Goldfish in my headlights - any tips?

[David_S]

Ok, this is a perennial problem. Any suggestions on how to stop semi-sealed headlights filling with water on deep river crossings resulting in





I have tried putting mastic around the rubber boot and this works sometimes but not always. In the above instance it worked on the left but not the right headlight.

I have thought of drilling small holes in the top and bottom of the reflector to let water out but this will also let dust in. I could go to sealed lights but they are not as effective as H4 halogens. Or I could just avoid deep water or take up fishing ':P'

Any ideas?

[bru21]

go sealed beams. h4's are not very effective when the globe breaks due to water ingress.

[David_S]

go sealed beams. h4's are not very effective when the globe breaks due to water ingress.

I've never had a globe break due to water ingress - probably just lucky. Are there such things as sealed halogens or do halogens need some ventilation for cooling ?

[BowTieGQ]

Stop feeding them and they might go away.

[GQ Bear]

goldfish tend to like fish flakes, and maybe a catfish to clean inside of lens

[T_Diesel]

I've got a set of Hella H4 semi sealed with the rubber boot on the back, and to date they haven't filled with water and I have had them under water a few times. The old set ended up a hazy brown colour from all the bog holes but no gold fish i'm affraid.

[BundyRumandCoke]

Heaps of silastic. Silastic the boot to the headlight, and around the stem of the bulb. When you have fitted the socket to the back of the bulb, more silastic around the socket and the boot.

I was out on an afternoon/evening trip with the club once. Deep water crossing, no troubles. After dinner, out for a nighttime drive. Climb up a steep climb, instant darkness when the water inside the headlight flowed back and up the reflector, and made contact with the hot bulbs. With no power through the headlights, spotlights died as well, (dont ask, silly Daihatsu wiring) This happened before I used heaps of silastic.

I have drilled a hole in the bottom of a pair of Altezza headlights. Works reasonably well, but does let small amount of dust in.

[David_S]

Heaps of silastic. Silastic the boot to the headlight, and around the stem of the bulb. When you have fitted the socket to the back of the bulb, more silastic around the socket and the boot.

I have generally found this does the trick, but I think the problem this time was that I did not remove the little pilot light and holder from under the main fitting and it was difficult to seal. If you remove this you can tape up the hole before applying the mastic. Also I can't get at the back of this light easily any more as I have filled up the space on the fender with my winch solenoid packs.

Keep the ideas coming.

[GQ Bear]

Maybe have a hose from compressor and pump air in whenever in water to either pressure seal lights, or just to help push water out. Would probably work to keep dust out too.

[Patroler]

I went sealed beams also, they really aren't that bad, (i think the low beam is still 55w (same as a standard H4) which is fine unless you wanna run 100w low beams and piss off the oncoming traffic

i never broke a globe due to water on the H4s but the inside of the lense and reflector went really brown due to mud, sealed beams don't blow very often either. Just get a half decent set of driving lights for when the High beam is on...

[macca81]

go get some tropical fish instead, they will thrive from the heat given off from the light! and just think of the colours!!!!

[just cruizin']

just keep your headlight fluid topped up and everything should be ok. Mind you if you ever find oil in your headlight fluid you should should check you window seals.

[Goatse.AJ]

Just bottle the stuff and you can retire early. Headlight fluid is a rare commodity

[David_S]

Just bottle the stuff and you can retire early. Headlight fluid is a rare commodity

And this was the even rarer mountain river variety - would have been worth a fortune if I hadn't emptied it over the roses! Just think of the possibilities - Whiskey & Hella water, Rum and Headlight fluid ................

[David_S]

just keep your headlight fluid topped up and everything should be ok. Mind you if you ever find oil in your headlight fluid you should should check you window seals.

You're right. I have just checked my window seals and they are definitely leaking - also the door seals.

And I think I have found the original source of the fish. Someone should do something about that hole.




But the good thing is that I now know my megasquirt fuel injection works under water. ':D'

[mistaboz]

Just a little bit deep.

[chimpboy]

Heaps of silastic. Silastic the boot to the headlight, and around the stem of the bulb. When you have fitted the socket to the back of the bulb, more silastic around the socket and the boot.

I am not knocking this because it is the sort of thing I'd try too, but if you have a rubber boot would it not be better to just zip tie it tight or something? I mean silastic makes sense for mating two hard materiasls together but if your rubber boot is in good nick and is nice and supple, it should be capable of sealing without silastic..?

[-Scott-]

Breather tubes?

Warm headlights, cold water. Air contracts inside, water gets sucked in. Add a breather tube to let the headlight suck in air instead.

[rusty_042]

just go for sealed beams i got a et of cheap sealed beams for 9bucks each from bursons they do the job if u need more lights get spots lol
i think they were 55 65s actully

[longlux]

Pressurize the head light hook them up to a compressor or an air-up bottle as for the goldfish chlorine will fix them.

[bazzle]

The rubber boot is the way to go.
There are a few types, most have a breather path on the bottom of the boot.
Get boots off and older Holden. Large type.
These should cover the parking globe hole if fitted.
The larger ones also expand and contract better without sucking in water.
Use a thin smear of Selleys All Clear around boot edge and globe base where it exits boot. Also fill breathe recess with sealer.

Bazzle

[David_S]

Thanks Guys for all the suggestions. Here is what I have concluded

1) Sealed beams are best as they are, well, sealed.

2) If doing much deep water work make sure you have a fishing licence if you don't want your rig impounded by a Fish and Game Ranger

3) Silastic combined with a rubber boot does work on semi-sealed units as my older left hand lamp, which has been sealed this way for a couple of years, went well under but did stay dry.

4) I doubt that pressurising the system would work. Would probably just blow off the rubber boot and be a real hassle to install.

5) Even with the bulb removed I could not squeeze my cat in to get the fish!

So what did I do in the end. Well I wasn't going to buy a new sealed unit when I already had a perfectly good, albeit damp, two week old semi-sealed unit. So I emptied the water, gave the fish to the cat, allowed the interior to dry, removed the parking light and holder, polished the reflector with with a spectacle cleaning cloth (you can just get your finger in) and taped up the hole left by the parking lamp.

I next drilled a 5mm hole in the base of the reflector and screwed in one of those small garden irrigation fittings, attached a short PVC tube and plugged the end. If I get water in again I just have to remove the plug and the water should drain out but when plugged no dust should get in.

I replaced the bulb and the rubber boot after first putting mastic along the lip, connected the plug and put more mastic around the plug and boot before replacing the unit. Will see how it goes.

Anyone know how to get silastic of your fingers and out of your hair? And oh yes I added some fish hooks to my spare parts box.

Cheers,

David

[MightyMouse]

makes you wonder how one of those discharge lighting "conversions" would last don't it ?