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Topic: Front fairing and orange lights cracks & Sources for Light Lenses (Read 399 times) previous topic - next topic
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Front fairing and orange lights cracks & Sources for Light Lenses
So in the process of looking up top while the better half is doing the roof re-seal, I noticed some cracks on the top plastic fairing as well as cracks on all the top round orange lights. I tried to unscrew the orange lens caps, but all they did was spin and spin.

I didn't get a chance to see how deep the cracks in the fairing are. They are on the top slope where the black paint of the faux windows are. I'm not sure if a previous owner hit something or not. Nothing is deformed, just some long cracks. I'll try to get some pictures up later. Hopefully they didn't fully penetrate. I pressed around on the front slope in the bunk area, and didn't feel any soft spots.

I'm hoping this is a semi-normal thing and there is a good "solution" to it. Fill them up w/ sealant maybe?

On the lights, how the heck do you get the covers off and anyone know of a good place to find replacements?
2001 MB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #1 –
The front cap can develop surface cracks in the gel-coat, the colored layer on the outside.
Minor surface cracks are cosmetic and not a problem, other than appearance.
If impacted hard enough, the cap can crack all the way through and cause leaks.

Most likely, you are seeing surface cracks in the gel-coat.
Any photos to post?

Larry

Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #2 –
Quote from: henness  - 
So in the process of looking up top while the better half is doing the roof re-seal, I noticed some cracks on the top plastic fairing as well as cracks on all the top round orange lights. I tried to unscrew the orange lens caps, but all they did was spin and spin.

I didn't get a chance to see how deep the cracks in the fairing are. They are on the top slope where the black paint of the faux windows are. I'm not sure if a previous owner hit something or not. Nothing is deformed, just some long cracks. I'll try to get some pictures up later. Hopefully they didn't fully penetrate. I pressed around on the front slope in the bunk area, and didn't feel any soft spots.

I'm hoping this is a semi-normal thing and there is a good "solution" to it. Fill them up w/ sealant maybe?

On the lights, how the heck do you get the covers off and anyone know of a good place to find replacements?
Check this older thread out.

Chris

This is with regard to postings 36680, 36704, 36663 and 36669 on LD 
Running / Clearance Lights. 

Lazy Daze Running / Clearance Lights very depending upon the year of 
coach manufacture, so it is probable that many are different than the 
ones on our 2001 LD.  

On all LD, the bodies of the front and rear upper clearance / running 
lights are EXTREMELY well sealed into the coach body. They do not 
leak when new and probably not leak for many, many years. I do not 
believe that the front and rear upper clearance light bodies should 
be removed and replaced except as a last resort. This is because of 
the difficulty in ensuring the same level of sealing that the factory 
has provided us in these light installations. Water getting into the 
coach body in these location caused lots of damage. 

The lower side clearance / running lights are not installed in the 
coach body but rather in lower side skirting. They are not sealed to 
the same extent as are the upper lights and replacement is not a big 
deal for the lower light bodies.  

On many of the running / clearance lights, like the ones on our 2001 
LD, the housings of the lights are made of thin plastic which is VERY 
easy to break when one tries to remove the light lens. I've found 
the best way to remove the lens is to use an old style, rounded end, 
very thin bladed table knife or a small metal crochet hook to move 
the plastic lens out of the plastic retainer cup WITHOUT LETTING THE 
TOOL TOUCH THE THIN PLASTIC RETAINER CUP RING. It takes very little 
pressure to break the edges of the light's plastic cup edges. Prying 
the lens out using the base cup ring as a pivot for the tool is a 
sure way to break the cup ring.

The most obvious light failure is bulb filament failure. A few of 
our round upper light bubs failed in this manner. On each of those 
failed bulbs, up to half the bulb was covered with exterior body 
paint. Apparently, for some LD, the plastic light lenses were 
removed before exterior paint was applied (or were not installed 
until after the exterior paint was applied) and paint got past the 
masking tape and covered part of the bulb. That caused the bulb to 
fail prematurely. (Paint causes the bulb to get too hot and the 
filament goes poof.) So, after few bulb failures, I removed the 
remaining lenses and cleaned the paint off the upper round light 
bulbs. No bulb filaments on these lights have failed since then.

Another common cause of a good bulb not illuminating is corrosion / 
rust in a bulb socket or on the bulb contacts. This is not as common 
a cause for the type of `peanut' bulb used on the LD running / 
clearance lights as it is for the bayonet base lights as used on the 
LD license plate lights. It is readily visible when you remove a 
bulb and the fix is cleaning the socket and bulb contacts and 
applying a small amount of electrical contact grease (think Radio 
Shack for a source).

Here is a `no light' cause that may be more probable for your 
running / clearance lights. On our 2001 LD, there are thin metal 
strips inside the light body that carry electrical current to and 
from the bulb socket. These strips are in four sections – two 
sections, joined to each other running to the bulb socket and two 
sections joined to each other running from the bulb socket. Problem 
is, the joining is done with a plastic `rivet' which also serves the 
function of restraining the strips to the base of the plastic light 
body. (Bear with me now.) This plastic `rivet' does not always hold 
the two strips tightly enough together to make a good electrical 
connection. When that happens, the bulb won't light up. What's 
the `fix' to a LD light that has this problem? It is to solder the 
two strips together. (You may find that the strips in your running / 
clearance lights have been already soldered, as this fix has been 
applied to some lights used in production.) Later production lights 
may be made differently. I have not yet soldered the strips on our 
LD, as I've successfully tried a temporary fix of strip edge crimping 
to those lights that stopped working. I don't expect this to last 
and will be trying cold solder first and if that fails, hot 
soldering. This will be done without removing the light body from 
the LD.

Only if the above fails would I disturb the factory sealed 
installation of the upper running / clearance lights to install a 
higher quality LED bulb light. The LED lights are more expensive, 
with about $18 being the lowest cost found so far for a replacement 
running / clearance LED light assembly.

I someone asks, I'll write up the cause of our two license plate 
lights corroding to the point of darkness……


May your potable water be shocked by non-electrical means,

Don McG
Formerly: 2002 30' IB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #3 –
So I wanted to have Rich expand on this topic, he said
        "  Even getting an annual vehicle inspection can be a hassle.  I use North Carolina Auto Safety and Emission Inspections..  Call ahead for an appointment and prepare for varying expectations about how many of the running lights need to be illuminated. "

I have seen consistent failures  of the old Peterson marker lights. A friend of mine has been working with me to come up with a replacement disc. With many iterations, we've settled on a 4 LED printed circuit board, red, or yellow, to replace the 'guts' of a marker light.  I have two working boards, one of each color. I'll try to post some pictures of it powered up, tomorrow.
    Don McG got the details of the failed design exactly right. Even fixing the brass pieces 'rivets', you still end up with an unreliable socket, for the much better LED #194 upgrade version.       RonB
RonB (Bostick) living in San Diego
Original owner of "Bluebelle" a '99 TKB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #4 –
Quote from: Larry W  - 
The front cap can develop surface cracks in the gel-coat, the colored layer on the outside.
Minor surface cracks are cosmetic and not a problem, other than appearance.
If impacted hard enough, the cap can crack all the way through and cause leaks.

Most likely, you are seeing surface cracks in the gel-coat.
Any photos to post?

Larry



Trying to figure out how to upload pictures now.
2001 MB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #5 –
Hopefully this works.
2001 MB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #6 –
The covers pop off with a screw driver. The plastic on the covers may be dried out and cracking but lazy daze installed those lights over half a tube of sealant so the chances they are leaking is minimal.

