Moisture in the headlight

[rovie]

I’ve had my gren since Friday and I’m too suffering with a bit of condensation in the lenses, but it reassures me with Awo’s description.

Hi @jamesfielding Have a look here: https://ledlightpower.ch/blog/kondenswasser-wasser-im-led-hauptscheinwerfer-n24

 

[Eric]

I’ve had my gren since Friday and I’m too suffering with a bit of condensation in the lenses, but it reassures me with Awo’s description.

Snap, had it circa 10 days and on very cold mornings, (ie. Every morning here) it has had condensation. But so has my other car with LED lights, done it for the last 4 years in cold weather. If I don't use it for a few days it disappears no matter how wet the weather is as internal and external temperatures and humidity neutralise

 

[trobex]

About the condensation: If the lens is cold I would assume that also ambient air is cold and then the absolute humidity can't be very high.

In Finland this would cause fail if it would happen in yearly inspection (MOT, ITV, etc.). New strict rule from last summer.

I thought new LED lights were effectively humidity immune and not prone to this.

 

[JohnHeagney]

I’ve had my gren since Friday and I’m too suffering with a bit of condensation in the lenses, but it reassures me with Awo’s description.

I have the same misting..

 

[Eric]

I have the same misting..

And me, happens in my other car with LED lights as well

 

[SkiBum1]

Hello everyone, dear community, has any of you ever had water in the spotlights?
I have moisture in both and I think that shouldn't be the case.

Should be that the headlights aren’t sealed properly and this should be covered by your warranty

 

[AWo]

Should be that the headlights aren’t sealed properly and this should be covered by your warranty

Again, no.

All headlights (must) breathe, they have a valve for it. They are sealed but (must) suck in air and (must) breathe out air. Like the solid axles and gearboxes.

Due to the heat generated by the LED air expands and must be let out. When cooling down it must be able to suck in air (and with it humidity).

So, that is normal... If you don't believe me, fine, but then get into contact with experts from lights manufacturers and get informed properly.

See it in a new Ford Ranger with halogen lights, same thing...




AWo

 

[AMD66]

Snap, had it circa 10 days and on very cold mornings, (ie. Every morning here) it has had condensation. But so has my other car with LED lights, done it for the last 4 years in cold weather. If I don't use it for a few days it disappears no matter how wet the weather is as internal and external temperatures and humidity neutralise

I’m have it also, pretty much as Eric describes.

 

[CountyV8]

Had it also with severe altitude changes cleared up quickly.

 

[Barney]

Again, no.

All headlights (must) breathe, they have a valve for it. They are sealed but (must) suck in air and (must) breathe out air. Like the solid axles and gearboxes.

Due to the heat generated by the LED air expands and must be let out. When cooling down it must be able to suck in air (and with it humidity).

So, that is normal... If you don't believe me, fine, but then get into contact with experts from lights manufacturers and get informed properly.

See it in a new Ford Ranger with halogen lights, same thing...

View attachment 7838790
View attachment 7838791

AWo

Thanks AWo, you've already described it. Unfortunately I still haven't had an answer from my car dealer, I think that's pretty weak. Barney

 

[JohnHeagney]

Again, no.

All headlights (must) breathe, they have a valve for it. They are sealed but (must) suck in air and (must) breathe out air. Like the solid axles and gearboxes.

Due to the heat generated by the LED air expands and must be let out. When cooling down it must be able to suck in air (and with it humidity).

So, that is normal... If you don't believe me, fine, but then get into contact with experts from lights manufacturers and get informed properly.

See it in a new Ford Ranger with halogen lights, same thing...

View attachment 7838790
View attachment 7838791

AWo

I suspect that you are right and a very long journey with headlights on, the (minimal) heat will clear the condensation!

 

[Eric]

9

I suspect that you are right and a very long journey with headlights on, the (minimal) heat will clear the condensation!

Ah, yes it will clear it, but when you park up it will cool down and the wet humid air will be sucked in again. And in few hours condensation will have formed. This time of year (UK) it will only clear after a few days parked up when the inside and outside temperature and humidity have equalised.

 

[AWo]

I suspect that you are right and a very long journey with headlights on, the (minimal) heat will clear the condensation!

Yes. I'm a LED light reseller for many years and my company is the designated Nolden B2B reseller for Europe. We develop conversion kits for cars and trucks on our own, so I had to stick my head somewhat deeper into that stuff (technology, regulations, etc) and received some manufacturer educations. I saw the Grenadier headlights dismantled when I was involved in test driving them, together with some Ineos and Magna light engineers. So I knew a few things about these headlights.

I saw many lights claimed to be defect (but they weren't) and defect ones. In about 90% of the really defect LED lights it was because they were cheap low quality lights with manufacturing issues or the customer fiddled around with the plugs.

Another issue is the housing. You often see powder coated housings, especially from countries which use no salt in winter. Some are of low quality and none of these can withstand a few winter years with salt on the roads. Their aluminium housings will start to corrode soon. Your Nolden headlights are double protected, anodized and powdered.

