Hi Scotti
So I have a 2021 Kia Sorento I bought new. It's been a good car so far. I noticed a white powder in the head light lenses. I popped off the back covers and discovered the desiccant bag in each headlight housing that exploded. I took the assemblies out of the car and tried to empty them by shaking upside down and blowing in compressed air but some of the powder I can't get at. These are sealed except for a back cover that twists off to change the bulb. With the lamps removed could I fill the housing with soapy water without doing damage?
Of course the dealer said those desiccant bags have to be changed periodically so there is no warranty. I have yet to find any reference in the owners manual to the periodic desiccant changing in the headlights. In fact I find no mention of it at all. Their only solution is to change the assemblies at $400 a piece.
Is this unusual for a car that is less than three years old?
Whatever you do don't tell my wife {black}:smile:
Is this unusual for a car that is less than three years old?
I don't know. My headlights are still in good shape after 27 years. (Glass lenses.)
The main concern I'd have with using soapy water is it might damage the reflective coating inside.
I've never heard of using desiccant bags for use in headlights. They use miniature rubber weatherstripping for the actual bulb. They're plastic and fade from the outside over time, not the inside. Minute scratches develop over time and use and they dull out. When it's time for new ones, you can either totally replace them, or try using a headlight brightener. Buying desiccant bags is absolutely pointless.
The desiccant bags are inserted to keep/make the air in the headlight assembly dry to prevent dulling of the reflective layer behind the bulb.
The construction of the lights seems to make it possible, water/damp can enter and do the dulling.
The desiccant would work, but periodically replacing or removing the bonded water in it, is needed.
That should be in the instruction manual of the car.
It would be better to construct perfectly sealed headlamps (don't know if that is possible at all), but Kia chooses the 'el cheapo' way.
My guess, it will be impossible to remove the dust (it will be baked on) from the reflectors (these are VERY sensitive to touching in any way).
The front of the assemblies are acrylic while the backs are ABS. The two are fused together usually ultrasonically. I am familiar with this process from my work as an engineer. This does not create a hermetic seal. With the extremes in seasonal temperatures a certain amount of venting is going to occur both in the form of pressure and vacuum. While there are O rings on the dust caps you can't stop air from getting in or out otherwise the assembly would blow apart. Desiccant eventually gets saturated and expands with time. Obviously they need periodic replacement but the manual says nothing as far as scheduled replacement. There are threads that talk about how desiccant prevents moister on the inside of the lens but once saturated that action grinds to a halt. I guess their counting on it lasting to the end of the warranty.
I know these kind of desiccants as small packets added to optics (photo-lenses and cameras).
The stuff in these packets can be regenerated by heating them in an (kitchen) oven for some time, after that their working-cycle starts again.
So you can do this yourself, but for that you have to know they are/were used by the car maker.
I don't think the oven is going to put the dessicant back in the packets.
I guess, you understand the packets with their content -and undamaged- should go into the oven.
TS's problem can be solved by 2 new headlight units.
so you would pay the $800 for headlights?
These are meant as a throwaways. I have the Kia/Hyundai part number for the bag which is housed in the head lamp dust cap. The local dealer does not stock them but can get them in 3 weeks. I did not stay long enough to get a price. Amazon's got them. Problem is the housing is now filled with white powder so it's to late.
After replacing halogen bulbs by led bulbs the absorbing packets are no longer needed. Will be because you loose the heath-generating ability of the halogen and by this the tendency of the lamp unit to press warm air out and suck cool -and moist- air in.
Sad there will be no work-around for replacing the units. I did read, there are companies who can 're-silver' reflectors, but I think the affected ones cannot be opened.
LED’s get quite hot too
LED’s get quite hot too
When these get really hot, it's not a good idea to remove the desiccant bags (needed to let the led-bulbs fit, shown in video), as the same problem will come up again then.
Do the powdered headlight make the car fail at legal inspections? When not you could drive on with it.
It won't fail inspection but it makes a 3 year old car look like crap. I guess if it gets worse it might fail. I am sure a greedy dealer who wants to sell stuff like head light assemblies would deliberately fail it. If there is a monetary incentive it will be failed so as to make money. I had a dealer sell me a unnecessary brake job. The state sighted them for it and I got my money back but that's another story. This thread deals with how to get the powder out of my lights. Looks like there are not any good options. I am going to work on it this weekend. If I find a solution I will post it here.
. This thread deals with how to get the powder out of my lights
couldn't you just remove the housing, take the bulb out of it, rinse it out with water, let it dry, and chuck some new dessicants packs in?
The housing removal requires the fenders be removed according to the service manual. These are LEDs so they supposedly never need replacing. I am thinking of painting a little winter scene with people on skis on the front of each headlight. It would be like one of those fluid filled snow globes you shake up to make the snow fall.
Tried that just made it worse. There are all these dead end compartments that make it look really space age where the powder caked up after trying to rinse it out.
did you try soap
Give vinegar with baking soda a try. Maybe rubbing alcohol also.
yeah just keep trying the whole pantry until it's a complete mess
Vinegar works great as a cleaner, give it a shot sometime. Rubbing alcohol works great also, but hey.....you're the expert.
#1, I wouldn't put vinegar or baking soda anywhere near where electrical stuff goes. They're both electrolytes and corrosive.
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#2, one is an acid, and the other is basic. On their own they are good cleaners for certain applications, but mix them together and they just neutralize each other, defeating the whole purpose. You just end up with salty water (also terrible for electricals)
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#3, rubbing alcohol is a non-polar solvent. It's good for oily residues. In this situation I don't think it'll do anything to the powder, and you just risk damaging the plastics.
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#4, dessicant powder is Silicon Dioxide, which is highly insoluble in water. None of the substances you mentioned will dissolve it or emulsify it, or touch it in any way. You would need highly caustic soda (and dissolve the headlight in the process.)
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#5, I suggested soap because the micelle action is the only thing that might pick up the particles and wash them away.
silicon dioxide is basically dirt. What washes dirt off clothes? Detergent.
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But I'm really curious to hear how you think your home remedies will work.
It's for cleaning the plastics, not to be used around any electronics.....just the plastic with the powder on it. It's not rocket science.
Here is a picture of the dust caps from the back of the head lights on my 2021 Sorento. One exploded and the other swelling up. I wonder how many other brands have these?
One good aspect: the desiccant works (binds water), the further implementation is BS.
An 'electronic tell-tale' could inform the driver in time.
Some members reject Kia's, might be related to these bags.
Desiccant has been used in sealed systems like liquid refrigerant air conditioning for years . These are sealed systems. Once sealed it removes the remaining moisture in the system and because it is sealed it remains dry. It has it's limits in that it can only hold so much before it becomes saturated. In an open environment like a headlight there is a need for periodic replacement or baking the accumulated moisture out. It's not documented anywhere that I can find.
A problem emerged in the 70s in GM cars. The desiccant bags would burst in the AC accumulator and the powder released was abrasive. The compressor would seize and the whole system was contaminated and had to be replaced.
This car goes to the dealer for free 200 point inspections twice a year. There is no mention of inspection much less servicing desiccant bags in the headlights.