Hey Everyone, this is Chris, Dann's Brother.

For Christmas I got a pair of Mag Switches and I have noticed that over time they have been curroding and the coating is falling off and forming into crystals on the frame. They look kinda bad even though I have been treating them like my precious.

I was wondering if anyone that had Mag Switches has the same problem and If you think Oakley would fix it. Just curious. Thanks in advance.

Chris Thombs (chris - 9/14/2004 11:01:47 PM)
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Hi Chris!

I've been having the exact same problems, if you read my reviews for the Mag Switch and the Four i point out the paint is falling off on the edges. Yesterday I was cleaning them and believe it or not i noticed another edge had a tiny bit of paint missing and I've never mistreat the frames in any way.

My advice is to try and avoid rubbing or even "touching" the areas which have the coating missing, and "avoid" getting sweat inside them because these areas seem to become fragile. The coating on my Mag fours is Dark carbide, and because the magnesium underneath is a lighter colour, the missing paintwork has become noticable.

I did call Oakley earlier in the year about fixing this problem, but they said the missing paintwork can't be sealed and that this is the sort of thing happens with magnesium over time. They suggested I go with a different type of glass as they're slowly beginning to phase out the magnesium range. Someone with a new Mag Glass with a Warranty might have a bit more luck with Oakley.

But i'm not the science expert, I read somewhere that without a coating Magnesium is extremely corrosive? especially with water. Which probably explains why my Mag fours are worse for wears as i can often sweat during the day.

But that's just my say, I love the design of the switch and the lenses but the magnesium frames aren't the most durable things in the world. They should X Metal these, then there wouldn't be any complaints.

James L (JL - 9/15/2004 4:19:21 AM)
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I think what you have is magnesium oxide being formed (magnesium + Oxygen -----> magenesium oxide). Here is a table of reactivity...

Metal: Reaction: Order of reactivity: Products:

Magnesium Very slow with 4th magensium oxide
cold water, but MgO and hydrogen
vigorous with gas
steam.



lo sepia (losepia - 9/15/2004 7:07:42 AM)
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Sorry...that looks like hell. Here is the table.....

Magnesium

Reaction:
Very slowly with water, but vigorous with steam

Order of reactivity:
4th

Product:
Magnesium oxide (MgO) and hydrogen gas
steam.



lo sepia (losepia - 9/15/2004 7:09:48 AM)
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I remember having read this back in the day and found it again:

http://www.finishing.com/76/75.html
http://www.finishing.com/76/09.html



E C (EastCoast - 9/15/2004 8:05:47 AM)
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The coating scratched off of mine where the tips of the earstems would rub the inside of the orbitals, but I hadn't seen any problem like this before I sold them. It would be the porcelain that is flaking off so yeah, there could be a weird reaction with the mag underneath.

Phil Barket (kingphilbert - 9/15/2004 8:43:07 AM)
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The coating where the earstems rub has always been a problem, but now it just seems to be falling apart. Must be the ocean air.

Dann Thombs (Dann - 9/15/2004 8:49:51 AM)
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For me... they've fixed the earstem rub when i send it in the 2nd time... what the did was they inserted a rubber-like thingy in the hinge to prevent the earstems to fold all the way touching the orbitals.

The paintwork still suck. Imagine my Pearl frame having grey spots of mag along the inside of the frame.
On some parts, the paintwork gets very thin... u can almost see the mag color.

And now my warranty expired.... damn.

Luke Kay (luke - 9/15/2004 10:56:16 AM)
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Can we get some pictures of these problems?

E C (EastCoast - 9/16/2004 11:15:20 AM)
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Here's an earstem pic of the Ti switch, notice that there's hardly any paint left on the end and that the metal beneath the coating is considerably lighter. The coating around that area is also becoming weaker where i emphasise from experience to always keep the spot where the paint has fallen off, free from sweat or any lens cleaning solution.




James L (JL - 9/18/2004 3:49:18 AM)
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Here's something interesting that I found selling on ebay, it's a Mag M and you'd think it was in good condition at first glance.

If you look more closely, i'm willing to bet that paint started to fall off around the screws at the front. Quite noticable on a Carbide Mag frame right? But the funny thing is that there are symetrical scratch marks (not done under manufacture), my question is why would someone do this to the frame? and was it because the paint was falling off so bad that to sell them he'd have to make it look like the marks were no accident?

Just my thoughts, and i didn't mean to offend anybody if you were trying to sell these.