AWo

 

[JohnHeagney]

Yes. I'm a LED light reseller for many years and my company is the designated Nolden B2B reseller for Europe. We develop conversion kits for cars and trucks on our own, so I had to stick my head somewhat deeper into that stuff (technology, regulations, etc) and received some manufacturer educations. I saw the Grenadier headlights dismantled when I was involved in test driving them, together with some Ineos and Magna light engineers. So I knew a few things about these headlights.

I saw many lights claimed to be defect (but they weren't) and defect ones. In about 90% of the really defect LED lights it was because they were cheap low quality lights with manufacturing issues or the customer fiddled around with the plugs.

Another issue is the housing. You often see powder coated housings, especially from countries which use no salt in winter. Some are of low quality and none of these can withstand a few winter years with salt on the roads. Their aluminium housings will start to corrode soon. Your Nolden headlights are double protected, anodized and powdered.

AWo

Thanks, this is very interesting and doesn‘t surprise me, the engineers who developed the Grenadier have done a good job. What are your thoughts about the effectiveness of the two (more centrally mounted) spot lights? I would have liked to see units with a much greater light output, these seem relatively ineffective.
Thanks,
John

 

[Jiman01]

Thanks, this is very interesting and doesn‘t surprise me, the engineers who developed the Grenadier have done a good job. What are your thoughts about the effectiveness of the two (more centrally mounted) spot lights? I would have liked to see units with a much greater light output, these seem relatively ineffective.
Thanks,
John

Just a guess but it’s because they’re street legal lights. In order to have the throw that you’re probably looking for, they would have to be off-road use only…which I don’t think can be included in a new vehicle from the manufacturer.

 

[JohnHeagney]

Just a guess but it’s because they’re street legal lights. In order to have the throw that you’re probably looking for, they would have to be off-road use only…which I don’t think can be included in a new vehicle from the manufacturer.

Maybe. There is a warning not to use them as “On road” lights although they do go off when you dip the headlights.

 

[Jiman01]

Maybe. There is a warning not to use them as “On road” lights although they do go off when you dip the headlights.

Right, even most street legal secondary lights like light bars, and spots aren’t supposed to be used as driving lights per se…which would be like driving around with your high beams on. Most of the time they’re wired to come on with your high beams only.

Off-road use only lights are generally so much brighter and blinding to on coming traffic that it‘s illegal to use at all on public roads.

 

[JohnHeagney]

Right, even most street legal secondary lights like light bars, and spots aren’t supposed to be used as driving lights per se…which would be like driving around with your high beams on. Most of the time they’re wired to come on with your high beams only.

Off-road use only lights are generally so much brighter and blinding to on coming traffic that it‘s illegal to use at all on public roads.

I agree with you but the reality is that these two lights don’t have a particularly good lumen output!

 

[AWo]

Thanks, this is very interesting and doesn‘t surprise me, the engineers who developed the Grenadier have done a good job. What are your thoughts about the effectiveness of the two (more centrally mounted) spot lights? I would have liked to see units with a much greater light output, these seem relatively ineffective.
Thanks,
John

My thoughts?

These additional high beam lights are unnecessary. If I saw it correctly they carry a "R" sign and a reference number. That means they are officially high beam lights and the reference numbers are counted. The maximum is 100 where the UNECE-R48 applies (Europe, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and some more countries). However, local regulations may overrule UNECE-Regulations, like in Sweden, where you can add additional high beam lights as much as you want, as long as the strongest light doesn't exceed a reference value of 100. Having these lights compulsory leaves you with less possibilites to add additonal high beam lights. (Reference value of 100 equals 430000 Candela).

Why are they unecessary? Because they are to weak to be a good addition to the existing high beam lights. That is because of their size and the restrictions which apply. If the Grenadier would have halogen head lights, fine, the auxilliary lights would have been fine. But as it has LED headlights you need stronger additional high beam lights and thereby bigger ones. Of course, there are small and very powerful lights available....but not as a legal high beam lights. So don't compare that with non-high-beam-lights,

The next thing is, that they are mounted in the grille (a pure design thing which was requested by....ehhmmmm...I just forget the name...) which has an effect. The position by such is the right one for high beam lights, but have you ever asked yourself, why there is another cooler for the engine in the bumper? Fun fact, these were halogen lights for a very long time....until someone recognized, that all lights are LED so why not these ones? The halogen ones were from Valeo but they have been replaced by LED lights from a British manufacturer I don't know.

AWo

 

[Jiman01]

I agree with you but the reality is that these two lights don’t have a particularly good lumen output!

I like the idea that was on this YT vid.

I agree with you but the reality is that these two lights don’t have a particularly good lumen output!

You may have already seen this but in these early stages, this is the cleanest aftermarket install of the center lights I’ve seen so far.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDpeNMwV0yA&t=53s


Functionally, I can only assume they could melt a Prius. Aesthetically, they appear almost as large, or larger in circumference as the main beams.…which I’m not so sure about, but also easily fixable since Lazer makes a smaller version.