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Water in tail light...

HarryB737

Junior Member
Got caught in the rain the other day, When I got home, I was drying down the bike & noticed my tail light was 1/2 full of water. After investigating the under side of rear fender there are 2-holes for the wiring harness to pass into the tail light assembly... Oviously the rear tire was slinging water right into the light assembly... After disassembly & drying, and recoating terminals with more terminal grease, I proceeded to stop water at the entry point, via Dyna-mat type tape from under the fender... Any better suggestions ?? ps Love this web-site !! Great job !!
 
HarryB, you were right on with the water intrusion problem. :D On my Sporty there is a foam gasket with flap that blocks the pass thru holes, but is a "bear" to align in the groove all the way around, so ended up "tack" sealing it in place at several spots along the groove and dab over the two pass thru holes on the gasket and fender sides. Also cleaned all the connectors with contact clean and coated with di-electric grease all the connections. No more moisure in the taillight...nuff said! :s
 
I find that after riding in the rain or washing my bike, the next day I can see condensation in my signal lights and tail light. What I did was put a package of Silica Gel inside my lenses. Silica Gel is those little packages of granules that come with electronic devices when you buy them, it absorbs moisture out of the air, and I find it keeps the condensation from forming in my signals and taillight. It seems to work very well. I just change them and put new ones in when I do an oil change.

Hope someone might find this useful.

Stubby
 
Those packets can be dried in front of a hair dryer or the like to remove trapped moisture with in the crystal packets (or a toaster oven under low heat...120 deg F should be sufficient to dry without discoloring the outside package.
 
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Exact same problem with 08 Softail, after drying out, drilled 3 holes (across width) at base of tail light lens using 1/8 or 3.3mm drill bit - never had a problem after that - lens could drain and breath, holes could not be seen - still pays to remove lens occasionally to check for moisture, terminals can corode
 
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