James L (JL - 9/18/2004 4:14:46 AM)
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how about sanding off all the coating, so they're just bare magnesium? don't know if its the same stuff, but my thumbprint key fob has done the same

Darren Taylor (rolyatnerrad - 9/18/2004 10:18:03 AM)
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The problem is that magnesium is highly reactive (see previous posts). The layers of finish on top of the magnesium are as much to isolate the mag from reacting as they are cosmetic.

Also, tolerances wouldn't be the same and the glasses would get sloppy.

E C (EastCoast - 9/18/2004 11:54:48 AM)
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Maybe the guy kept them in some sort of non-Oakley holder or case to cause the symmetrical markings.

Todd Kalm (Tick - 9/19/2004 12:30:30 AM)
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Hey, this is a little bit off topic but it's along the lines of corrosion, anyone know how waterproof the Xmetals are? I mean i remember seeing pics of the polarized Juliets wet on the Oakley site, but I've always wondered just how wet they can get. I wouldn't really think they're too waterproof considering the unobtainium rubbers at least, just curious how long can it stay submerged before the metal would start corroding.

Neptune TQ (NeptuneTQ - 9/19/2004 1:46:52 AM)
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I've been in the sea with my x metal and fire polarised juliets, and they're fine, just got salt deposits in the little gaps, but i cleaned them down with clean water in the shower, not had any other problems with any of my x metals...

Darren Taylor (rolyatnerrad - 9/19/2004 4:23:52 AM)
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Todd could have a point about the non oakley case, but the marking seems wide and deep especially around the grooves at the front and on the left. The grooves also curve inward so it looks more deliberate than anything, probably done by some sort of sharp instrument.

Sanding off the coating, this would be a very unwise idea, as EC has mentioned bare naked magnesium would be highly reactive which is why mag sunnies have this ceramic coating to protect from corrosion.

About the X Metal waterproof post above, the frames are mostly titanium so it's very unlikely thare will be any corrosion under water for any amount of time. But i'm going by the fact that I had the dark X-Metal frame for a short time, and it's virtually indestructable and non-corrodible. I'm not so familiar with the polished frame on the polarised versions? Maybe someone can fill me in if they have a coating or not?

But i'm sure they should be just as durable as the X-Metal and Plasma frames.

James L (JL - 9/19/2004 7:07:38 AM)
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Most of you probably remember X-Metal vs Magnesium a while back, hope these tables erase Neptune's fears above that his glasses might corrode.




James L (JL - 9/19/2004 7:45:12 AM)
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This is the Mag table, note "good corrosion resistance" which becomes "not so good" to us Mag users who have had paint coming off the frames.




James L (JL - 9/19/2004 7:52:20 AM)
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Regarding the 'good corrosion resistance' blurb in the graphic, I'll venture a guess without doing any research....

Corrosion is a serious concern with iron-based materials because when they rust, it flakes off and continues to eat away at the material.

On the other hand, when aluminum oxidizes, it forms a not-so-pretty but 'protective' layer of aluminum oxide that remains bonded to the material underneath.

So... is the same true for Magnesium? Although very reactive, does the oxidized Mg stay bonded to the base material rather than flaking off?

On side note, does anyone remember burning Mg in high school chem lab? Pretty neat... and verrrry bright. You need a pair of Oakleys to look at it. I believe Mg is used in fireworks because it burns so brightly. Anyone have used pair of Mag Oakleys that they want to burn up? That would make quite a picture!

Ed Chiu (eddyc - 9/19/2004 8:32:08 AM)
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hehehe, i remember lighting the mag strip, and it burned through my text book and molded the binder to the desk.... those were the days, and chucking a blob of potassium in to a bowl of water.... and connecting the bunsen burners to the water taps... and lighting the gas bench taps... 'mad science' i guess....

Darren Taylor (rolyatnerrad - 9/19/2004 12:58:40 PM)
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Thanks for the replies guys, so, by going on what you're saying, i could say, live underwater with these sunglasses and not worry eh? :)

Neptune TQ (NeptuneTQ - 9/19/2004 11:33:23 PM)
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Yep, Titanium is one of the most durable metals on earth, hence is used extensively on submarine componentry. So yes, you could pretty much live underwater with your X-metal frames. The T-head screws are a different matter, but i won't go too much into that as i'll prob talk too much!

If you really want Oakleys for specific water use (eg, sea), use an O-Matter frame and apply an Oakley Hydrophobic Solution around the frames and the lenses. This makes the entire glass "water-proof", the lenses and frame will never bead and drops of water will never form on the lenses. It's a unreal product!

James L (JL - 9/20/2004 12:50:12 AM)
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