How To Clean Yellow Headlights

Yellow or oxidized headlights are a big problem with vehicles today. The big question is how to clean them and keep them looking like new. The best thing to do is NOT just to clean them but restore them either with a DIY headlight restoration kit or call in a professional headlight restoration service. Before we go into how to clean or restore them, we need to understand what they are made off and what causes them to get discolored or oxidized.

From my three years experience in the headlight restoration service industry I have found it is a combination of things that causes your headlights to yellow or become discolored either cloudy, foggy or hazy. Pretty much disgusting, more like an eye-saw.

Here are the major contributors for yellow headlights: 

• Headlights are now made from poly carbon plastic instead of Glass. This type of plastic is very hard but very porous. So they need to be sealed.
• The debris from the road which is basically small rocks, sand and pebbles being kick up by on-going traffic at speeds of 30 to 80 mph acts like a sand blaster on your headlights. Now this debris eventually chips away the sealer of your headlights making small dents and cracks. Then these dents and crack starts to collect dirt and grime from all around.
• The suns UV rays combined with the acid rain and the acid from the stomach of bugs plus the petro chemical from the asphalt on the roads eats away on the sealer on your headlights like a cancer. Before you know it your once nice crystal clear looking headlight gets foggy, cloudy and yellow. If at this point you don't address the situatation of restoring them your headlights can and will start to get heavily oxidized resulting in a rough to the touch feeling. Apart from looking ugly you will be loosing a great deal of your light projection which can result in an accident.

The Solution Headlight Restoration:

Now we know the cause of your headlights yellowing we can solve the problem by restoring the headlights. First you will have to clean them and then sealing them for a longer lasting result. Over the year I have used different ways of restoring yellow headlights. The most effective method is the wet sanding process, polishing and sealing. This process produces the best results. You can accomplish this by using a do it yourself headlight restoration kit or calling in a professional headlight restoration service. The average pair of headlights takes about one hour to be restored properly.

Basic Headlight Restoration Procedure: 

1. You will need to tape off or mask the yellow headlights to protect your vehicle paint job.
2. Start sanding the lenses with a 1000 grit sand paper then go to a 1500 grit and then a 2000 grit. I suggest using wet/dry sand paper. While sanding, keep the headlight surface wet with a spray bottle filled with water or use a garden hose running slowly.
3. After wet sanding wash headlight with clean water and then polish the headlights with preferable a water-soluble polish.
4. Before your final step of sealing the headlights you need to dry them off completely. If necessary use a blow dryer to ensure that there is no moisture on them because a drop of water can ruin your entire finish. Then finally seal the headlights with a good quality polymer sealer. The quality of your sealer will depend on how long your headlights will stay looking like new.

Basically that's how you clean and restore yellow or oxidized headlights. Good luck in restoring yours.

Snowplow Lights - What Do You Need to Know?

It is that dark time of year again, and night time visibility is low. This is when we start to make decisions on what type of plow light we put on our vehicles. But before we do that we need to know a little bit about lights.

Snowplow lights come in regular sealed beam and halogen high intensity lighting, xenon. Head lights are measured in the amount of candlepower which is a way of measuring how much light is produced by a light bulb and a lumen is a way of measuring how much light gets to what you want to light! At least this gives you a small basis on what you are looking for. So when you are buying snowplow light s keep this information in mind.

The snowplow light manufacturers now make this systems with different ratings on their lights. The systems mostly used now are halogens, with separate bulbs for high beams low beams. Another thing I feel you need to keep in mind especially if you have an old plow and want to up grade your lights. Make sure your old snowplow light harness can handle the up grade. There is nothing more frustrating then installing new plow lights, and the system blows a fuse or relays and you do no know why. Especially when they usually will not blow until after 5 minutes, so just when you think you are fine the lights go out. So make sure your snowplow light harness can handle this increase.

The other thing to keep in mind is how much you want to be seen by other drivers. So you may want to start to think about installing an overhead yellow or over head strobe light. Check with your state laws there could be a requirement if you are going to install an over head strobe light. They also make them in permanent and magnetic. Personally I prefer the magnetic strobe lights It gives me the ability to choose to be removed at any time. The permanent is cheaper but requires some work to install. Please keep this in mind when buying these strobe lights and do not to get a light that is mesmerizing to oncoming drivers. You just want to notify and warn them you are there.

When buying new snowplow lights, ask about any warranties and guarantees that apply with their product. One thing I also want to talk briefly on is a lot of snowplow owners try to cram all kinds of light s in there fuse panel. Before adding any light make sure you have room in your fuse panel for any additional plow lights. When wire splicing make sure you solder, or use butt connectors and then heat shrink tube over all spices. Do not use any type of temporary connections. Happy snowplowing and remember Edgeolite is here to keep you safer!, and Smarter. for more information