Soarer Central: Archive through October 16, 2005

Soarer Central Bodywork and Exterior Headlight cleaning help. Archive through October 16, 2005

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Peter Nitschke
JunkFilterer
South Australia
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:30 am, by: Peter Nitschke (Pen)

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Liam, search the archive for "oven". It's to heat the goo that seals the light so you can open and clean it.

Chris Fonte
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WA
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:30 am, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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Liam wrote on Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:25 am:
this is the first i've heard about doing something with your lights in an oven. could somebody please explain to me the procedure?

Go to the Common Fixes thread there is the complete procedure & a few others you might like to have a look at.
Good Luck.

Chris Fonte
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:45 am, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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Joshua Koh wrote on Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 09:22 am:
Hi sorry to interrupt but my mechanic told me he has a way of dealing with the water condensation without taking apart the lights. He told me to pour some mineral spirits into the globe holes and then shake it out and let it dry. Any ideas if its true? Cos it'll be a much easier task.

Yeach ive tried this method for a quick clean without taking the lights to bits. Its works well. The Mineral Spirits dissolves all the grease & crap on the inside of your lights. But its only suitable for cleaning purposes. It has no properties that prevent the condensation coming back.
Im working on something not sure what yet to simply put in the lights to absorb all the condensation which will also prevent it happening again. Along the principles of how desicants like Silica Gel absorb H20.

You guys will be the first to know.
PEACE

Peter Nitschke
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:47 am, by: Peter Nitschke (Pen)

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Chris, the problem with that approach is that sooner or later your absorber will get saturated.

Chris Fonte
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:55 am, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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Peter Nitschke wrote on Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:47 am:
ris, the problem with that approach is that sooner or later your absorber will get saturated.

Yeah i know. Im thinking that possibly the absorber could be in a tea bag or something similar so it can be easily removed and replaced. When it gets saturated.
Ive been observing a few other models of cars and many seem to have the ol condensation problem so im thinking once me or someone works something out it would quite sought after.
No one likes there headlights looking like underwater world

:-)

Chris Fonte
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:56 am, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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maybe i should save some screen space and stop replying with quotes. hehehe

Peter Nitschke
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 11:15 am, by: Peter Nitschke (Pen)

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Better just to seal it properly. If you can clean it without opening it, then run some sealant around the joints, you could be on a winner. The reason to split them is to clean them, so if you can bypass that step it gets a lot easier.

They can also leak where the bulb mounts too,

Mike Triggs
TryHard
Norfolk Island
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 02:41 pm, by: Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah)

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The desicant idea wouldn't work too well, I think. You'd need to put too much in, and change it too often, for it too be worthwhile. Desicant works best inside a sealed system (like our expensive Finnish radiosondes which come in their own foil bag).

I'm curious as to why our headlights get so dirty on the inside. Ours have been polished but I can still see a film on the inside which makes them look dirty still, at night.

What are Mineral Spirits? I know turps, White Spirit etc, but does this one have another name?

Don Bagnall
Moderator
New Zealand
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 04:12 pm, by: Don Bagnall (Baggs)

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Metholated spirits

(The Purple stuff)

Also commonly used to get water out of gas tanks on old cars.

Robert Carlyon
Tinkerer
NSW
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 04:23 pm, by: Robert Carlyon (Bob)

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Chris, I left my car out in the weather for two weeks while I was overseas and came back to a wet headlight. It drove me mad as I waited for two and half months for it to dry, but it kept condensating up in the sun.

After talking to Neil about it and I simply ran a bead of ALL CLEAR right across the top of the light and part of the way down the sides. I paid particular attention to the little dish on the outside of the light, as water pools there and can get in that way.

Guess what! The headlight completely dried out on its own in 7 days and has remained so since. I think if you have a leak and don't seal it, its hard to dry as there is a little micro climate happening in there.

Chris Fonte
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 04:59 pm, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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yeah i used metho turned out ok.
the purple stuff is a denaturant used to stop alco's drinking it. Nothing a piece of bread wont fix

:-)

I wonder what denaturant they use (purple stuff)?

Sounds good Robert Carlyon im might have to give that a shot.

Mike Triggs
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Norfolk Island
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 05:41 pm, by: Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah)

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Ahh right, metho. Who calls it "mineral spirits"? It's a product of mainly "vegetable" origin. The purple colour isn't "denaturant", it's a dye. Metho is ethyl alcohol with some methyl (methanol) which is what makes it poisonous. There's some stuff (pyridine, I think) to give it an awful taste, too.

If metho works, food grade alcohol would work much better as there are less bits mixed in to leave a residue (like the dye and the taste thing) if it could be obtained. Chemists (pharmacies) sometimes sell absolute alcohol, I used to use this for cleaning cassette tape/VCR heads. Absolute alcohol is alcohol (ethyl) without any water at all.

Peter Nitschke
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Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 10:32 pm, by: Peter Nitschke (Pen)

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Would iso-propyl alcohol be good?

Mike Triggs
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Friday, October 14, 2005 - 05:11 am, by: Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah)

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We use iso-propyl alcohol (Isocol) for cleaning the lenses of lasers and other bits in some of our instruments, so it should be good. I'd just be worried about it attacking plastics (we use it on glass).

Chris Fonte
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Friday, October 14, 2005 - 02:39 pm, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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Iso is fine for use on plastic. The ISOCOL stuff is just supermarket grade •••• and dilutted anyways.
If your to use 99% Iso-propyl even that should be fine. If you wanna be safe dillute it a little.
Most Secondary Alcohols are good for cleaning.

Peter Nitschke
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Friday, October 14, 2005 - 02:43 pm, by: Peter Nitschke (Pen)

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Thanks Chris, I have some here that I have been trying to find a use for. Any better suggestions?

:-)

Chris Fonte
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Friday, October 14, 2005 - 02:44 pm, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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Well i have used Lab Grade Iso on plastics and it has been fine. Maybe it doesnt like some plastics.
I Stand corrected Mike.

:-)

Ive learnt something for the day.
Correct me if im wrong bout ISO and Plastics.

PROPS

Chris Fonte
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Friday, October 14, 2005 - 02:47 pm, by: Chris Fonte (Luvbuds)

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Pete just dillute it to be safe.
I beleive it should be fine. If you have the ISOCOL (supermarket ••••••• for it it should say on the bottle its safe 4 use on plastics.
Otherwise if you have the 99% id dilute it 50/50 see how it goes.

Mike Triggs
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Friday, October 14, 2005 - 04:51 pm, by: Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah)

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Going back to metho for a millisecond, it never used to be purple, it was clear. I guess it helps to differentiate it from other solvents on the shelf. Kero is of course dyed blue.

We use isocol because it's readily available, and is approved by the manufacturer of the equipment.

Slightly off-topic, but related, I believe there's an iso-alcohol or two in Rain-X, judging by the smell. I use it as a general cleaner although I've not been as impressed with their "anti-mist" product.

Dan McColl
TryHard
Victoria
UZZ32 V8 Soarer #183

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Sunday, October 16, 2005 - 08:50 pm, by: Dan McColl (Hoon)

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Does anyone know an easy way of cleaning the old sealant out of the channels on the back of the headlight (the black bit)??

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