Clearing Headlight Condensation? (Diamondclears)

[BuffaloXplorer]

I've had DiamondClears for a month and thought they were sealed well...i even added sealant to the bulb gasket prior to install. I've got a significant amount of condensation in my driver side HL now and was wondering what is the best way to fix it? I've never had any luck removing headlights w/o breaking the mounting tabs and don't want to screw these up. Is there a way to eliminate the condensation while they're installed?

 

[davesexplorer]

Jeeze all that silicone and still condensation!!!! I was gonna say dehumidifier and a hose but that's real ghetto?

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

There's a hole at the bottom of the headlights. I'm pretty sure that's the part where the moisture got in. Seal that too. I sealed it up when it arrived and it has been over a month or so and no condensation. I'm not sure now since I sold them a month or so ago.

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

naw - that hole has been done already - i've used a hairdryer on my yellow corners before with excellent results but that was while it was off of the truck. Any pointers on releasiing the tabs to get the light off of the mounting/adjustment hardware? A needle nose should do the trick, and i havent tried with the new hardware, but to get my old lights off i had to break each adjuster to get them off.

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

Jeeze all that silicone and still condensation!!!!

dave, i checked all sides before i installed them and there was absolutely NO area where it should've gotten in... i wouldn't have done anything differently

 

[Saleen_SR71]

mine havent fogged up... but then again, i think your climate is a lot colder than mine... lowest its gotten here was 32ºF so far

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

I'm sure the cold is a factor, but it hasn't gotten below 30 here for any extended period of time. I'll figure something out. I'm going to try to CAREFULLY remove the headlight and use the hairdryer method - at this point i'll add another bead of silicone around the housing.

 

[Saleen_SR71]

maybe the fact that you assumed they would fog up sealing it up with the silicone to start off with is why it fogged up. cuz now when you have the lights on the heat stays in the housing, and then it will condensate over night because the outside is getting cold but the inside is still warm and cooling... or something like that

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

I see what you're saying, but i doubt that the condensation i'm seeing was caused by the heating/cooling. Water had to have been introduced into the housing. Not to mention that it hadn't happened until this weekend after a long rainy period. Prior to that we had a much colder period with no problems.

 

[Bill Kemp]

On the OEM headlights there is a vent. Its a little round thingy with an o-ring on one end that plugs into the headlight. Do the new headlights have a hole that the OEM vent is supposed to be used in? Just guessing here but I think most lights have some kind of vent.

 

[jimcom]

Yeah I am thinking you sealed em up too much. When I took my old headlights off they had the hole, unsealed for as long as they've been in there, and I had never had any condensation problems. I didn't see any reason to silicone up the new ones since they had the same housing, and I haven't had any problems since they've been installed. I see it as more of a vent to recirculate anything that gets in, if it's not recirculating then that may be the problem. Since these are relatively a new item to the market, and no one really knows for sure the quality control they were produced under, you may have just gotten a bad pair. Sorry to here you're getting fogged up though, that sucks.

 

[davesexplorer]

that could be it, too much silicone.... maybe take it off the vent thingy on the bottom?

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

i'm thinking NOT the bottom, only b/c if i hit a puddle it seems that it would find that hole first....i'm going to take the HL off this weekend, dry it out overnight and put it back on...we'll see what happens

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

is the consensus that mose of you w/ DiamondClears have NOT added additional sealant or even sealed the moster hole in the bottom of the housing?

 

[jimcom]

hmmmmmmm

I think a few of the first buyers posted whether or not they used silicone in the group buy threads, IIRC draft siliconed up his, I could be wrong though.
My headlights, like my woman, are silicone free

 

[Saleen_SR71]

is the consensus that mose of you w/ DiamondClears have NOT added additional sealant or even sealed the moster hole in the bottom of the housing?

i put an LED in that hole.... and hot glued it in there... no condensation as of yet, i even washed my car yesterday and no condensation

 

[draft]

I think a few of the first buyers posted whether or not they used silicone in the group buy threads, IIRC draft siliconed up his, I could be wrong though.
My headlights, like my woman, are silicone free

Correct. I also recommended it promplty to the GB participants.

 

[Afboy143]

well damn should I go silicone my headlights now or what? I havent any condensation, but maybe thats because I am in florida and it never gets colder than 50?

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

i had condensation in my clearcorners all summer, so it's not a cold/warm thing. I'm pretty sure it's from the high-pressure sprayer at the autowash nearby. I occasionally cheat and let a machine do the work for me.

 

[GTO2050]

I put mine in today and DID NOT seal up the hole on the bottom. The way I see it, with the changes in temperature, you are bound to get some moisture in there. That's a path out. (As well as in). It appeared to have blue gauze over it when I looked. The heat from the bulb should dry out any humidity that forms in there. My $.02.