Why have the reflectors in my spotlights turned brown?!

[beaver700]

Gday,

Just looking at my car today and realised that one of my spottie's reflectors had turned brown. It is like it has been splattered with brown paint, but is it possible for it to have tarnished somehow?
I bought the lights from RIPCO about two months ago for about $150, I have taken the lights to them one already for a cracked housing, and they declined me a new one, telling me it was my fault...
They are Narvas, the rectanular ones that have 'ultra compact' on them. Can anyone suggest why the brown has appeared in the reflectors?


Thanks

[CRUSHU]

There is water in them, or moisture, and they are getting rusty.
Is it the cracked one?

[Oscars]

what size bulb did u put in it?

[beaver700]

Thanks for the replies,

I noticed that there was moisture in them, but I cant find how it got in there... I took the plastic housing off then noticed that the reflector 'outer' was firmly joined to the glass front by a 'silastic' type material... Earlier I tried to seperate the glass from the reflector body, but couldnt figure out.... do you guys know if this is possible?
They came standard with 100W globes, which are still in there....

Is there a solution to this without trying to replace the whole lens? I really dont want to deal with REPCO again...

Thanks again,


Martin

[Oscars]

so its the glass lens thats brown or inside plastic shinny reflecter stuff.

[beaver700]

Sorry... I am not the best at describing stuff...


In the last post I said I couldnt seperate the glass lens from the reflector part. They are glued together by silastic... The reason I wanted to seperate them was to try and see what the brown stuff was in the reflector...
The reflectors have turned brown in certain spots, particularly around the globe... no the glass has not turned brown at all... just wanted to know a solution (if there is) to maybe cleaning the reflector?, I really dont want to deal with repco again,

Thanks

[chimpboy]

I would not bother with Repco, I would be taking it to the manufacturer probably.

It sounds as though the metal under the mirror coating is rusting, and it's showing through. This would happen if moisture got inside, but even then only if there was a defect with the coating.

Of course you've done a lot of stuffing around with them by now, so you might have trouble getting anyone to take the blame.

As for how you can fix them, well, to be honest you probably can't. Clean them as well as you can and that's about all you can do. I did once get so-so results with chrome paint on the reflector of a headlamp assembly, just as a temporary fix for a hard-to-get part.

Maybe a little bit of steel wool.. but DON'T do anything thing to the part of the reflector that isn't stuffed yet, anything you do will make it less reflective.

[Goatse.AJ]

Can you stick your finger in the hole where the globe goes to see if the discolouration comes off?


I'd also be calling the manufacturer/importer direct. If you don't get satisfaction, then ask for the state/national sales manager. Keep it NICE, but FIRM with them.

[Oscars]

if it doesnt flake off of feel rough and bubbled it could be from the 100w bulbs, if the lights are crap the heat could of discoloured them

[beaver700]

Thanks for the answers guys,

I will investigate further on the reflectors... The trouble is I cant access the reflector or get steel wool into the tiny hole where the globe went...

I will get hold of Narva, and have a chat to their product...


Thanks again,

Will let you know what happened in the end...

[Goatse.AJ]

I'd personally steer clear of steel wool.....lots of nice little scratches

[murcod]

Perhaps metho on a soft rag would be better? Just try and shove some soaked rag in through the globe hole and see if you can manipulate it with say a paddle pop stick (or something like that- that won't scratch the reflector easily.)

I've got some Narvas that are around 10 years old and haven't noticed any problems like that. They've been through a couple of creeks too, where the water surged over the bonnet.

[MQSWBUTE]

i kinda didnt read all the replys

have you tryed sealing them up that would cause alot more heat bulid up within the light the 170 series that im thinkin of are NOT waterproof they would be water resistaint yes but not proof
compair the blub temp between ur h4 type of headlight from a gq compaired to sealed beams that u can fit to replace

sealed lights run at a lower temp

or maybe their just faulty lights
narva is based in ferntree gully road just near stud rd 500 or so metres from stud rd outbound

cheers justin

[bruiser]

Has anyone else had problems with these. My original lights on the 80 series cruiser have brown rusty reflectors. I was recomended the Narvas lights.
What should I replace them with