Hymer / Hella spoil my weekend again (1 Viewer)

[CazPaul]

nice idea Terry, I have both the broken casing and an unused polycarbonate protector, which as you say is pretty much the same size, it does have fixing holes (for suckers) fixing suckers not mugs like me but they could be filled

my main concern would be damp getting at the Bi Xenon bulb and wrecking that, never priced one of them yet at least

Could you not just seal around the edges with sealant David, that's what I would be trying first. Nothing to lose really.

 

[Terry]

nice idea Terry, I have both the broken casing and an unused polycarbonate protector, which as you say is pretty much the same size, it does have fixing holes (for suckers) fixing suckers not mugs like me but they could be filled

my main concern would be damp getting at the Bi Xenon bulb and wrecking that, never priced one of them yet at least

Puraflex/Sikaflex etc sticks and seals alsort of things

 

[Larrynwin]

Polycarbonate sheet to size is readily available and I have found with heat gun is readily shaped , a shame I didn't look this up before I bought my expensive protectors

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[DavidG58]

Puraflex/Sikaflex etc sticks and seals alsort of things

what are you up to next week? got to be worth a try

 

[Terry]

Busy this week but Monday/Tuesday week after?

 

[DavidG58]

Nice one Terry, you truly are a top man, but we know that already

I will offer the protector cover up to the glass to see how close the fit is

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[DavidG58]

I have a plastic fabricator we use for work, I might just take one to him first and get a few made, this could make our fortune @Terry

 

[Terry]

I have some sort of black paint type stuff that you paint on the glass / body work before bonding glass windows onto van bodywork ...bit of masking tape ...paint onto plastic cover then remove tape ...should give a neat finish to inside edge then bond cover to light unit...hardly rocket science. .if it work's and looks good ...better than 1500 quid

 

[DavidG58]

I have some sort of black paint type stuff that you paint on the glass / body work before bonding glass windows onto van bodywork ...bit of masking tape ...paint onto plastic cover then remove tape ...should give a neat finish to inside edge then bond cover to light unit...hardly rocket science. .if it work's and looks good ...better than 1500 quid

think if it works I might just smash the offside one

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[Lenny HB]

think if it works I might just smash the offside one

Ooo that's a bit extreme.
If you use polycarbonate the same thickness as the glass probably only you would notice the difference.

 

[CazPaul]

Someone must have done this before surely, just not been members of any forum/facebook group etc.
Basically its a headlight and the front has smashed and people are paying £1500 for a new one.

 

[DavidG58]

Someone must have done this before surely, just not been members of any forum/facebook group etc.
Basically its a headlight and the front has smashed and people are paying £1500 for a new one.

I have come across one person on HoG (Face Book Hymer owners group) who had theirs mended by fixing a polycarbonate front, he apparently had 'a lad do it for him' ???? but he doesnt do it anymore

there is a gold mine out there to explore, no wonder TW wouldn't give me back my casing last time, there must be an opportunity for a black market in them

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[Terry]

How do you mean they would not give old unit back ????Did you ask for it ? or just told them you did not want it

 

[DavidG58]

How do you mean they would not give old unit back ????Did you ask for it ? or just told them you did not want it

in fairness to them I only asked when I rang from Chester when the new one was found to be fitted so badly

can I at this point add how much I love this forum, I raised question over the competence of TW to do anything and had my posts removed from another forum sponsors or not thank you Jim for allowing both sides to be said

back to your question Terry, they said it was in a skip and H+S said they couldn't go in and get anything out, if you remember we wanted to see if it had that bulge on the casing

so had I asked on the day maybe the answer would have been yes

although thinking about it, I think I did ask for it back on the day it was fitted as I still wasn't happy about the stone chip excuse, so I now think they refused on the day they fitted it, having been asked to keep it for me I really am too soft

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Just caught up on all this .....anyone thought of simply bonding one of the plastic lens protecters straght onto the light unit ? It must be a close fit ? or I could be talking twadde but with the HL at the price they are I would be trying something

No the ones available are flat and there is an appreciable doming to the actual lenses, I have done some experimental covers but rying to get the plastic uniform is a mateer of temperature with the PETG, but that is not shatterproof, OK but not good. Polycarbonate is the stuff but needs to be new sheet or heat soaked to rid it of water bubbles which form in the material if it has been left around as it absorbs moisture. It needs heat soaking at 80C for about four hours to allow the moisture to exit via the pores.. I have only old sheet to play with at the moment. The actual lenses can be PETG or polycarbonate as they would be shatter resistant without the glass behind it to keep the impact away. I would not make these on a commercial basis mainly because if people are paying then they deserve a product that is better than I could provide. However and imporverished owner might accept slightly less than perfect to save the cost of the new factory one. We will see If all goes quiet from me it is because it is a failure and I am hiding in shame, but I am having a go anyway. There is also the worry that Hella might be coming after a copy lens, quoting copyright protection and they have VERY DEEP pockets my are totally empty. Protectors are OK as they do not do them and it is free market out there.

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[CazPaul]

I am really shocked David, its not as if there are any complicated electrical fittings etc to connect up, it could be taken out and taken to a number of moulding firms etc to make a front, seal it on and fit it back.
@GWAYGWAY is the man on here by the sound of it.

