Retrofitlab Bi-Xenon Kit

[llama]

Hours later and I still can't get this  headlight housing apart.  I guess I'm going to have to cave and put it into the oven?  Which parts are safe in the oven?  The wiring harness obviously doesn't come off. 

[bigrog]

Originally Posted by llama

Hours later and I still can't get this  headlight housing apart.  I guess I'm going to have to cave and put it into the oven?  Which parts are safe in the oven?  The wiring harness obviously doesn't come off.

The Oven is the only way to go. Take off the bits that you can take off then heat the oven to 300C. Check this with an oven thermometer because any higher might damage the unit. Then stick it in the oven for 60mins. Wear heavy leather protective gloves when working on it or you will burn yourself badly. That will give you about 10 to 15 minutes working time. It will probably take two to three goes to get them apart, so still a long process. Take care not to distort the shape too much, but you can sort out the distorted snap lugs and the channel with a heat gun afterwards. The advantage of the oven over the heat gun is that you can get the whole unit at the same temperature and there is less to no danger of burning the housing.

[jamiesk]

How did this end up Llama?

I got through mine in a couple of hours with a knife and screwdrivers. Worth it in the long rum.

[llama]

Originally Posted by jamiesk

How did this end up Llama?

I got through mine in a couple of hours with a knife and screwdrivers. Worth it in the long rum.

I'm ashamed to say that I haven't tried it again yet.  Are you saying you didn't use the oven?


And is 300 Celsius correct?  That's like 572 F, which seems pretty high for plastic.  What did you guys place the unit on while it was in the oven?  Cookie sheet? Silicon mat?

[jamiesk]

No oven. Just knives,screwdrivers, time and ignorance :)

[nuttySweeet]

The oven won't do you much good in getting the silicon off, that stuff is pretty heat resistant. I doubt it would soften it up at all to be honest, and 300c is WAY too hot if you don't want to damage your housing.

All you need is two flat-head screwdrivers, a Stanley knife and LOTS of persistence. Don't be afraid to get those screwdrivers in and flex the housing where the silicon is. You can damage it quite a bit and it'll still seal back up just fine afterwards.

Seriously don't use an oven when prying it apart, and don't be afraid to damage the plastic edges slightly where the silicon is, it won't do it any harm in the long run. Look how mangled those edges are in the Retrofit video, that's pretty much what yours need to look like when you've finished. Don't think you can do this whilst keeping those edges intact, you need to be quite aggressive with it in order to get at the silicon to cut it.

[jamiesk]

Have a look at how much silica is on the table in pic 3 and the edges on pages 4+5

https://www.tiger1050.com/index.php/topic,30838.0.html

[bigrog]

Originally Posted by nuttySweeet

The oven won't do you much good in getting the silicon off, that stuff is pretty heat resistant. I doubt it would soften it up at all to be honest, and 300c is WAY too hot if you don't want to damage your housing.

The sealant is not silicone, it is permaseal. Silicone will not be affected by heat in any way however the permaseal is, but it needs a relatively high temperature. I have actually done this using heat at 300C (I am not the first or only person who has) and the unit was not damaged in any way, in fact the channels were only marginally more pliable at that temperature. Retrofit who supplied the units to me use a heat gun which will generate temperatures far higher than 300C, but an oven is more controlled.

Originally Posted by nuttySweeet

Seriously don't use an oven when prying it apart, and don't be afraid to damage the plastic edges slightly where the silicon is, it won't do it any harm in the long run.

I disagree with this since damaging the channel will make weather sealing more difficult. Still at the end of the day make your own choice on the method, they will both work, I just think that heat is a less aggressive approach.

[nuttySweeet]

Originally Posted by bigrog

The sealant is not silicone, it is permaseal. Silicone will not be affected by heat in any way however the permaseal is, but it needs a relatively high temperature. I have actually done this using heat at 300C (I am not the first or only person who has) and the unit was not damaged in any way, in fact the channels were only marginally more pliable at that temperature. Retrofit who supplied the units to me use a heat gun which will generate temperatures far higher than 300C, but an oven is more controlled.

I disagree with this since damaging the channel will make weather sealing more difficult. Still at the end of the day make your own choice on the method, they will both work, I just think that heat is a less aggressive approach.

OK I don't know where you are getting your information from, but the factory sealed unit is sealed with Silicone, NOT permaseal. It's stated as such in every thread about upgrading your lights on here. The permaseal is what you use AFTERWARDS to seal the unit back up. Again, the factory sealed unit is sealed with Silicone.

Sorry I don't mean to be blunt, but you really should check your facts before giving advise that could cause someone some very expensive damage. Not only that but permaseal only needs to be heated to 200c to make it malleable, 300c is massive overkill and dangerously hot. And 60 minutes?? I only had to heat mine to 200c for 5 minutes to make it malleable, 300c for 60 minutes would trash the entire housing most likely.

Have you actually done this procedure like the rest of us giving advice? Because honestly, it doesn't sound like you have.

[bigrog]

Originally Posted by nuttySweeet

Have you actually done this procedure like the rest of us giving advice? Because honestly, it doesn't sound like you have.

Blunt I can handle, rude I find less palatable, especially on this forum.

This is a copy of an email sent to me in August 2013 from the CEO of Retrofitlab
"
Hi Roger,

Triumph headlights have permaseal most of the times unfortunately. Still use heat (low temperature for a long time is good). And work patiently J
Kind regards / Met vriendelijke groet,
Wouter van der Haar
Founder and CEO Retrofitlab
"
As I stated above, Silicone is unaffected by heat and will not melt or soften, which is the reason why they use it in high temperature applications such as the insulation on specialist electrical cables. Permaseal on the other hand will soften with heat. You did however make me re-visit the temperature and you are correct I got it wrong, the temperature was 200C not 300C. Unfortunately I lifted it straight from my article here. It is a typo that I did not notice, for which I apologise. Unfortunately I can't easily change it but will try to and put in a request, since it is in the sticky's of this forum section.

Also FYI Butyl is generally used to reseal the headlamps since this will melt at lower temperatures than Permaseal (the clue is in the name)