My rig has the fake front windows painted white (which looks much better IMO) and it looks like whoever did the paint was a pro. Around the fake window seams the paint has bubbled/flexed some and is cracking, this exposes the solid fiberglass front cap.  If you have cracking paint my guess is no actual damage has occurred. I personally would like to have my bad paint patched up but with my luck a rock would chip it again on the way home from the body shop.
2000 RB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #7 –
When I bought my rig the previous owners had some replacement covers in the “spare parts” bin...lemme see if I can find you a part number
2000 RB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #8 –
None of the bulbs are blown, they all light up, just the lens are cracked to heck, and I think we saw moisture inside. I'd like to get uncracked ones so I don't have to worry about water shorting out any of the electronics.
2001 MB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #9 –
Do a search for Peterson marker light lenses, 100-15 A (amber). The lenses “pop” off the fixture. Clean the light fixture itself, (remove and) butter the base of the bulb with dielectric grease, replace it, and pop the new lenses on. I suggest ordering extra lenses; they’re inexpensive.
2003 TK has a new home
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #10 –
Hi Sean is it? The amber lens caps seem to deteriorate in sunlight, and only last about two to three years. The polycarbonate (AKA Lexan) is supposed to be very sensitive to common chemicals. So no Windex or waxes. The red lenses are more resistant and last much longer for me. The best place I've found is Finditparts.com. The part number for Amber is 100-15A. R for red.
    100-15A by PETERSON LIGHTING - REPLACEMENT LENS    takes you to that part. $1.27 each is a good price. The ones I have ordered come in official Peterson bags, each piece. The Lazy Daze factory wants $6.50 for each cap, last I knew (2017). Peterson has stopped making the part, but I don't know if somebody else is second sourcing them . Maybe there is just a large reservoir of parts at large on the internet. I use a very small amount of dielectric grease on the lens rim to help it snap into place on the base of the fixture.
    The cracks in the front end cap are similar to ones I have in mine. My '99's cracks seem smaller, and not as many. I did find a few 1" or so impact craters in my faux windows, and one smaller but deeper crater in my 'Lazy Daze' decal area. So rocks kicked up in front by other vehicles can travel that high.    RonB
RonB (Bostick) living in San Diego
Original owner of "Bluebelle" a '99 TKB
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks
Reply #11 –
Quote from: henness  - 
Hopefully this works.

Those are gel-coat cracks and shouldn't cause any problems, other than cosmetic.
If desired, the cracks can be filled with sealant or paint.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks & Sources for Light Lenses
Reply #12 –
Quote from: RonB  - 
Hi Sean is it? The amber lens caps seem to deteriorate in sunlight, and only last about two to three years. The polycarbonate (AKA Lexan) is supposed to be very sensitive to common chemicals. So no Windex or waxes. The red lenses are more resistant and last much longer for me. The best place I've found is Finditparts.com. The part number for Amber is 100-15A. R for red.
    100-15A by PETERSON LIGHTING - REPLACEMENT LENS    takes you to that part. $1.27 each is a good price. The ones I have ordered come in official Peterson bags, each piece. The Lazy Daze factory wants $6.50 for each cap, last I knew (2017). Peterson has stopped making the part, but I don't know if somebody else is second sourcing them . Maybe there is just a large reservoir of parts at large on the internet. I use a very small amount of dielectric grease on the lens rim to help it snap into place on the base of the fixture.
    The cracks in the front end cap are similar to ones I have in mine. My '99's cracks seem smaller, and not as many. I did find a few 1" or so impact craters in my faux windows, and one smaller but deeper crater in my 'Lazy Daze' decal area. So rocks kicked up in front by other vehicles can travel that high.    RonB

Yeah Sean it is. Thanks. I'll pick up enough to replace all the front lens and a few spares as well.
2001 MB
 
Re: Front fairing and orange lights cracks & Sources for Light Lenses
Reply #13 –
Quote from: Larry W  - 
Those are gel-coat cracks and shouldn't cause any problems, other than cosmetic.
If desired, the cracks can be filled with sealant or paint.

Larry
Thanks for the response. Nice to know it's just cosmetic.
2001 MB