HID Haze residue

[Seaking]

Has anyone seen this before? I have an HID installed on the 2006 RSV and it's rock solid, powerful and bright.. well it used to be.. I recently noticed how the LED headlight on my other bike was soooo much brighter.. way brighter. I had then noticed that the inside of my RSV headlight was 'hazy'.. as if there was a pale white wash of paint on the inside of the glass.. Huh, wait a tick.. It was thicker on the top half of the glass than the lower half..

 

I took the headlight bucket apart and had a close look. Swabbing the inside of the glass with a soft lint free shop cloth pulled out a thick white powdery residue.. dusty like.. Closer inspection showed it covering the reflective surface of the bucket as well.. No wonder the light was looking dimmer.. what the huh?

 

A gently scrubbing and cleaning of the inside of the headlight bucket and drying it out completely brought the reflective surface back and inside of the glass bright and shiny again.. and now the light output is highly increased.. as it was 2 years ago when I first installed the HID.

 

Tonight I have to go out and re-aim the headlight as I had been adjusting it to project the light further out but not realizing how hazed the interior of the light bucket was, it wasn't doing anything..

 

I had since noticed this same hazing on other bikes, with and without HID, glass and plastic lenses.. I sent a note off to the manufacturer to see what they might have to say about this.. curious..

 

Can't honestly say if this happened over a long period of time or in a short period of time..

[ditchdoctor]

Sorry to have to ask but what is a HID.

 

Steve Taskay

[spike13]

High Intensity Discharge they are the bright light sometimes seen in blue tints

[BuddyRich]

I ran an HID Bi-Xenon on my RSV since 05. Never saw any haze on it, I just this year changed to a LED headlight. The LED is not quite as bright as the HID was in my opnion... Also have a pair of H13 HID's on MY 08 F150 since about March of 09. Still clear as if its glass.

[dacheedah]

Mine has never changed, clear. Did u get moisture inside??

[Seaking]

Mine has never changed, clear. Did u get moisture inside??

 

It's possible, heavy rains during the summer, high humidity, might have something to do with it.. but not sure if this had a factor into creating that thick dusty residue inside the bucket though.. Its almost as if it was like white soot from the light itself, really odd. Once I get back to riding again, I'll see if the residue builds up again..(rain again..)

[Seaking]

The verdict is in and it's a weird one..

 

The residue dust that is accumalating on the inside of my headlight bucket is caused by a microscopic defect in the HID bulb itself, allowing sodium particles to eject from the bulb and adhere to the inside surfaces.. The substance is on a spot on the bulb sealing the defect, but when the light is on, it ejects this substance outward as it builds up from the inside, creeping out through the defect.. hence why the bulb is still working.. so strange.

 

Luckily, the bulb is under warranty and is being replaced by the manufacturer. They'd never seen anything like this before.. but they didn't hesitate to replace it.

 

So if you see your headlight lens developing a whitish haze on it, take it apart and look at the HID bulb, there might be a white spot on it, and this is the cause and effect..

 

So that brings this story to an end.