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Condensation in rear lights

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Correct me if I am wrong (or just being a cantankerous old fart) but isn't this the 1000th time this issue has been aired in this august forum? Might be 1001th?

Little magnifying glass in the upper RH corner of this page... knows all, tells all ;)
 
When mine were changed back in July, I was told that they were sending the defective ones back for investigation, and that they had improved the inspection process following the welding of the plastic parts, to ensure that the upper seam was sealed properly.

The lights need to be vented, to deal with pressure changes, but I think that the venting may be inadequate, as it seems to rely on natural leakage around the welded seam (there's no visible vent hole I could see). My theory as to what may be happening is this:

1. The lights warm up during the day, and air is expelled from inside as the pressure equalises.

2. Rain or dew collects around the upper seam area, and as the inside of the lights cool down the pressure reduction internally draws moisture in.

3. Some of the moisture then condenses on the coldest part of the lights, the visible outside facing part.

4. When the lights warm up again the next day, not enough heat reaches the outside face to evaporate the water, so it stays there.

5. As this cycle repeats, more and more water collects, and the chance of the outside face of the light getting warm enough to evaporate the drops of water decreases, resulting in a permanent problem.

I think the fix might be to remove the lights, put them somewhere to thoroughly dry out, then try to seal up the welded joint around the top and sides. It might also be an idea to drill a small vent hole, like those on aircraft internal glazing, for the same reason, to allow the pressure to equalise quickly. Only needs to be tiny, perhaps around 1mm in diameter, located somewhere out of sight and in a place where water is unlikely to ever reach.
 
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When mine were changed back in July, I was told that they were sending the defective ones back for investigation, and that they had improved the inspection process following the welding of the plastic parts, to ensure that the upper seam was sealed properly.

The lights need to be vented, to deal with pressure changes, but I think that the venting may be inadequate, as it seems to rely on natural leakage around the welded seam (there's no visible vent hole I could see). My theory as to what may be happening is this:

1. The lights warm up during the day, and air is expelled from inside as the pressure equalises.

2. Rain or dew collects around the upper seam area, and as the inside of the lights cool down the pressure reduction internally draws moisture in.

3. Some of the moisture then condenses on the coldest part of the lights, the visible outside facing part.

4. When the lights warm up again the next day, not enough heat reaches the outside face to evaporate the water, so it stays there.

5. As this cycle repeats, more and more water collects, and the chance of the outside face of the light getting warm enough to evaporate the drops of water decreases, resulting in a permanent problem.

I think the fix might be to remove the lights, put them somewhere to thoroughly dry out, then try to seal up the welded joint around the top and sides. It might also be an idea to drill a small vent hole, like those on aircraft internal glazing, for the same reason, to allow the pressure to equalise quickly. Only needs to be tiny, perhaps around 1mm in diameter, located somewhere out of sight and in a place where water is unlikely to ever reach.
This is what @ajp558 did. I found his post elsewhere on the forum where he detailed that he took the lights out, let them dry out, and then sealed with edges with a watery glue that's typically used on boats. I presume he sealed the entire unit and didn't leave any vent.

I'm keen to get mine sorted before winter as I presume it'll just get worse with bigger temperature differentials.
 
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I'm tempted to do the same. Captain Tolleys' is good, but it is water-based, and tends to work better when sealing things that are slightly porous, in my limited experience of using it, years ago. I was thinking of trying some low viscosity superglue, I have a bottle of Everbuild medium viscosity superglue that seems to flow very well into sight crevices (it's described as being "thin"). Alternatively, I wonder if the very thin, UV curing, resin used for invisible windscreen repairs might work. That is designed to bond to glass and the plastic interlayer in laminated screens, and it's also designed to flow into very tiny crevices.

I think I'd also be inclined to drill a 1mm hole somewhere in the rear of the unit, so that there's little chance of any negative pressure build up inside the units. It might even be enough to just provide a dry vent hole, without doing anything else, if the theory that it's the pressure differential that causes moisture to be drawn in is correct.
 
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If it’s thoroughly dry inside, why not just keep it sealed?

Might work, but I'd worry about just how sealed the units could ever be. They are made up from several parts, so if any water or dew was to form somewhere where there was even a microscopic leak there seems to be a chance that water might get drawn in. Once in it seems much harder for water vapour to get out, judging by the length of time it takes a slightly misted up rear light to clear.
 
I'm tempted to do the same. Captain Tolleys' is good, but it is water-based, and tends to work better when sealing things that are slightly porous, in my limited experience of using it, years ago. I was thinking of trying some low viscosity superglue, I have a bottle of Everbuild medium viscosity superglue that seems to flow very well into sight crevices (it's described as being "thin"). Alternatively, I wonder if the very thin, UV curing, resin used for invisible windscreen repairs might work. That is designed to bond to glass and the plastic interlayer in laminated screens, and it's also designed to flow into very tiny crevices.

I think I'd also be inclined to drill a 1mm hole somewhere in the rear of the unit, so that there's little chance of any negative pressure build up inside the units. It might even be enough to just provide a dry vent hole, without doing anything else, if the theory that it's the pressure differential that causes moisture to be drawn in is correct.
I'm tempted to just seal the whole thing. There are some screws in the back of the unit so I don't imagine they are airtight (but are protected from the elements).

To be honest it can't be any worse than how it is currently, and worst case scenario it would still be under warranty. That Captain Tolley's ought to be invisible once applied. Aesthetically it just looks crap driving around in misted up lights, and I read in another thread that someone had a Police officer remark that he'd be in trouble if he drove around with the car like that (his misting looked particularly bad)
 
I'm tempted to just seal the whole thing. There are some screws in the back of the unit so I don't imagine they are airtight (but are protected from the elements).

