blacked out tail lights

[J-Thurm]

I searched and couldn't find any detailed threads on this subject. Thanks for all of the replies..I went and ahead and painted them pretty dark and they turned out great.

[Twisted Six]

Originally Posted by partlowr

I do not think the vinyl caused your lenses to crack, I have worked in the thermo plastic industry for 17 years and have a degree in plastics engineering technolgy. Vinyl is PVC, a taillight lens is a hybrid polycarbonate, pvc disapates heat at a rate nearly twice as fast as polycarbonate. Also polycarbonate has a heat deflection temp about 100 degree F higher than PVC. Not sure what caused the lenses to crack but it was not. 005" thick vinyl wrap film

I'm not sure what else to add aside to stock bulbs in use....no wrecks....not parked in constant extreme sun exposure.

Its your degree at work here....but even your order of saying is "Vinyl is PVC, a taillight lens is a hybrid polycarbonate, pvc disapates heat at a rate nearly twice as fast as polycarbonate. Also polycarbonate has a heat deflection temp about 100 degree F higher than PVC."

It sounds as though any heat created internally via the bulbs/lamps would now have to additionally deal with the 50% insulation cooling rate as the polycarbonate alone.

In other words....the PVC is not in harms way here, rather the Polycarbonate is further insulated to hold more BTU's. Which its probably not designed to do. In lots of long stop-n-go Los Angeles traffic.....one could stand on the brake for extended periods of time for years of DD use.

So I'm not saying the .005" thick PVC cracked them either.....but it IS the only contributor outside of stock.

If your 17 years of experience hasn't done the test mirroring this example, your guessing as well I'd think.

[partlowr]

Originally Posted by Twisted Six

I'm not sure what else to add aside to stock bulbs in use....no wrecks....not parked in constant extreme sun exposure.

Its your degree at work here....but even your order of saying is "Vinyl is PVC, a taillight lens is a hybrid polycarbonate, pvc disapates heat at a rate nearly twice as fast as polycarbonate. Also polycarbonate has a heat deflection temp about 100 degree F higher than PVC."

It sounds as though any heat created internally via the bulbs/lamps would now have to additionally deal with the 50% insulation cooling rate as the polycarbonate alone.

In other words....the PVC is not in harms way here, rather the Polycarbonate is further insulated to hold more BTU's. Which its probably not designed to do. In lots of long stop-n-go Los Angeles traffic.....one could stand on the brake for extended periods of time for years of DD use.

So I'm not saying the .005" thick PVC cracked them either.....but it IS the only contributor outside of stock.

If your 17 years of experience hasn't done the test mirroring this example, your guessing as well I'd think.

You're kidding right? Do yourself a favor and quit while you do not look like a complete idiot. Instead of acting like an expert on a topic that it is obvious you have ZERO knowledge look into some various UL testing methods for starters. Then check into ROHS specs for polycarbonate pertaining to heat/burning. These taillight lens are subjected to testing temps and conditions 20 times worse than "stop and go traffic". Wrap 50 layers of PVC film around a lens and it still will not make a difference or cause the lens to crack.

...and for the record I worked for a division of Honeywell/Hobbs and their injection molding of headlight housings for Honda ATV's, Honda Automobiles and Polaris ATV's and Snowmobiles so actually I have been involved in testing simialr to the conversation at hand. I was also involved in the first auto leveling headlight project as they had concerns with the bulbs contacting the polycarbonate housings should the system malfunction or the motorized leveing headlights become loose. FYI a halogen headlight bulb(like the ones I helped engineer) puts out 10x more heat than a little incandecent taillight bulb and it is designed and engineered to sustain the heat from the halogen bulb INDEFINITELY and those headlight housings are also made of hybrid polycarbonates just like the tail lenses.

[Twisted Six]

Originally Posted by partlowr

You're kidding right? Do yourself a favor and quit while you do not look like a complete idiot. Instead of acting like an expert on a topic that it is obvious you have ZERO knowledge look into some various UL testing methods for starters. Then check into ROHS specs for polycarbonate pertaining to heat/burning. These taillight lens are subjected to testing temps and conditions 20 times worse than "stop and go traffic". Wrap 50 layers of PVC film around a lens and it still will not make a difference or cause the lens to crack.

...and for the record I worked for a division of Honeywell/Hobbs and their injection molding of headlight housings for Honda ATV's, Honda Automobiles and Polaris ATV's and Snowmobiles so actually I have been involved in testing simialr to the conversation at hand. I was also involved in the first auto leveling headlight project as they had concerns with the bulbs contacting the polycarbonate housings should the system malfunction or the motorized leveing headlights become loose. FYI a halogen headlight bulb(like the ones I helped engineer) puts out 10x more heat than a little incandecent taillight bulb and it is designed and engineered to sustain the heat from the halogen bulb INDEFINITELY and those headlight housings are also made of hybrid polycarbonates just like the tail lenses.

Rather than feeling on the defense to a persons response , why not use your knowledge base to actually add to the conversation ?
Tossing ones credentials out in cyber space such as this( where no one cares) rather than pitching in some help or direction does not make me appear the idiot.
Lets try this once more.... Given the damaged plastics history , what would a plastics engineer offer up?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by mgwatson48

That's the first ive ever heard to vinyl doing this lol. I don't think this is a very common occurance.

I'd say don't do it regardless of how you want to tint. It makes the car look cheap and ricey IMO.

Actually it is, I've seen this happen to headlights with Lamin-X film on a Nissan. I was interested in doing this for my daily and called Lamin-X directly and they confirmed it happens once in a while and thus they can't guarantee anything.

[EenyBear]

To me, there's no question that insulation of any sort can encourage unintended consequences. Anyone who has driven with sludge encrusted headlights has a story to tell about cracking lenses and bulb failure. Maybe modern materials has solved this. Wouldn't be surprised... I'm no expert.

Anyway, the way some folks drive around my town, I want my brake lights super bright, I want them to flash in even greater intensity if I "hard brake" and... insert daydream music ... if the tail-gater doesn't get the message, I want a proximity sensor to trigger some sort of James Bond-ish contoller beam narrowly focused on the tail-gating car to apply *their* brakes. Yeah, that's it... no, Elroy, you cannot install a laser cannon...

Ahem, fortunately, I had the foresight to purchase an Imola red coupe so the tail lights and side reflectors pretty much disappear anyway.

Carry on...

[RecycledTeen]

Originally Posted by ricanbandit

... I personally would not go any darker

+1

While I think the look is very sexy indeed, personally not a fan. And frankly it ticks me off when behind a car with tails so dark you can't even see the brake or turn signals functioning in anything short of complete darkness of night. IMHO, simply not safe. (though in NC, no one uses turn signals anyway so.... darken away!)

BTW, nice look there. Very nice.

[zubydafa]

Originally Posted by Jbs

here is mine.. very lightly smoked, black rpi exhaust tips.

Looks fantastic. How'd you get your tips gloss black, if you don't mind sharing?