Gauge condensation

Is this the only gauge that does it? Have you had the gauge out for some reason?

I thought that was just a high humidity issue like I have here on the east coast?

It is common with the Veglia gauges. Mine are in a safe storage box and I have VDO gauges install which simply are not so inclined to do?

Yep .. only the oil pressure gauge .. lowest one on the stack. Veglia .. pre-L 72. I don't think I've had it out .. maybe never but certainly not in a couple of decades. I suppose I could take it out and "bake " it .. but I don't want to screw it up. I'm not sure if it is sealed.

Or just a little bag of dessicant.

quote:

Originally posted by Robbie:
Yep .. only the oil pressure gauge .. lowest one on the stack. Veglia .. pre-L 72. I don't think I've had it out .. maybe never but certainly not in a couple of decades. I suppose I could take it out and "bake " it .. but I don't want to screw it up. I'm not sure if it is sealed.

It won't matter what you do. It will steam up again no matter what you do.

The heater hoses to the heater core run right under the gauge and the rising temperature in them and the cooler gauge cause condensation to form inside the gauge.

The VDO's don't do that...so far.

You MIGHT also notice some corrosion on the ammeter gauge terminals as well. That should add some concern to the durability of that gauge also?

The original has the reputation of catching fire.

Robbie, all 4 small Veglia gauges do it on my Pantera (but never in my Longchamp, same type of gauges). I have no heater hoses under my Pantera dash.

I guess it's just dampness, in a closed (almost) cavity. Some recommend sealing it after it heating itself dry, some recommend drilling holes to vent them. I live with it.

quote:

Originally posted by No Quarter:
I have no heater hoses under my Pantera dash.

I live with it.

Maybe not but the radiator pipes are close. The point is there is some kind of radiant heat effect going on in that area for whatever reason and the effect is "cooking" the moisture in that area out and condenses on the gauge lens.

I think the longer the car sits with no activity the more likely it is to happen?

I agree, you live with it (in that configuration that is)

i was perusing some old posts and folk recommended 1/8 inch hole drilled (carefully i presume) inot the guage body in front of face but behing glass to let moisture out

quote:

Originally posted by slojoe:
i was perusing some old posts and folk recommended 1/8 inch hole drilled (carefully i presume) inot the guage body in front of face but behing glass to let moisture out

This was recommended to me by Gary Hall many years ago. Unfortunately it did not work.

I had the same condensation issue with one of my Veglias - don't remember which one. Heater hoses had not been hooked up in like - ever. I found the heat from the incandescent illumination bulb was the culprit. Change to LED bulbs that give off little heat, should fix it.

Bulbs? Huh? Cool. Thanks.

Cool indeed

What kind of leds that should be - any reference?

quote:

What kind of leds that should be - any reference?

These are the bulbs I ordered. You can order then in fewer quantities, but this bulk group was so cheap I ordered extras and gave a set away and sold the remaining sets.

I used the extended bulbs for the Tach and Speedo:
10X 9-SMD5050 LED T10 W5W 194 360° GREEN INTERIOR DOME WEDGE LIGHT BULB NEW
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151105...e=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

And I used these for the small gauges:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160957...e=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Cool, I'll look into these


Thanks Garth

They were out of stock on eBay, are these the same ones on Amazon?

http://www.amazon.com/Taro-Wor...Car+Lights+Lamp+Bulb

Superbright LED's has plenty.

https://www.superbrightleds.co...ngle-wedge-base/206/

Garth is the extended bulb for the speedo and tach possibly too much light ? My understanding is with LEDs the rehostat will not work ?

If I want to replicate the orginal color would the white LED be the best choice ?

quote:

Garth is the extended bulb for the speedo and tach possibly too much light ? My understanding is with LEDs the rehostat will not work ?

If I want to replicate the orginal color would the white LED be the best choice ?

I don't think the extended bulbs are too much light, although I didn't try the small bulbs in the tach and speedo. I think my tach and speedo look like their brightness is consistent with the small gauges.

The rheostat no longer works; well it works ever so slightly. I can "slightly" reduce the brightness by turning it just a bit, but it reaches a point where it just turns off the bulbs. There's another thread on this board where folks have found inexpensive LED dimmers and retrofitted them to their Panteras to dim the LED gauge lights. I don't think their too bright though. Then again, I'm thrilled to be able to see my gauges after over a decade of carrying a flashight in the door pocket to check my speed when driving at night!

Use the green LED's to replicate the original look! The glass on the original bulbs was actually tinted green. I first put white LED's in my gauges and they looked washed out and had a blueish tint (very common of white LED bulbs). Didn't look right at all! I love the green LED's - they are more green than the dim original bulbs, but they look period correct in my opinion. White might look good if you can find a "warm white," but I like the green.

As for the Superbright LED's, they have plenty of them, but you'll pay more for ONE bulb than I paid for all the bulbs for my gauges. Search ebay for another seller for the same bulbs ("9-SMD5050 LED T10 W5W 194 360° GREEN" and "T10 194,168,2825, 5 x 5050 SMD LED Green") and you'll find other inexpensive sources.

I switched to LEDs last summer and still have the condensation issues. A little better but not solved. I also use the heater shutoff a so the heat should be reduced in that area. I wonder if once it's there, it's there

Another idea; you might try flushing the gauge housing with dry gas to flush out the humidity laden air. Welding gas or scuba tank air should be very dry. A painter may have de-humidify equipment on the air supply. Figuring out just how to do it may be a bit of a challenge. Be gentle; the internals of the gauges are delicate. Rodney

Here are pics of my gauges with the green LED bulbs. First one with the garage lights on...

And one with the garage lights off...

Very nice, Garth. Your interior made me do a double take - very near identical to mine.

I had another idea on the condensation issue. A good electronics or photo shop should sell canned air for cleaning delicate optics. This should be quite dry, and suitable for flushing out gauges. Just an idea.