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Condensation in rear lights
- Thread starter Rooster6655
- Start date
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
That looks pretty convincing as a cause for this problem to me! Hard to dispute the probability of water getting in via numerous leaks in the welded seam like that, especially as rain water probably tends to pool around the area where the weld is. Looks like a pretty simple fix, too.
Rain is one thing, but lots of us use power washers these days and I reckon it wouldn't take many blasts from my Kranzle to end up with enough moisture in the lights to cause the problem.
This is when Youtube is really excellent! I've always suspected the issue was as simple as this and would be readily fixed at home if necessary. Great that someone takes the risks and works it all out before anyone slightly less competent takes the plunge!
It’s a great video. I saw it on the Facebook group earlier but forgot to post it here, so glad that it was anyway.
The leak test in that video shows clearly where the problems lie. It’s a shame that owners have to take matters into their own hands, but at least you can be sure of a proper fix, and the lights aren’t too difficult to remove in the grand scheme of things.
The leak test in that video shows clearly where the problems lie. It’s a shame that owners have to take matters into their own hands, but at least you can be sure of a proper fix, and the lights aren’t too difficult to remove in the grand scheme of things.
MrBadger
Badger out
Kind of gives Tesla nowhere to hide with 'within spec' and 'they are all like that'. Undisputedly a manufacturing defect.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
Very definitely in the case of the light unit shown, both the leaking welds and, perhaps more significantly, the cracks in the plastic. The welds didn't look very good, with clear signs of bubbles of some sort along the weld seam, and it's not clear what's caused the tiny cracks. Both look like process defects, once that I'd have thought might have been ironed out as soon as the water in the lights issue first appeared.
I was shocked at how many of the other cars at the start had visible droplets and in a couple of cases obvious water run signs. I guess this welding problem isn’t exclusive to Tesla. Even so, it’s a bit crap that they won’t do anything unless there are droplets.
Problem is that Tesla will never fix the issue if we don’t raise the concerns and fix ourselves. Are the refresh models slightly different ? and wonder if this has been addressed...
I’m ‘lucky’ and had mine replaced under warranty, but good fix nonetheless for those that can’t get past Tesla service.
I’m ‘lucky’ and had mine replaced under warranty, but good fix nonetheless for those that can’t get past Tesla service.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
I had mine replaced under warranty, too, but one of the4 replacements is now starting to mist up, so it seems they probably haven't fixed the core problem at all.
Much as I'd love to try and persuade Tesla to implement a proper fix, it would be a great deal easier/quicker for me to just remove the rear lights, dry them and seal them up as shown in that video, than faff around with yet more SC trips, with no assurance that such trips might actually fix the problem in the long term. I've used plastidip for years, and know it lasts, so have every confidence that using it to seal around the welded seam would be a long term fix.
Much as I'd love to try and persuade Tesla to implement a proper fix, it would be a great deal easier/quicker for me to just remove the rear lights, dry them and seal them up as shown in that video, than faff around with yet more SC trips, with no assurance that such trips might actually fix the problem in the long term. I've used plastidip for years, and know it lasts, so have every confidence that using it to seal around the welded seam would be a long term fix.
HenryT
Active Member
I wonder if a lot of the failures were caused by the mounting bolt being overtightened in the first place, causing stress fractures and/or pulling against the weld?
Except that "new units" still don't have good welds, so what that ranger said is untrue.
Rustybkts
Member
It is the heat/cool sunny day cool night cycle that expands air in the light which leaks out and then draws cool moist air back in which condenses. After a few cycles you get enough to see. A simply bead of silicon sealent around the weld would sort it.
My rears are OK but I can see a couple of "tears" in my headlamps which will be monitored!
My rears are OK but I can see a couple of "tears" in my headlamps which will be monitored!
rincewind
Member
I recently had one replaced under warrantee, but the other is now showing signs. Tbh it will be quicker for me to fix it myself as per the above viseo, rather than driving to the SC and waiting. Great post, thank you.
Definitely that. The few occasions when I have seen signs of misting it is not actually on wet rainy days so I don't think mine actually leak but there must be some moist air being sucked in in some circumstances ... though if the GoreTex patch is doing its thing then that shouldn't really happen.
Goretex I believe still allows humid air through, just not droplets. Fwiw my Citroen had condensation in a lot of its lamps under certain weather conditions, it always cleared up once it got warmer. Any actual droplets, pooling of water, or near constant condensation is a problem though.
I liked that video with the liquid tape, specifically the leak testing looked very useful.
Rustybkts
Member
We have experienced exactly this with equipment in sunny/wet climates and could never figure out how quantities of water was getting in to fully sealed electronic equipment.
Keep it shaded and you don't get the problem but when in sunlight or near to a heat source then its amazing how wet a supposedly sealed unit can get.
The Goretex will have some resistance to the air passing through it and so allow a lower internal pressure to draw in moisture laden air. I wonder if simply removing it would allow enough air circulation to naturally dry it when temperatures are raised.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
I think the problem with removing the patch is that even more humid air might get drawn in when the units cools down. Goretex is more permeable to air than water vapour, I believe, so the idea behind these patches is to allow the pressure to equalise without drawing in significant amounts of water vapour.
I think the problem we're seeing is mainly due to water droplets, either rain or condensation, sitting around the top surface of the light units, right where the leaking seams are. As mentioned above, water is pretty good at finding its way in through very tiny crevices, and I suspect it just gets drawn in from there, rather than as water vapour getting in through the Goretex patch.
The amount of water inside one of the rear lights on my car was impressive, not just a bit of misting up, there was water sitting in a puddle inside the light unit:
I think the problem we're seeing is mainly due to water droplets, either rain or condensation, sitting around the top surface of the light units, right where the leaking seams are. As mentioned above, water is pretty good at finding its way in through very tiny crevices, and I suspect it just gets drawn in from there, rather than as water vapour getting in through the Goretex patch.
The amount of water inside one of the rear lights on my car was impressive, not just a bit of misting up, there was water sitting in a puddle inside the light unit:
