Steamed up headlights

[dstev2000]

I know this has been raised a few times now, but is anyone suffering with condensation inside their headlight lenses to this extent? 

 

I've never had a car with steamed up lights quite this bad. SWMBO's Yeti is fine in the same conditions. I'm beginning to suspect a fair bit of moisture is getting inside as it's always worse for a few days after the car been driven in moderate rain. Both lights are the same. 

 

I even pumped some dry nitrogen gas through the light fittings in an attempt to dry them out. It worked for about a week and came back after driving through rain. 

 

I understand the ins and outs of moisture, condensation, dew point etc. But this is excessive. 

 

Anyone had their lights sorted under warranty? All things aside, it makes the car look really crap. 

 

[jstallan]

Got the same problem. I raised it with the dealer before I even drove it off the forecourt. He told me to o an look at the rest of the Superbs round the back as they were also the same as mine. Have to say that it is quite a disappointment and not sure what to do next - even the neighbours comment about it !!!

[inaaris]

I wouldnt be very worried about the condensation in the headlights.

In Estonia the weather conditions vary a lot aswell, meaning that approximately 2/3 of the year the lights of the car look foggy.

Every time I go for a longer drive (atleast 100km) the headlights clear themselves. In shorter rides they become foggy again.

There is nothing you can actually do , due to the fact that xenon and LED lights do not produce enough heat to make it dry enough.

It is a common thing in pretty much all of the new cars that I see in Estonia . Does not matter, if its a BMW , Audi or a Skoda.

So I wouldnt be worried about this, the car is under warranty and that´s that.

[philpix]

It disappears in time. Disconcerting at first I know.

Edited 1 February, 2017 by philpix
too many words

[penguin17]

As inaaris says, the problem isn't limited to the Superb or just to Skoda; it occurs on most cars with LED's as they simply don't produce enough heat for the condensation to dissipate.  

 

 

[dstev2000]

On my way out of London (whilst sitting in lots of traffic) yesterday I didn't see a single car with fogged up lights. That includes xenon and LED types. My car has had this problem from around 2 months old but it appears to be getting gradually worse, suggesting the amount of moisture is cumulative. 

 

SWMBO's Yeti has the same configuration: bi-xenon beam with no halogen assist and LED DRLs but they have never fogged up. Same for my FL Mk 2 superb. I did 80,000 miles in that and never had this problem. It suggests the design of the Mk3 headlight is flawed. It's either letting in a small amount of water - as we all know, a tiny amount of water can do lots of damage - or there is a problem with the way the headlights are ventilated. Wasn't there a ventilation issue on Mk 2 Octavia headlights many years ago, where they had to modify the vents or something? 

 

The last time I had a car with this amount of fogging was due to a small hairline crack in the housing that let in a few drops of rainwater from time to time. 

 

I've just had a look at my lights and the condensation is still there. I haven't driven the car since yesterday afternoon. I think I'll stick my boroscope camera in the fitting to see if there's any water accumulation in the bottom.

[Mickey43]

Mine does the same.

 

I picked mine up from the dealer on a very cold day and they had washed and polished it. Got it home after a half hour drive and the condensation was very bad.  Got worse- the weather was very cold- until it was actually wet inside with drips.   Took it back.  They dried it out and for a few days it was fine.  Now the "misting" comes back after driving with lights on when its cold.

 

However. . It's been milder the last few days and the misting is nowhere near as bad, just a very thin strip along drl lines.  

 

Hoping it will go away as the weather gets milder.

 

Agree it does look utter crap.   Had it before- slightly - in an Audi but nowhere near as bad as this. 

[RickTT]

I have a SE Business.. so no xenons, mine dont really steam up, but of course run hotter.

 

If you look as the design of the headlight at the bottom, the bumper rolls under the headlight unit, so all water is going to be forced up against the under side of the headlight.

[dstev2000]

I'm still of the opinion it's a flaw in the design. I have of course been quite aware of other cars' headlights recently. I walked through a large car park the other other day and must have glanced at about 50 cars, ranging from a 15 year old Audi TT with xenons, to a brand new Q3 with LED lights and everything in between. They were all crystal clear. Then I got to my car.........

 

I'm going to write to Skoda UK and ask them for their opinion. It won't be a case of "these light are crap, I want mine replaced now". It'll be a little more detailed than that. Hopefully someone will pass it on to the technical department. Or maybe I'll just get a standard response. What's the word? Ah yes, "characteristic". 

 

Watch this space......

[Mickey43]

24 minutes ago, dstev2000 said:

I'm still of the opinion it's a flaw in the design. I have of course been quite aware of other cars' headlights recently. I walked through a large car park the other other day and must have glanced at about 50 cars, ranging from a 15 year old Audi TT with xenons, to a brand new Q3 with LED lights and everything in between. They were all crystal clear. Then I got to my car.........