 

[CazPaul]

No the ones available are flat and there is an appreciable doming to the actual lenses, I have done some experimental covers but rying to get the plastic uniform is a mateer of temperature with the PETG, but that is not shatterproof, OK but not good. Polycarbonate is the stuff but needs to be new sheet or heat soaked to rid it of water bubbles which form in the material if it has been left around as it absorbs moisture. It needs heat soaking at 80C for about four hours to allow the moisture to exit via the pores.. I have only old sheet to play with at the moment. The actual lenses can be PETG or polycarbonate as they would be shatter resistant without the glass behind it to keep the impact away. I would not make these on a commercial basis mainly because if people are paying then they deserve a product that is better than I could provide. However and imporverished owner might accept slightly less than perfect to save the cost of the new factory one. We will see If all goes quiet from me it is because it is a failure and I am hiding in shame, but I am having a go anyway. There is also the worry that Hella might be coming after a copy lens, quoting copyright protection and they have VERY DEEP pockets my are totally empty. Protectors are OK as they do not do them and it is free market out there.

No reason to hide in shame, you are having a go, great stuff. I do know what you mean though about Hella, they are making tens of thousands just from this one unit so won't want anybody to stop them.

 

[DavidG58]

@GWAYGWAY good on you but \I really cant see there being any risk of copyright issue for fixing a new front on to a poorly designed body

as for impoverished, if I have to buy a third one I will be as well

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[BusyBuilder]

Remember that Hella will have thousands in development costs, as well as making profits.

 

[CazPaul]

Remember that Hella will have thousands in development costs, as well as making profits.

You have to be joking surely, surely. That's not just a profit that's ripping your eyes out and sending you home with a brush stuck up your backside, its a disgrace, in fact without swearing I cannot think of any other description.
I can't think any rational person could see it any other way, except maybe the MD of hella.
Where's the development in making something that has tendency to shatter, they should have gone back to the drawing board and made something fit for purpose, at a sensible price then recalled every van and fitted them, or sent the newly designed ones to everybody.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Hella probably do not make that much it is the middlemen Customer Hymer and then the Dealers,, UK lamp £1500 and german £750. they are the same it is a case of Treasure Island again, charge more because they can the foreign market is a lot harder for them.. The UK light is flat topped beam and then flipped to the left, The EU model is just left flat topped.. What about the German imported motorhomes to UK buy two lamps to get through the testing,, No way just flat topped and leave it there, I went to Europe with mine and set it for there never changed it back it was just as good.

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[Terry]

No the ones available are flat and there is an appreciable doming to the actual lenses, I have done some experimental covers but rying to get the plastic uniform is a mateer of temperature with the PETG, but that is not shatterproof, OK but not good. Polycarbonate is the stuff but needs to be new sheet or heat soaked to rid it of water bubbles which form in the material if it has been left around as it absorbs moisture. It needs heat soaking at 80C for about four hours to allow the moisture to exit via the pores.. I have only old sheet to play with at the moment. The actual lenses can be PETG or polycarbonate as they would be shatter resistant without the glass behind it to keep the impact away. I would not make these on a commercial basis mainly because if people are paying then they deserve a product that is better than I could provide. However and imporverished owner might accept slightly less than perfect to save the cost of the new factory one. We will see If all goes quiet from me it is because it is a failure and I am hiding in shame, but I am having a go anyway. There is also the worry that Hella might be coming after a copy lens, quoting copyright protection and they have VERY DEEP pockets my are totally empty. Protectors are OK as they do not do them and it is free market out there.

Hi so the lens covers are no good/flat ? Perhaps @DavidG58 will pick up on this and get his man who does work for him to look at making some proper moulded covers ? that can be stuck on

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Just caught up on all this .....anyone thought of simply bonding one of the plastic lens protecters straght onto the light unit ? It must be a close fit ? or I could be talking twadde but with the HL at the price they are I would be trying something

You would need an air gap otherwise the house brick would just transfer the force straight through the plastic and bust the glass behind, the other problem is that the attachment point might just do that by itself by concentrating the force at those four points where the suckers?..???? Are touching the glass but at least it would divide by four and not just one. Altenatively a big poly sheet across the whole front with a bull bar as attachment might save the expensive glass bits. Do not get me going on the price of the windscreens from Hymer if the headlamps cost that much then what price the genuine as against pattern screens.

 

[Theonlysue]

Email one of the European hymer dealers and see what they charge.

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[Terry]

Hi just to clarify David's glass has broken and will be removed and hopefully we may be able to stick the lens cover in it's place.....no idea if it will work until I see both light and lens cover next week

 

[Dilbert]

Having just seen this thread after seeing a thread on a car forum about someone with a 3yr old Vauxhall mokka with a blown headlight being charged £750+ for a replacement. The motoring worlds gone mad! No wonder a minor traffic bump or vandal damage can write off a vehicle.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

I have been trying various methods of heating the plastic today and have moulded another prototype headlamp cover. It does seem to cool in an uneven manner leading to a slight warping of the edges where they narrow. Very difficult things to photgraph but here is a couple of shots as an example of how it is going.

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[Lenny HB]

Looking very good for a first attempt.

 

[peterc10]

As the owner of a Hymer with similar lights to David's I will be keeping an eye on this thread, whilst hoping I never need it!

 

[Terry]

I have been trying various methods of heating the plastic today and have moulded another prototype headlamp cover. It does seem to cool in an uneven manner leading to a slight warping of the edges where they narrow. Very difficult things to photgraph but here is a couple of shots as an example of how it is going.

Send it to David and I will have a go at sticking it in place

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