The joke is on me this time!!! EPIC FAIL!!!!!!

Birchall

Birchall

Dick Chown Award 2016
I posted this in the laughter lounge because it seems somehow appropriate.

I wanted to remove the LED DRLs I fitted (they looked like Christmas tree lights and Christmas is over now)

I had two very good Headlamp units (the original ones I had on the car)
So I wanted to use the front halves of these because removing the LEDs would leave holes and marks in the chrome trim.

So I went on You Tube and carefully studied the several videos of people baking their headlamps to separate them (My originals were not splitable)

I followed the instructions to the letter, especially the oven temperature settings.

The recommendations all seemed to be for a temperature of between 220 and 250.

So I crossed my fingers and popped it in.

The recommendation was for around 7 minutes.

After 4 minutes I had a look (just in case)

The result was as follows (not quite what I wanted to see!!! I Guess the American videos mean 250 degrees F not C (I don't do baking / cooking so how was I to know!!!)



lamp2.jpgLamp1.jpg


Please feel free to laugh at me, I deserve it !!!!!!!

Happy new year all

Steve B
 
Lol, you must have forgotten to add sugar! sorry but had to laugh Steve :)


I 'opened' several lights including A4 ones but used a paint stripping heat gun, which when used very carefully keeping it continually moving around the seal, at a safe distance, does the job very well.


I know someone with spare parts Buddy, wait, that'll be me! :)




Sarge
 
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So you thought you'd bake them hotter than you would a pizza ? Ha ha ha.

Did you pre heat the oven ?

A volcano would have been cooler.

Try submerging them in boiling water next time, ha ha ha :D
 
Hi,

I tried the baking procedure to split headlights. The glue used on the A2 headlights was much stronger and more resistant to heat that that used on other Audi headlights which I have also split (made by Hella rather than Valeo).

I tried 150 degrees C (fan oven) and it really didn't seem to make any difference to the glue. 180 degrees C was better, but it was still difficult to separate the clear front from the black case. At that temperature however it did cause some distortion of the shape of the case so the headlight wouldn't have gone back together properly. Luckily it was an old headlight which I only wanted the internals so it didn't matter too much.

I also noticed that the heat had caused the clear plastic front to "degrade". It had caused large bubbles to form inside the plastic. Small bubble of gas may have been trapped in the plastic during manufacture and the application of the heat could have caused them to come together to form larger and more visible bubbles. Because of this I would not recommend baking the whole headlight in an oven. The videos on You Tube showing headlight splitting look like those headlights are fixed with a glue that responds more to lower temperatures that the one used on the A2 headlights.

Applying heat from a hot air gun is probably OK as the heat can be kept away from the clear plastic but I ended up cutting my good headlights apart using a power "multi tool" so the clear plastic wasn't damaged by heat.

regards

Andrew
 
Woops!
It reminds me of when I was younger on the way back from the pub a bit blotto and decided to buy a burger and have it when I got home, once home placed the burger and its polystyrene carton in the oven! Not a good move but similar result lol
I think we better avoid the great British bake off Steve
 
oneflewover said:
All of the things above do not matter. The smell Steve! melted plastic through the house.
Click to expand...


Hi,

I was lucky enough to catch it before the plastic started to burn and so the fumes were hardly noticeable.

However, the pool of molten plastic that is firmly attached to the bottom of the oven is a secret I am keeping until I have had chance to try and get it off.

If it won't come off in one piece now it is cold I can try it on various heats until I can shift it.

But I can only attempt that when the wife goes out shopping !!!

Fingers crossed that it comes off ok and she will never know!

Steve B
 
Birchall said:
Hi,

I was lucky enough to catch it before the plastic started to burn and so the fumes were hardly noticeable.

However, the pool of molten plastic that is firmly attached to the bottom of the oven is a secret I am keeping until I have had chance to try and get it off.

If it won't come off in one piece now it is cold I can try it on various heats until I can shift it.

But I can only attempt that when the wife goes out shopping !!!

Fingers crossed that it comes off ok and she will never know!

Steve B
Click to expand...

This may or may not work Steve, but worth a try!
Rub it with ice or leave an ice block on it for a while, it may become brittle and then chip off in one piece, I know I've done this with chewing gum on shoes before and works a treat, if you're oven has a non stick coating you never know!
Failing that treat the oven to a professional clean for £70 and get yourself in the wife's good books lol.
Cheers Jeff
 
You and Steve could have a lamp lense " bake off" competiton Chris ! . I don,t know much about cooking but it may "shed some light" on the situation if you were to use a garlic bulb. :)
 
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I am very thankful for non-stick ovens!!!

The gunge came off quite easily.

Another potential piece of "modern art"?

Lamp 3.jpg

PHEW!!!

Steve B
 
Special edition said:
You and Steve could have a lamp lense " bake off" competiton Chris ! . I don,t know much about cooking but it may "shed some light" on the situation if you were to use a garlic bulb. :)
Click to expand...

Nice one,
any more "Bright" ideas?

On reflection I can't think of any good ones.

Humour was the main "aim", but I am a bit "dim" at the moment, so I will "dip" out at this point.

Steve B
 
Ooh ooh. Perhaps you can take a trip to London and park near the walkie-talkie building. Say it melted your car and claim for a new one.
 
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