 

I'm going to write to Skoda UK and ask them for their opinion. It won't be a case of "these light are crap, I want mine replaced now". It'll be a little more detailed than that. Hopefully someone will pass it on to the technical department. Or maybe I'll just get a standard response. What's the word? Ah yes, "characteristic". 

 

Watch this space......

Ha! I've been doing this too.  

I have noticed 1 or 2 cars which have similar "misting". Saw an A7 only last night which had the same amount of fog as in the pic above.  

 

A Seat the other day too.

 

A work colleague who has a C Class Mercedes has had terrible problems with condensation.  He had to get silica gel inserted behind the lights which seems to have worked.  Another colleague had fogging on a BMW 1 series.

 

And yet I know a someone else who has a Skoda Superb III SEL with xenons and he has no fogging at all!   

 

Today is wet and quite mild and my lights are totally clear as I've not been out in the car yet.  Going out now, and there will probably be a bit of fogging when I get back and turn off the lights.   Seems to go away overnight. 

 

As I said I'm hoping it's a thing which will go away over time 

[dstev2000]

I sent Skoda UK a very long email with as much detail as possible, and received a fairly standard copy and paste response: 

 

Upon reading the response, they have clearly NOT even read my initial email properly, as I told them I am well aware of the lights being ventilated etc etc. I also asked specifically for my email to be passed onto technical for further consideration. I don't think they bothered. 

 

To be honest, that's a really ****ty response, and a **** poor demonstration of Skoda's customer service. Not at all happy.

 

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding condensation in the headlamps of your ŠKODA Superb.  Please accept my apologies for the delay in my response.

I understand from your enquiry that you are experiencing misting in the headlamps of your Superb.  Misting is the gathering of condensation on the inside surface of the lenses of the headlamp.  It is the same as the misting which can occur in windscreens and windows.  The headlamps are not sealed, they are ventilated through openings in the back of the headlamp unit when the car is in motion; consequently condensation can settle on the inside surface.

When the headlamp is switched on, the internal temperature of the unit reaches up to 200 degrees centigrade.  The higher the temperature, the more the air inside the headlamp will absorb moisture.  When the air within the headlamp starts to cool it releases some of this moisture into the environment.  The rest of the moisture starts to settle as condensation on the coldest points within the headlights, usually on the inside of the lenses.

After the headlights are switched off, the temperature and air humidity will drop again and the amount of condensation on the inside of the lenses will increase.  When the headlamps are switched back on again, the temperature increases and the air starts to absorb moisture, drying out the inside of the lenses causing the misting to disappear.

Condensation inside headlamp is a natural occurrence, which is unavoidable in the British climate; there is therefore no need for this to cause any concern.

[Sagalout]

Oh shame on them; they forgot to say 'have a nice day'

 

This is typical customer service crap isn't it; answer the question you want the customer to ask not the one they did. Patronising and copied out by a non technical person. Almost looks like they just googled 'misting headlamps' and then copy/paste.

 

How many words do they need to say 'we consider it is a normal condition that will not affect the performance of the headlights'--assuming that is what they are saying

[Csory]

Just my 2c's: Headlights are (or should be...) sealed units. They only mist up if the internal temperature of the front transparent element ("window") falls below the dew point of the air/water(!) mixture trapped within. If the headlight was assembled during a particularly humid day it may mean too much vapor trapped inside, so much that it can form visible condensation. A 5 minute cure would be to open the bulb access door, clean and silicone grease the sealing (to ensure air tightness), thoroughly purge the inside air with clean, dry air from a dust blaster (i.e. canned air) and close it. It should get rid of misting for good.

[Mickey43]

22 hours ago, dstev2000 said:

I sent Skoda UK a very long email with as much detail as possible, and received a fairly standard copy and paste response: 

 

Upon reading the response, they have clearly NOT even read my initial email properly, as I told them I am well aware of the lights being ventilated etc etc. I also asked specifically for my email to be passed onto technical for further consideration. I don't think they bothered. 

 

To be honest, that's a really ****ty response, and a **** poor demonstration of Skoda's customer service. Not at all happy.

 

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding condensation in the headlamps of your ŠKODA Superb.  Please accept my apologies for the delay in my response.

I understand from your enquiry that you are experiencing misting in the headlamps of your Superb.  Misting is the gathering of condensation on the inside surface of the lenses of the headlamp.  It is the same as the misting which can occur in windscreens and windows.  The headlamps are not sealed, they are ventilated through openings in the back of the headlamp unit when the car is in motion; consequently condensation can settle on the inside surface.

When the headlamp is switched on, the internal temperature of the unit reaches up to 200 degrees centigrade.  The higher the temperature, the more the air inside the headlamp will absorb moisture.  When the air within the headlamp starts to cool it releases some of this moisture into the environment.  The rest of the moisture starts to settle as condensation on the coldest points within the headlights, usually on the inside of the lenses.

