Exterior marker light contains water

[Molly Presto]

One of the exterior marker lights has about 1/2 inch of water in it on my 2014 Classic. Does it pop off, or screw? If I dry it out and seal it, will that be enough or is there danger of a short now in the system somewhere? What kind of sealant should I use? Will I have to replace the bulb? Thanks.

[polarlyse]

The plastic lens should just pop off using a thin blade screwdriver. If it still works let it dry and put it back on. If you need to replace the whole light get one at any auto parts place and put on.

[BAB]

Same issue on one of my lights. This is an LED light and you cannot pop the plastic cover off. It's a completely sealed unit. I drilled a very small hole at the bottom of the light to let the water drain out. Problem fixed....but if it were to recur, I'd get it done before mine goes out of warranty. The lights aren't all that expensive to replace.

[polarlyse]

Ohhhh. I got it now. Mine are the old fashioned bulb type. I forgot about the LED's being a sealed unit. Still, it should be an easy replacement.

[rugjenkins]

My led exterior lights are not sealed.

[m.hony]

I had several with water in them replaced under warranty. Now the warranty is out and I have several with water in them again and several with only 1 section of 4 LEDs- 1/2 of them working.
The water/moisture inside the lens doesn't seem to affect anything. I just thought a new trailer with a $94,000+ MSRP shouldn't have moisture inside the light lenses!

[BAB]

Agree that they shouldn't get water in them. But they do. I'm curious as to what kind of LED lenses Matt has. The only ones I've seen are a completely sealed unit. Well, not completely sealed as they get water in them! BTW, if you do decide to drill a drain hole, it's obviously important to do this in a spot where the drill bit doesn't enter the electronics! Oh, and those of us with the '15-'16 model Classics are a fair amount over the 6 figure mark. And, they get water as well!

[m.hony]

The MSRP mentioned in post #6 was 2012 money for a 2013 hickory wood Classic.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[ROBERT CROSS]

The teardrops leak, they be teardrops after all....
I sealed all ours with home made inner tube gaskets, they still get condensation but but the incandescent heat will usually dry them pretty quick. The older style do have a drainage slot...at least mine do.

..if it ain't broke...fix it 'til it is.

Bob

[glenrms]

Yup, seems to be a problem. Apparently the seals are not good on these lights. In Texas I had an anal safety inspector at an authorized AS dealer fail my state safety inspection last year because one of my clearance lights had moisture inside. I'm sure I gave him the ;deer in the head lights" look. Cost me $40 to replace it so I could leave. (this place lost my business forever) Now I have several that are wet inside the lens. And yes, a screwdriver pops off the lens but it is a bit of a fight getting it off. Thanks for the hole drilling tip. 2012 Signature.

[Molly Presto]

Thank you so much for all of your answers. I will work on getting the water out, but the big relief is that the water won't cause shorting or other problems with the electrical system in general. Is that right?

[Howard L.]

Originally Posted by Molly Presto

Thank you so much for all of your answers. I will work on getting the water out, but the big relief is that the water won't cause shorting or other problems with the electrical system in general. Is that right?

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...-140562-3.html

Above: a thread on your lights and removal. Also, in the large Corrosion thread, there is a good bit of discussion about the water inside and the corrosion caused by the light bases in the 2012 - 2014 area.

You will eventually lose your LEDs with the water inside. See above M.Hony has some banks of lights out. LEDs will not heat up and therefore, the inside of a wet fixture will take forever to dry.

In short, you need to dry the fixtures out-or replace-and then seal all portions of the light/base with Acryl R or ParBond, leaving only a small area at the bottom of the base/skin for drainage--just in case of another water leak.

[J. Morgan]

FWIW, I think that the advise given to drill a small hole in the bottom of the lens was the best advise.

But I am a practical kind of guy.

#JustSayin..


Superat stultitia.

[Molly Presto]

I had to wait until it stopped raining here in Oregon before I could attempt to drain the water out of my marker light. It turns out that BAB was right. The light is completely sealed, so simply drilling a hole in the bottom would have been the best solution. My Airstream is a 2014 30' Classic. Thanks to all for your advice.

[BAB]

Always glad to help, though I'm not the first who came up with the "drill a hole" solution.

[Vic McCarthy]

Hi BAB,
Heard on the forum that you replaced your sofa with two armchairs in your International. Have you got any tips for us? Thanks.

[BAB]

You can probably do a search on this and see the specifics of the mods I did back in 2013. It really improved my 28' Intl CCD. I completely removed the L seat sofa all the way to where it meets the electrical panel/water heater. I left that section and made a single seat over it. Added a wood corner cabinet and put in two beautiful Euro recliners. Completely opened up the front of the trailer and OH SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE than the awful L seat.

[m.hony]

My marker, clearance, and ID lights had moisture in them.
Jackson Center replaced them under warranty.
The new ones have moisture in them...

[Howard L.]

Originally Posted by m.hony

My marker, clearance, and ID lights had moisture in them.
Jackson Center replaced them under warranty.
The new ones have moisture in them...

You've got the Classic. Your lights have that nice looking aluminum rim as a stand-off additional decor. If JC did not seal all three parts of the lights with AcrylR, it's too bad. That is their procedure for correcting the moisture problem.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[BAB]

My Classic did come with the nice looking bezel. Everything had been sealed properly, as I carefully inspected every single light when it was delivered. A few months later I had water in one of my clearance lights. Thus, the hole drilling process. No more moisture.