To be honest it can't be any worse than how it is currently, and worst case scenario it would still be under warranty. That Captain Tolley's ought to be invisible once applied. Aesthetically it just looks crap driving around in misted up lights, and I read in another thread that someone had a Police officer remark that he'd be in trouble if he drove around with the car like that (his misting looked particularly bad)

I agree that they look awful when misted up, and it was me that the police officer told off about the rear lights being obscured. It was thanks to this that Tesla agree to replace them, as on a previous SC visit they'd looked at at them and said the misting up was "within the acceptable tolerance".

Might be fine to just seal them up, and may make sense to try sealing first, and if there's still a problem then try drilling a small vent hole.
 
I agree that they look awful when misted up, and it was me that the police officer told off about the rear lights being obscured. It was thanks to this that Tesla agree to replace them, as on a previous SC visit they'd looked at at them and said the misting up was "within the acceptable tolerance".

Might be fine to just seal them up, and may make sense to try sealing first, and if there's still a problem then try drilling a small vent hole.

I solved/prevented this problem. Garage :p
 
I have been waiting since August for mine to replaced. I keep getting told that there is no stock in the UK and they have placed an order. This is with the Chelmsford SC. I am bringing a great deal of pleasure to passers-by in the Supermarket and outside the School who love to tell me the lights on my new car are all misted up. Best line so far is 'they can make a car that drives itself but they can't make a light'
 
I agree that they look awful when misted up, and it was me that the police officer told off about the rear lights being obscured. It was thanks to this that Tesla agree to replace them, as on a previous SC visit they'd looked at at them and said the misting up was "within the acceptable tolerance".

Might be fine to just seal them up, and may make sense to try sealing first, and if there's still a problem then try drilling a small vent hole.
Whoops.. I knew someone had mentioned being collared by the Police. Didn't realise that was you :) How embarassing :(

I have been waiting since August for mine to replaced. I keep getting told that there is no stock in the UK and they have placed an order. This is with the Chelmsford SC. I am bringing a great deal of pleasure to passers-by in the Supermarket and outside the School who love to tell me the lights on my new car are all misted up. Best line so far is 'they can make a car that drives itself but they can't make a light'
At least one of mine were due to be replaced in August too, had a mobile appointment booked and everything. That then got cancelled and rolled into an existing SC appointment at the start of September, and when I turned up there they said they'd ordered the wrong part somehow (they had the inner part of the light). I've got another mobile appointment booked for this month but not holding out much hope that the guy doesn't turn up and say "oh yeah, I wasn't given any of those" after I've booked the day off.

Pretty shambolic.
 
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Whoops.. I knew someone had mentioned being collared by the Police. Didn't realise that was you :) How embarassing :(

TBH, I was glad that the police officer picked up on it, as it gave me a bit of leverage to get it fixed. I wasn't stopped by him, he'd just walked over to have a look at the car when I was sat outside the supermarket, and pointed out that the lights were obscured.
 
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I suffered water penetration in my NSR light after a heavy downpour, despite all lights being perfectly dry for 4 months. I raised a mobile service request and attached a couple of photos. Light remained very wet inside for two weeks, despite good weather. It suddenly cleared, so I was concerned the mobile technician would refuse to replace. No such problem, the light was swapped in under 10 minutes yesterday without question.

It’s the first and only real issue I’ve had with the Tesla and have to say it was handled really well.
 
I've got a mobile appointment for the 13th of this month. When I was last at the SC they saw that it had droplets in, so booked that appointment, but Sod's Law it has pretty much cleared up in that time despite being in there for weeks previously. It's like the car knows it's about to be attacked with a socket set.

My left one, which for several weeks looked like this...

View attachment 594061
...somehow cleared up just a couple of days before my SC visit. When I turned up I was told, predictably, that if they don't see water droplets in it then it won't get replaced.

The problem I have found is that because mobile & SC appointments are usually several weeks ahead, you have to hope (?) that it stays like this long enough to get swapped out.

My inner two light parts on both sides don't do this, so I refuse to believe that it's "normal" regardless of what Tesla say.

Just 'wash' the rear with a power washer the day before and there will be plenty of water in there for the light change to go ahead!
 
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I solved/prevented this problem. Garage :p

My garage is too full of stuff to get a car in . . .

I have recently bought a cover, though. I tried really hard to buy the Tesla cover, but much as Tesla UK wanted to help, there was just no way to buy one in the UK, except getting someone in the USA to buy one for me and ship it over. In the end I bought a BougeRV cover, as it seems to be the only one, apart from the Tesla cover, that has the important mesh section at the front, so the cooling system can work with the cover on. I bought it primarily to stop the local pheasants from doing more damage to the paintwork, as they see their reflection in the car and just attack it. Might do a mini-review of the cover after I've used it for a bit longer, although overall I'm pretty pleased with it, and how easy it is to get on and off.
 
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Say no more;

9sd6DEGCRBO55pe+U3Sunw.jpg
 
They’re not very clever animals, are they? :D

They are quite the most stupid creatures around, and I'm sure they only continue to exist because we breed them. There's a shoot on the other side of the valley from us, and it seems our little valley is a haven for all those pheasant that don't get shot.

Unfortunately, I think they probably all suffer from PTSD, as they all seem to want to commit suicide in front of any passing car. They wait at the side of the road, in a safe position, until the very last minute, when they jump out, right in front of any car coming down the lane.
 
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