After the headlights are switched off, the temperature and air humidity will drop again and the amount of condensation on the inside of the lenses will increase.  When the headlamps are switched back on again, the temperature increases and the air starts to absorb moisture, drying out the inside of the lenses causing the misting to disappear.

Condensation inside headlamp is a natural occurrence, which is unavoidable in the British climate; there is therefore no need for this to cause any concern.

Hmm, sounds a bit of a cop out although it DOES happen in other cars.

 

Strange that it only happens in certain Skodas though.

 

I wonder if a good warm summer (don't laugh) will eradicate the problem, perhaps by the heat/sunlight drying out any moisture remaining in the units.  

 

Mine is not nearly as bad as it was when i got the car in early January, when it was absolutely freezing and the dealer washed it in warm water.  On that note I take it it would be best to wash the lights in cold water to avoid making this issue worse?  Or would it not matter?

[blahde2]

Both my headlights and taillights do this, with the rear right light holding lots of condensation! 

 

Not happy with this, especially the rear lights, but the dealer says it's common enough in the Superb and not to worry They will replace lights it they show any scum during resale.

 

 

[peter_k]

The units having condensation may not be an issue but future corrosion of the bulb holders and wiring loom connectors may be. In the case of my 2014 BMW the dealer (NOT the supplier) ordered replacement (under warranty) lights on the strength of an email of o/s and n/s light cluster pictures. 

 

[Mindstorm]

I must admit, that this is really something new for me. I got my car today, got home in slight rain and both headlights have fog inside.

I have never seen fog inside of my Superb MKII headlights (also dual XENON headlights). Also i have electric VW e-Up (got it as new) and haven't seen any fog in her headlights, but those are halogen lights.

 

There is possibility that this comes from fact, that car was prepared and washed indoors and overall moisture in this room was significant. I also noticed that after one hour all windows from inside of car had same kind of fog/moisture. But this leads me to believe, that those headlight are not very airtight and sealed.

 

Time will show how bad this will be.

[FelisBengalensis]

This issue has become much more common across the motor industry since the switch to plastic lenses (required to stop pedestrians being hurt and by designers wanting fancy shapes) as these lenses require ventilation to be provided so that things don't melt.

I have had all sorts of cars with these type of materials since the late 90's and every one of them shows condensation in the right weather conditions, but it always burns off when the lights are used.

Edited 22 March, 2017 by FelisBengalensis

[Mickey43]

Update to this thread - fogging in mine went away completely last year as the weather got milder.  Now we're back in winter it occasionally appears but usually just a thin strip above the drl's, and tends to happen in very cold/damp conditions.  Happier now i know that it will go away when the weather gets milder. 

 

I have noticed it in other cars; mainly Audis and VW's, although I was cheered up immensely the other day when I saw the same thing happen on a Tesla!  

[cormac81]

Been having a similar problem with my sportline and have been told its a 'natural phenomenon' by my dealer.

 

Really is bugging me at the moment.

[Jonnie5kelso]

I suffered the same in mine too after reading this thread and the statement from VW saying everything is normal and should clear up with 20mns of use and the condensation doesn’t affect the function of the lights. (Doesn’t look pretty though and ruins the look of the car). I know my car sat on the forecoart for 4 months before I bought it. I thought I had a pretty bad case but was prepared to give it a while before mentioning it to the dealer. However I had my brake pads done and when I got the car back it had miraculously cleared up. I never asked if they did anything but I might ask in a week or so when it goes in for a service if they did anything. 

[Jonnie5kelso]

Ps I’d be interested to find out what they did in order to fix it. I don’t think they had time to remove the headlight or the gubbens at the back. Would using a low set heat gun on the front of the lense work?

[Prykey]

It's because the units are not sealed, I believe that they even have a rubber vent pipe on them.

[Sagalout]

https://www.carlightblog.com/2014/06/24/fogging-the-ultimate-guide/

 

[Mickey43]

2 hours ago, Jonnie5kelso said:

I suffered the same in mine too after reading this thread and the statement from VW saying everything is normal and should clear up with 20mns of use and the condensation doesn’t affect the function of the lights. (Doesn’t look pretty though and ruins the look of the car). I know my car sat on the forecoart for 4 months before I bought it. I thought I had a pretty bad case but was prepared to give it a while before mentioning it to the dealer. However I had my brake pads done and when I got the car back it had miraculously cleared up. I never asked if they did anything but I might ask in a week or so when it goes in for a service if they did anything. 

 

That is really bad- mine were like that a day or 2 after I took delivery.  Took the car back and they "dried" the lights out - I don't know how!

 

Only get light misting now on very cold wet days, a tiny bit sometimes when it's just cold, and it goes away completely in spring/summer.

Edited 14 February, 2018 by Mickey43