Water in tail lights

[Bmhdg76]

Hi all,

Well we went away for a few days last week and had a brilliant time.
However, when checking the van lights on hook-up, noticed there was some condensation inside the rear right indicator. Light still worked so thought will deal with it when we get home.

Well today, I had a bit of a look and found that both the indicator and brake/tail light both had water in them???



Now the van has not seen anything more than rain on the road (once) - yes we have been lucky. And is always under a van cover when at home. I pulled them out of the black plastic housing and there is no trace of water behind there so really have no idea how this has happened. These are sealed units!?

The only thing I can figure is that there is some sort of a entry point and over time condensation has accumulated and just built up over time.

Has anyone else had this happen to them?

I have sent an email off to Jayco even though the van is 18 months old, to see if they will assist otherwise will just go and get some replacements myself. I would be happy if they simply post a couple out and I will replace as is a 5 min job (if I can get to the connectors). If not, half hour job all up.

BJ

 

[bigcol]

I had a similar problem ages ago on my Flamingo.......... water "seeps" through the rubber seal.......... and the condensation

I drilled a vey very small hole near the bottom of the lens - 0.3mm (oil gallery drill bits)so the water could self drain

 

[Drover]

As @bigcol said but also check that they have been fitted the right way up......

 

[Bmhdg76]

Sent an email to Jayco a couple of days ago and still waiting on a reply...

BJ.

 

[Mick_309]

Half of the LED'd in my tail light have stopped working for the same reason. Did you have any luck with Jayco?
Has anyone purchased these aftermarket to replace?

 

[DRW]

no water in ours but they have red dust in them, go figure?? We used to import LED lamps (years ago) and they always had a small amount of consensation in them at times, also my Harley speedo had condensation in it, Harley said they all do and after a while in the sun it disappears??

 

[DRW]

I just saw your post on another thread, no they shouldn't have that much water/condensation in them ever :-(

 

[Bmhdg76]

Half of the LED'd in my tail light have stopped working for the same reason. Did you have any luck with Jayco?
Has anyone purchased these aftermarket to replace?

I did contact Jayco and they were willing to replace them if I took the van to one of the service agents.
I ended up just buying some replacements as for the hassle to get the van to an agent for such a minor issue was more than buying the replacement lights.

Now I just hope there is enough wiring there to get to the spade connectors to replace them!

BJ

 

[Mick_309]

I did contact Jayco and they were willing to replace them if I took the van to one of the service agents.
I ended up just buying some replacements as for the hassle to get the van to an agent for such a minor issue was more than buying the replacement lights.

Now I just hope there is enough wiring there to get to the spade connectors to replace them!

BJ

Ok thanks, where did you get the replacement from? I have found a good range at bright lights auto part in Melbourne

 

[Bmhdg76]

Ok thanks, where did you get the replacement from? I have found a good range at bright lights auto part in Melbourne

Just got them from Brisbane Camperland. They were $33.95 each, but got a discount as we purchased the van through them originally, so not too bad.



BJ

 

[Bmhdg76]

Ok... so minor issue ended up being a little more than I thought, but still easily fixed.
I pulled the lights out to replace them today and noticed that when I pulled the tail light out the cables were wet. looked in the hole and low and behold water!!!

Had a look at the black surround and found a couple of culprits causing the issue.
The first is that the hole for the wires to come out for the indicator was drilled into the bottom of the fixing, was siliconed (in the usual Jayco manner) but thought, ok... if water gets past the seal, can see it tracking in there. Brought SWMBO out to have a look and she noticed, the sealant at the top of the black holding had slightly come away from the fibreglass.



So I replaced the indicator as it had lost a few LED's but the tail light was still working fine. Had some water in it so drilled a small weep hole in the bottom of it and side to allow it to breath and release the water. If I have to replace it I will, but might save me from having to do it.

I resealed the hole for the wiring on both sides for the indicator...



So will wait for it to dry and will put the lights back in.

I also drilled a couple of small (1mm) drain holes in the bottom of the black trim to try to eliminate the possibility of it occurring again. You may not be able to see them, but they are there.



So it may be worthwhile when people are cleaning up their vans for storage or giving them a bath, that you check the sealant around the black trim and fix up if needed.

Also while I was testing the lamps, I noticed one of the front high clearance lights has two stuffed LED's (out of 3) in it, but will attack that another day!


BJ