CJITTY

Ok, for you folks who drive during snow storms for long periods of time, do you ever have your HID headlight output diminished because snow builds up on the headlamps as you drive? This happens to me all the time. I know it's because the headlights do not put out anywhere near the amount of heat that halogens do. I know this never happend in my non HID cars because the lights heat up the lexan/glass, therefore melting the snow.

I'm thinking about rain-x'ing my headlight housing to make them more slick to ice and snow, but not sure if that would affect the lexan housing, i.e. discoloring it, etc? Anyone else have this issue? No issue for the fogs because they are glass and halogen and they are completely free of snow, but the rest of the car looks like I hit a snow bank!!

youngTL

Try the rain-x on a test area near the side. A very small area should be tested. If it doesn't have any effect, which it shouldn't, you should be okay. I have no reason to believe that it would etch the surface since it's a nonpolar molecule (if it was polar water would bond to it and it wouldn't do its job, but it bonds to the glass and headlights because the plastic and glass are nonpolar, at least i think glass is nonpolar).

PenguinQX

iTrader: (1)

Hmm... if I remember correctly, the instructions on RainX say that it's not for use on plastics.

shogun

try 303 or something.. i usually use 303 on my head/tail lights. whether it does anythign i donno haha but its supposed to help keep buildup off the lights.

Comet2404

I have put rain-x on my lights, windows, and mirrors.... it works great, and there were no "side-effects" on the lights. I do it about once a month.

shawn744

yeah i've put rain-x on my headlights....doesn't do anything...WAX does though. i also know for a fact that rain-x works on the STOCK fog light lens. i car wax all my headlight, and tail light assemblies and it works great.

IndyTypeS

i use rain-x on my headlights and fog lights in between waxing and haven't had any problems with etching. if you use wax, i suggest a liquid wax since it's typically less abrasive. as for keeping snow from building up, i don't know that I've noticed a big difference, but it makes the lights sparkle when it's clean and that's really what i like about it.

Crazy88

Actually I was traveling thru Monarch Pass when it was blizzarding heavily the weekend before thanksgiving, and i stopped at the crest of the pass to take a few pics, and there was ice everywhere but my headlights, it was cool to see the ice surrounding them. its wierd that we have had opposite experiences, wish i knew how to post pics

fsttyms1

no problem with mine (unless like left over night, then i have to usually scrape them off if it snowed)

spl1011

My trick is to live in FL. Works pretty well. lol...

I havent used anthing for my lights for fear of chemical interactions. Rain X says to stay away from plastic lenses, etc. It can soften them, but it depends on the plastic, so Rain X covers all the bases and says no plastic.

I need to polish my healights though. They are so pitted.
Good luck!!

69ssrscam

What is snow? Is that the white stuff that I see in pictures from up north.
We just don't have that down here, and when we do I don't trust the other drivers enough to risk the TL and keep it inside.

I use wax on my headlights. It will help the snow & slush "slide" off of the light instead of freezing on it.

Crazy88

kRaZy_TL

iTrader: (1)

wow your TL got frost bite. LOL!

CJITTY

Damn, that's crazy. Well, maybe I didn't have my lights on long enough to generate heat. Monarch Pass is hella dangerous in the snow, let alone blizzard conditions. I see you didn't have your fogs on though..