Rigid Dually getting condensation behind lens

[treypal]

1 of 4 Duallies is getting condensation behind the lens. Ive taken it apart twice to re-seat it, with no luck. Tried a little silicone too, same thing.

Anyone else having this problem?

 

[BigJ]

Not me personally, but I'm pretty sure I recall lvdezertdawg mentioning the same issue. It was only resolved by sending the stuff back to Taylor (who did take very good care of 'dawg if memory serves)

 

[MagicMtnDan]

MarkT mentioned something about this to me - let's see what he (and LVDD) say.

My Duallys don't have it but my 20" lightbar does have it - doesn't affect performance (not that I can tell).

 

[LVdezertdawg]

1 of 4 Duallies is getting condensation behind the lens. Ive taken it apart twice to re-seat it, with no luck. Tried a little silicone too, same thing.

Anyone else having this problem?

Trey,

I did not have this problem with the duallies. They were always dry, The first 20" led I had did have a condensation issue. I contacted Taylor at Rigid and his response was immediate replacement on the same day he received it. I got a follow up from Taylor, one of the company managers and from someone in the front office. WOW!!!:thumpsup2: this is customer service at it's finest. My 20" replacement does not have any issues. Great service, just call Taylor!!!!!!:bow: I love the rigid lights:sponge:

 

[treypal]

Thats my plan. Time is an issue though. So I guess it will have to wait till the end of November.

 

[Xjrguy]

No condensation but crappy, cheap, soft chinese quality bolts that strip when you tighten them down though. Other than that, lights have been tip top.

 

[MarkT]

I think the problem with the bolts is that they are stainless steel... IIRC, stainless bolts have no carbon and therefore cannot be heat treated like other bolts...

I believe even the best stainless bolts fall somewhere in between grade 2 "cheap hardware store butter bolts" and grade 5 when it comes to strength. Grade 5 is generally considered the minimum rating you want to use for automotive applications.

Metric stainless bolts are even worse... often only reaching about half the rating of a typical "8.8" automotive grade bolt. (The small allen head bolts on the duallies are metric)

Another factor is the source... a lot of bolts come from foreign countries and don't meet the standards they are supposed to. "Counterfeit" bolts was a big issue in the aircraft industry a few years ago.

We replaced the stock dually bolts with a flat washer and 6mmx1.0x28mm 8.8 grade bolts (10mm wrench, not allen head) on lvdezdawg's duallies and it seemed to make a good improvement.

 

[Jake Y.]

I had condensation in my 20'' and in one of the duallys, took it up to taylor and the boys at rigid and they fixed me up immediately.

 

[vegasfergie]

No condensation, but I've already sent mine back once and now need to again. The problem I'm having is the "strobe light effect". Taylor said there was and RF noise issue he's seen with the Raptors,and they had to beef up the filters on the lights. Before it was both sets, now just my spots are doing it. I've noticed it's also temperature and humidity sensitive. Very strange. Also, even if the trucks not running I have this issue which really should eliminate most of the RF noise problem. No alternator running or engine, etc. I just sent Taylor an email to see what's up, but I'm getting tired of sending them back. Especially when I have to eat the shipping and handling. He was great before with getting back to me, but I'd be hard pressed to give thier stuff an A+ rating. On a plus note I do love them when they are working!

 

[KaiserM715]

I think the problem with the bolts is that they are stainless steel... IIRC, stainless bolts have no carbon and therefore cannot be heat treated like other bolts...

I believe even the best stainless bolts fall somewhere in between grade 2 "cheap hardware store butter bolts" and grade 5 when it comes to strength. Grade 5 is generally considered the minimum rating you want to use for automotive applications.

Metric stainless bolts are even worse... often only reaching about half the rating of a typical "8.8" automotive grade bolt. (The small allen head bolts on the duallies are metric)

Another factor is the source... a lot of bolts come from foreign countries and don't meet the standards they are supposed to. "Counterfeit" bolts was a big issue in the aircraft industry a few years ago.

We replaced the stock dually bolts with a flat washer and 6mmx1.0x28mm 8.8 grade bolts (10mm wrench, not allen head) on lvdezdawg's duallies and it seemed to make a good improvement.

Not quite right... Stainless fasteners are used extensively in aerospace (my current industry), especially A-286, due to their high strength in concert with corrosion resistance (except for 400 series, which can rust). You get quite a lot of strength from them due to the high nickel content. You can apply heat treat to any metallic (usually annealing). Most aluminum is sold with a heat treat (7075-Tx, the number after the "T" indicates the specific heat treat) as is almost everything for aerospace.