New Octavia vRS mk3 Headlight condensation.

[MickvRS87]

Hi all

Picked up the car last night love it so far.

But one minor thing I have noticed is that there was a small amount of condensation inside the headlights both sides just (where the daytime running lights are) this morning.

Is this normal as I have never seen it on any other car I have previously owned or should I go back to the dealer with it?

Thanks

[mk4gtiturbo]

I have it on mine as well (14 plate), I'll be interested to see what other people say!!

[SC03OTT]

It's normal and has been discussed at length on many forums for many marques.

[glosrich]

Normal this time of year with lots of damp and then sunshine around. Changes of temp etc.

Its only a problem if its excessive i.e. completely misted up with water sloshing around.

[pipsyp]

Its normal, the headlights are of course weatherproof but are not hermetically sealed (airtight)....they will condensate because of the extreme cold outside vs the relative warmth and small amount of moisture inside. LED lights dont tend to do it so much as they dont get as warm as halogen/xenons.

As Glosrich said so long as you dont have water sloshing about at the base of the lenses you dont have a problem.

[ahenners]

Yep I've seen this on my 63 as well. Seems to be the norm and not an issue as such.

[glosrich]

Think it happens as lights are a lot more flimsy these days and made of thin clear plastic, so they have no thermal protection and steam up easily.

[POWYSWALES]

My new octavia sports with xeons also has condensation inside, told it is normal. I know this is totally different but over the years I have purchased aquarium glass heaters and when first turning them on condensation appears internally, manfactures have always stated this is when they are manfactured in cold enviroments (usualy in winter months) and is unavoidable, the cold humidity air is trapped and sealed inside the heaters, I wonder if this mainly affects cars also manufactured in winter months?

[66vRS]

I've also wandered this days after receiving my octavia but after a quick look at my neighbours Octavia in the morning and few others I've realised that must be "normal"

I will not worry until I see fish swimming in it

[MickvRS87]

So its normal on the car thats fair enough but still a little strange Ive never seen it on any other car I previously owned

But as its the first car I have owned with drl's that maybe why I never had this previously

[66vRS]

Well that's not suposed to happen I just had to accept it as "normal"

The nowadays the materials used and quality standards is not as high as before

[BGB]

I've seen it from time to time on other cars that I have owned but never as frequent as on our 2016 Octavia Scout. However I seen all O3's have this issue so I dont give it much thought anymore.

 

A quick fix is to drill a little hole/vent so air can pass more freely. 

[gregoir]

Remove a headlight bulb. Use a hair dryer carefully to get rid of the condensation. Or do a long run with the heaflights on.

Normal to see slight condensation in winter for VW GROUP cars in my experience. And my Hyundai Coupe SIII.

[octavianestate]

Remove the Headlight and pop in a silica bag then refir light. It will look odd but the silica will absorb moisture.

[silver1011]

It's mentioned in the manual.

 

No bloke will ever admit to reading it but it does contain some useful information!

 

Unfortunately on the vRS the moisture settles down near the LED DRL's, which have been known to fail due to constantly being damp.

[Gromle]

Had quite a bit condensation in mine after a long trip in slush.

The entire front of the car was coverd in ice, except for just in front of the xenon bulbs. The condensation was behind the ice. You could clearly see where the ice had been after I peeled it of.

[AllanDJ]

Can't say that I've noticed much of an issue with this on my car and on the whole most of my journeys are fairly short too, only ever had a big issue with this on one car and that was on a Rover 400 mk2 a long time ago, it's lights did that all the time, it was really difficult to get them to stay completely dry even after a long journey, think that Rover even changed one of the headlights under warranty because of this issue because the water was sloshing around inside the headlight.

[octavianestate]

The halogen headlights dont suffer like the xenon ones. No condensation at all here.

Without doubt my headlamps are not Friday afternoon ones.

[GoneToBeemer]

The halogen headlights dont suffer like the xenon ones. No condensation at all here.

Without doubt my headlamps are not Friday afternoon ones.

 

Halogen units operate at much higher temperatures than Xenon - probably why you will rarely see condensation, if at all.

[octavianestate]

Halogen units operate at much higher temperatures than Xenon - probably why you will rarely see condensation, if at all.

True but I never see any condensation even with just the DRLs running during daytime use.

[GoneToBeemer]

True but I never see any condensation even with just the DRLs running during daytime use.

I'd be surprised if the DRLs emit any heat at all to be honest.

[Nathanio]

I'd be surprised if the DRLs emit any heat at all to be honest.

It depends on the wattage. Some leds can throw out Serious heat

[RichieM]

Hi there, I have just purchased my VRS and asked the dealership the same question as my headlights where the same.

They told me that it is normal because the new lights create a lot of heat then the lenses have to have little holes in them for cooling, so we just have to accept it.

Hope this helps.

RichieM

[john_20v]

mine did it once quite badly. Then the drl kept failing. It works now, however once the main light comes on after a few minutes, I get a error message saying "check left side drl". Really annoying as the drl is working fine now. Just seem to be getting a false reading.

 

Since the weather is colder at the moment its behaving. Once its warmed up a bit I'll be going down the dealers, but I don't hold much hope.