Inspired by MythBusters, I decided to test my new
Solteks. Ambient weather was not providing rain, but the lawn needed watering anyway, so I decided to mount my brand new
Solteks on a saw horse then point a garden hose with wide angle sprinkler attachement, from 10 feet away for 1 hour.
But first, I looked at the
Solteks for all possible water intrusion paths and came up with:
a. double O-Rings of the outer (in my case, red, ring)
b. mounting 'Ears' of the bracket
c. wicking up the the power leads
d. via the drain valve
e. via the adjuster knob
f. I might have missed one as I'm typing this.. so on to the foto's
Right up front, I admit I cheated. BD recommends using rock guards to help isolate water intrusion, and I installed them for this test. I also removed the outer ring and coated each of the two O-rings with silicone grease and ensured they were properly seated. BTW, on initial inspection, one of the lamps had an O-ring completely out of place.
I also applied a liberal dash of Marine, water proof, grease to the allens on each side of the brackets.
Marine grease applied
The test set up:
Measured 10 foot distance
10' spray pattern
Official 1 hour timer!
10 feet, 1 hour later, light one passes muster
Light two does too.
Upcoming - the 5 foot 1 hour test
Posted 23 September 2007 - 08:58 PM
Since the lights passed the 10 foot 1 hour test, on to the 5 foot 1 hour test.
5 feet measured
5 foot deluge
5 foot deluge again
5 foot deluge again again
After 1 hour at 5 feet, some minor condensation between the rock guard and the outer lense. Note that both lamps had approximatley the same water intrusion. Look at lamp lense bottom.
So what does this prove? Not a damn thing.
Sure was a good way to water the lawn and have a couple of beers, though..
Addendum - if others want to see additonial testing, let me know. My bud the truck driver said 'that test is stupid, rain falls vertically!' which is true. But we FJR pilots also have a habit of running into the rain...
anyway, if you have a better idea, post it up.. I'd rather to prove these lights are waterproof and can work on my green, green lawn than to need them and have them fail right when needed the most..
Soltek test
Hey DC. How about a Soltek on a FJR mirror mount vibration test? I had one fail at about 20K miles, but I'm like you and have been known to take the bike on somewhat "goaty" roads. Not sure how you'd work a couple of beers into the test, but I've got faith in ya, you'll think of something!
<p>Brain dead for now, can't think of anything witty enough to grace this space.</p>