Front Head Light Water Inside
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Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Savannah Georgia
Front Head Light Water Inside
Have never been "wading" - one head light has water drops all over the inside, which makes the light at night much more "soft focus" and spread out than the other normal one. Have left small "city light" out over two days in hot weather to let it dry out, no change. And no, the front lens wash down tubing is not plumbed into the light. Can't see any cracks.
Ant thoughts on how to get rid of this, or should I just change out the lamp housing?
Ant thoughts on how to get rid of this, or should I just change out the lamp housing?
Thread Starter
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Super Moderator
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 16,322
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From: Savannah Georgia
Yep, so either approach still need to pull it out (otherwise how to retrieve rice). Perhaps a little air circulation as well. Like the RTV idea, could be a hairline crack my old eyeballs can't see.
TReK
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,433
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From: Woodway, WA
FWIW, I had some cracks/holes in my headlights (DII) and used a high temp epoxy to seal them up. It worked great to seal everything up, but the epoxy turned yellow once the lights were heated up a couple times so it looks kinda fugly...
If you remove the bulbs completely so the headlamp is not sealed the water may evap after a few days, park facing the sound during the day so the sun heats it up.
Otherwise like these guys said, remove it, reseal it and let it sit open side up to dry.
Otherwise like these guys said, remove it, reseal it and let it sit open side up to dry.
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Super Moderator
Joined: Jan 2011
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From: Savannah Georgia
Removed it by turning the mount "fixings" about 15 degrees, they come out through a slot built in there for that purpose (to allow easy bulb change).
Took off the black rubber surround gasket. Cleaned and sprayed with silicone spray (maybe slow down the dry rot).
Pried glass front lens away from plastic main section. Found gray gasket material there. The lens and the plastic back "clam shell" together.
Scrubbed glass in and out.
Plastic main section is "surface silvered" to reflect light, some of mine had come off, and more would come off if vigorously cleaned. Cleaned what I could. I suspect that someone could spray the plastic reflector with "chrome" paint from the auto parts store, but temperature issues might pop up. I had a spare from a donor vehicle, but it was in worse shape than mine. Guess that old plastic left in sunlight is what it is.
Put a thin bead of RTV around the plastic channel and squuezed in the glass lens.
Pulled rubber outer seal back on, have to be careful because this old stuff is brittle.
Popped back in, plugged up, everything good. Just barely clears my brush bars to get in/out without removing bars.
Will post pix later.
All in all, a lot easier just to take it apart.
Took off the black rubber surround gasket. Cleaned and sprayed with silicone spray (maybe slow down the dry rot).
Pried glass front lens away from plastic main section. Found gray gasket material there. The lens and the plastic back "clam shell" together.
Scrubbed glass in and out.
Plastic main section is "surface silvered" to reflect light, some of mine had come off, and more would come off if vigorously cleaned. Cleaned what I could. I suspect that someone could spray the plastic reflector with "chrome" paint from the auto parts store, but temperature issues might pop up. I had a spare from a donor vehicle, but it was in worse shape than mine. Guess that old plastic left in sunlight is what it is.
Put a thin bead of RTV around the plastic channel and squuezed in the glass lens.
Pulled rubber outer seal back on, have to be careful because this old stuff is brittle.
Popped back in, plugged up, everything good. Just barely clears my brush bars to get in/out without removing bars.
Will post pix later.
All in all, a lot easier just to take it apart.
Last edited by Savannah Buzz; Oct 6, 2011 at 06:39 AM.
Removed it by turning the mount "fixings" about 15 degrees, they come out through a slot built in there for that purpose (to allow easy bulb change).
Took off the black rubber surround gasket. Cleaned and sprayed with silicone spray (maybe slow down the dry rot).
Pried glass front lens away from plastic main section. Found gray gasket material there. The lens and the plastic back "clam shell" together.
Scrubbed glass in and out.
Plastic main section is "surface silvered" to reflect light, some of mine had come off, and more would come off if vigorously cleaned. Cleaned what I could. I suspect that someone could spray the plastic reflector with "chrome" paint from the auto parts store, but temperature issues might pop up. I had a spare from a donor vehicle, but it was in worse shape than mine. Guess that old plastic left in sunlight is what it is.
Put a thin bead of RTV around the plastic channel and squuezed in the glass lens.
Pulled rubber outer seal back on, have to be careful because this old stuff is brittle.
Popped back in, plugged up, everything good. Just barely clears my brush bars to get in/out without removing bars.
Will post pix later.
All in all, a lot easier just to take it apart.
Took off the black rubber surround gasket. Cleaned and sprayed with silicone spray (maybe slow down the dry rot).
Pried glass front lens away from plastic main section. Found gray gasket material there. The lens and the plastic back "clam shell" together.
Scrubbed glass in and out.
Plastic main section is "surface silvered" to reflect light, some of mine had come off, and more would come off if vigorously cleaned. Cleaned what I could. I suspect that someone could spray the plastic reflector with "chrome" paint from the auto parts store, but temperature issues might pop up. I had a spare from a donor vehicle, but it was in worse shape than mine. Guess that old plastic left in sunlight is what it is.
Put a thin bead of RTV around the plastic channel and squuezed in the glass lens.
Pulled rubber outer seal back on, have to be careful because this old stuff is brittle.
Popped back in, plugged up, everything good. Just barely clears my brush bars to get in/out without removing bars.
Will post pix later.
All in all, a lot easier just to take it apart.
Was that all covered in the RAVE?
