Baking Headlight!
 

Hey there I'm new in this forum. I have a 2012 Mazda 3 Skyactiv and I've done my research about baking these headlights. However what worries me is i may make a mistake and condensation will be built up. And I don't want that.... Especially when you live in Vancouver. If anybody knows how to open and bake the headlights and can prevent condensation that will be great. and of course I will pay you as well...!

here a few pics from other forums with people baking their headlights.!

never had a problem with condensation with my headlights.

-Preheat oven to 255ºF
-Clean and dry headlights
-Remove as many components as possible.
-Bake for 10mins
-Pry apart
-Do what you need to do, paint, remove ambers, etc
-Put back both halves for 5 mins to soften glue
-Put lights together
-Rebake for another 5 mins when together. (this will make sure the glue spreads out properly)

I did 3 sets of headlights like this with no problems. Its a lot easier than you think.

try a hint of cinnamon for that extra kick of flavour!

keeping condensation away depends more on the vent holes at the back of the housing and less on the seal in the front. when i did my retrofit it took me a while to figure out why my housing was condensing even when ive sealed it a few times over. turns out my 7x6 sealed beam housing didnt have any vent holes. drilled some in and no more condensation!

also adding to RCubed's post, if it makes you feel better, you can get the rubber sealant most likely at mazda or any parts store. as well as when you're heating it for 5 mins after you put back the housing, i find it helps it seal better when you have some tiny c-clamps holding the housing together so air bubbles get squeezed out as they heat up.

My RSX headlight baking guide:

Best advice? Take your time!!!


DIY Blackout Guide

I've done dozens and dozens of sets for the local Nissan/Infiniti guys, and the number one thing I would tell people is to give it proper time to dry, few days if you must in a nice warm room all the headlight pieces open together.
This because paint takes few hours to dry to touch, but few days to fully cure sometimes.
That's why what I do is I put the actual plastic bezel piece in the oven to cure it myself takes a whole day to do it.

Anyway that's my bulletproof method, and out of those dozens upon dozens of headlights I've done, only had condensation with like 2 or 3. And the solution is super simple, no need to take the lights off the car again, just get under the wheel well as if you're changing a lightbulb, and just pop the back tab open on the headlight, let it air out in a nice warm place over a night or two. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO IT ASAP, AS SOON AS YOU SEE CONDENSATION
I say that because in some cases and this is what happend to a buddy of mine whose lights I did, in some cases the heat from the HID's (gets super super hot inside the light) well that extreme heat will actually boil the water inside the lights which will in turn melt that layer of coating on the inside of the lens (there's a coating there to help with the heat otherwise the plastic lens would melt... anyway in extreme cases this can happen if you don't open up and let the condensation escape.

My buddy's headlights on the inside was left looking like waxy residue from the melted coating... I did the best I could cleaning it up without damaging the inside lens, but not much you can do really at that point.

Thanks guys, there are some very use full tips here, however i face an objection. I can't back my headlight, i have to use a heat gun...? anyone faced this issue? the reason why I have to use a heat gun is due to my headlight being big to fit inside the oven...

G-SPEC how much do you charge to do this? I will provide all the materials. Thanks

heatgun is fine too, just gets messier than the oven method

I don't do this anymore, I only did it to help out my Nissan guys who had no choice but to send it to a shop in the US and pay about $1000 to get it done.... I've taken care of all their lights so yea I'm done with that sorry, it's very time consuming...

Heatgun well.. it's a lot harder with a heatgun but not impossible, it's like by the time you heat one side, the other will be cooled off.... like Park said, it's really messy with a heat gun

sadly I dont have access to an oven so I always used heat gun and its not that bad. work on it one side at a time but you just have to have patience

I'd suggest bribing a friend with an oven with some beer rather than using a heatgun lol

basically, if you are using a heat gun its easier to do with 2 people.
one person blows the heat gun and the other person uses a flat head to pry open at the same time

always wanted to do it, but still worry i will screw up. anyshop that can do out locally?
Posted via RS Mobile