Mythos - big time fogging problem!

Hey everyone, I've read a lot of threads on fogging, but I've still got a question. I broke my old mask on the last day of diving last year, and recently bought a Mythos. I scrubbed it with Softscrub before the first day of diving, and during my first dive it began to seriously fog after about 10 minutes. When I got back on the boat, I borrowed a friends toothpaste, and tried again - same result. Before the next dive, I again tried some softscrub they had on the boat, and again after about 10 minutes, big time fogging. By the way, I used Sea Drops before every dive, like I've always done.

I know the mask is a very low profile mask, and the only thing I can figure out is that maybe I was overheated during the dive (84 degree water, had on a 3 mil). I didn't feel overheated, but it's the only explanation I can come up with - low volume mask, heat causing fogging after 10 minutes or so.

Before I toss the mask and get another one, has anyone ever experienced this, particularly with a low profile mask? I had no issues with my previous one. Other than the fogging, it's a great mask - but pretty much worthless unless I can figure this out!

Man that is so weird! That's the only mask that I have ever owned that NEVER fogged. Did you clean off the Slicon Skirt too? That helps.

What kind of defog and method are you using?

This works for me:

The following is before the first dive of the day.

1) The night before, apply defog (I use Sea Drops). Leave it on.

2) When your all suited up and ready to dive, splash cold water on your face.

3) Rinse the mask off.

4) Put it on your face.

5) Leave it alone! Do not remove it again!

I just picked up a Mythos before a live aboard trip to T&C in April and put it through 25 dives there and a further 26 about 2 weeks ago. I have had no fogging issues whatsoever and believe it or not I failed to hit it with toothpaste before the first dive (sshhhh...don't tell anyone, they might kick me off the board for such heresy).

For defog, all I've used is the home grown salivary sort, with a quick rinse before I jump in.

I don't know if it's possible to get a defective mask? Before I bought I did alot of digging on this site and the great majority of the reviews were very positive.

I did not clean the silicon skirt, didn't even think of doing it. I will give that a try. I've been using Sea Drops before the dive, quick small rinse of water, and that's it. That always worked great before, but....

Anyway, thanks for the tips, I'll try them all in Roatan in a few weeks - I love the mask and I'd like to get this fixed.

Wow that sounds like a great trip! Anyway definately splash your face with water before they dive especially if your sweaty.

Hi.

You can put the best defog that money can buy onto absolutely any brand new mask and the chances are that you will still fog up. We know because our company has tested this sort of thing since we started in 2002, www.salclear.com

The key here is good mask preparation, which basically means not just removing visible dirt, but also eliminating the oil residues left on the glass after manufacture. As a chemist I can tell you that toothpaste or your average mask scrub would remove a lot of the dirt, but would be mostly ineffectual against silcone oil. Toothpaste is good for cleaning food from teeth (with additional brushing action), but not so hot at getting oils off glass with a quick rub of the finger.

If the toothpaste is abrasive this may help to rub the oil from the surface, but you also risk scratching your mask, and in doing this it will inherently fog up quicker thereafter.

In our lab we've found that various brands of mask are harder to prepare than others. Some are easy and toothpaste and a bit of spit will work. In other cases we tried multiple applications of mask scrub and quality defog without success.

We've created a number of products under the Salclear brand to overcome these problems, and a quality mask prep fluid and quality defog/cleaner are just two.

You cant stop condensation in any mask, but you can change the surface characteristics of the glass so that you dont notice fogging.

Dont throw your mask away, you're likely to get the same problem again with another. Take some time to prepare it, use quality products designed for the job and you should be ok.

Is the lens glass or plastic?

If it's plastic, donate it to the trash can, and get a real mask. Plastic masks are really bad to fog.

teknitroxdiver:

Is the lens glass or plastic?

If it's plastic, donate it to the trash can, and get a real mask. Plastic masks are really bad to fog.

Click to expand...

Dr K is right, plastic fogs easier than glass. Especially polycarbonate which is really the material of choice for non tempered glass masks.

However, we've conquered the problem, and Salclear AquaSport handles both glass and plastic. We also manufacture products for motorcycle helmet visors. These too are made of polycarbonate, and bikers have a big problem with fogging. Our products have been developed and tested at the home of the worlds most famous motorbike road race, the TT (Tourist Trophy), here on the Isle of Man.

We also do stuff for polycarbonate and perspex ski goggles.

So our products work on plastics and glass. Some other commercial brands do too, but probably 90% of what you can buy in your local scuba store wont work well... including spit, baby shampoo and washing up liquid... for all the defog-phobics out there.

It's glass. I have the same mask. I remember having to scrub it about 3 or 4 times when it was new. I guess it had a lot of residue. After that, I just put on the defog after the post dive wash and it's good to go next time.

My "new mask scrub" is baby shampoo and baking soda.
Rick