you could try, it can't make it much worse than it is so there's little risk in trying it.

As you mentioned, it might be enough with some baby oil on it. It's just a water meter so it doesn't have to be perfect, just clear enough to see through.
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yes thanks, it's just that I'm worried about something that isn't perfect and I feel bad about it. It may be enough just to use oil to see the numbers, it's hard to live in an imperfect world
 
kityoume said:
yes thanks, it's just that I'm worried about something that isn't perfect and I feel bad about it. It may be enough just to use oil to see the numbers, it's hard to live in an imperfect world
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It looks like an old type of water meter, I don't know if it's the same where you are but here the county is replacing all water meters with fancy new digital ones these days. Maybe check if that's something that will happen to yours also. There's no point in spending time on fixing the old one if it will be replaced. Then a little oil is good enough.
 
Lol. Yeah, acetone is pretty strong stuff. It probably melted a bit of the plastic.

Try this: put a blob of toothpaste on the lens and swirl it around with a paper towel, like you're trying to polish it. Toothpaste is usually gritty, making it a light polishing compound. If this works you can go to an auto parts store and buy some of the already mentioned headlight polishing stuff - not the whole kit, just something for clear plastic restoration.

If you are not self-reporting the meter reading and there is a small wire or two coming out of the meter, then the utility company reads it electronically from outside the building. You won't actually have to fix it. And you won't get in trouble for messing it up because these things get dingy and beat up as a general rule.
 
If the water company owns the meter, call them and say you messed up the cover trying to clean it and see if they can replace it. Perhaps it isn't necessary depending on how they read it. I am not sure about nail polish, but nail polish remover is very strong stuff. A very nasty chemical. The kind that makes you grow extra eyes on your knees. I would not use it on anything unless I absolutely had to ;)
 
Tom said:
If the water company owns the meter, call them and say you messed up the cover trying to clean it and see if they can replace it.
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Blame a rat, a big nasty basement rat did it. Probably a teenager rat. Rat vandalism. ;) Spray some tiny graffiti on the wall behind the meter, "Mice suck".
 
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Look on the bright side: if it's not a smart meter, the water company might not be able to send you a bill, lol.
 
Both Forest Cat and Lysholm beat me to it. Any solvents on plastic are not a good idea, warm soapy water and a very soft cloth works best.

You need to polish the surface smooth again. Car polish as in cut and polish or T-cut, not turtle wax, would be a good way to start and then finish with a finer paste, as Lysholm suggested, toothpaste. Toothpaste also works well on CDs and DVDs.
 
Tom said:
call them and say you messed up the cover trying to clean it
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Admit nothing. Just step away and, if it becomes a problem later, play dumb.

Honestly these things get broken or simply go bad all the time. The utility guys have seen way worse and won't bat an eye having to replace another one.

People tamper with these things to steal water - op broke it trying to give it a makeover. This one's a gimme.
 
Acetone is a pretty strong solvent you slightly dissolved the surface layer of the plastic. probably PVC. We use MEK to test paint cure Acetone just evaporates a bit quicker. both are ketones. If you want to use a solvent next time, use an alcohol. Someone did this to me once my balance for making ink was wiped with MEK to remove ink splashes. I had access to many solvents I remember fixing it forgot which solvent worked. I think I used isopropanol, rubbing alcohol.
 
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