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The Whole Enchilada
Updated: 14-Aug-98
Status: Being reviewed

Please Note: The information in this document has just been translated over from the printed version (14-Aug-98) and is being reviewed. There are errors! This notice will go away once all the obvious errors are corrected. From there, this document will be upgraded over time.

HOW DO REMOVE SCRATCHES FROM THE LCD ON A MODEL T

Model T computers use a liquid crystal display (LCD) as their output display. The LCD rests under a thick layer of clear plastic. This plastic can be scratched. Removing scratches from the clear plastic layer is a simple matter of buffing them out; correctly.

Buffing (sanding) rounds out the sharp edges of deep scratches, making them look like they're no longer present. Slight scratches are eliminated in the same manner but, due to their shallowness, "are" eliminated. In such cases, what actually happens is that the back ground material is sanded down to the bottom of the scratch level.

                   Before         After buffing
Material level     ------   ------         New
Bottom of scratch        \ /       -----   Level

The reason for telling you about scratch bottoms and levels of materials is so you will understand that when you buff (sand) out a scratch in plastic--or any material for that matter--you are actually removing all of the material around the scratch until the material surrounding the scratch has been removed down to the level of the bottom of the scratch. At that point, the surface is once, again level. This means that you must buff the "entire" surface of the material to remove one, little scratch. If you do not buff the entire surface down to the bottom of the scratch, then you will have distortions, or waves on the surface, i.e., you will have in effect created a rolling hill surface.

The point is: Buff the entire surface, evenly, with a rag with buffing material on it, wrapped around a small block of something hard. Don't just use your fingers in a rag. Your fingers will exaggerate the scratch.

At Club 100, we use two products to buff Model T LCD's. They are:

Novus Plastic Polish 1 - general cleaner, polishing, protects surface from fingerprints and scratching.

Novus Plastic Polish 2 - an abrasive designed to remove fine scratches -restores faded and discolored plastics.

Novus Inc., 10425 Hampshire Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55438, 612-944-8000, 800-548-6872, 612-944-2542 fax - call or fax for the nearest distributor in your area.

Application: Use #1 to clean the surface, then use #2 to remove the scratches, then use #1, again, to leave a protective coating.