Gauge Moisture

A

Aarrhh & Aarrhh

New Member
Nov 1, 2006
426
Panama City FL
Boat Info
1998 370 Sundancer,
2004 110 Whaler
Engines
Cat 3116 300hp
I’m looking for ideas to remove moisture from the gauges. Several of mine have condensation on the inside of the lens. I was thinking about removing them and putting them in a bag of rice for a week. Anyone ever fixed this without replacing the gauges?
 
Jason,m

That suggestion will work, even though it would be illegal from sunset to sunrise while your boat is in its slip or at anchor.

You could leave the running lights on during daylight hours some week when your schedule allows you to get to the boat early and late..I'd bet in a wee'ks time if it is a dry week and the humidity is low you'd dry them up. Or, you could let nature take its course and they'll be moisture free in about April. Since the gauges are vented to the atmosphere, the problem is likely to return though.
 
The worst part of violating that law arrives when incarcerated for that crime.

They’ll put you on a bench w/ all kinds of mean nasty ugly looking people there.

Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers!

They’ll ask what you’re in for, nav lights on while docked, ouch!
 
Where Aarrhh & Aarrhh sits in its slip it is visible from a busy and popular, but narrow area that is unmarked. Someone seeing his boat at night with the nav light on will try steer south away from it to avoid oncoming traffic that is really tied up in its slip. Steering south in that area can easily put an unsuspecting boat on a shallow sand bar.

The issue isn't criminal, but rather the liability of having to pay for some plastic surgeon to remove the dash of some guys boat from his wife's face.

So, you do it your way, but I wanted Jason to understand the potential liability and problems with following an ill-advised suggestion, even if it seemd to be an easy and obvious solution.
 
There goes that Webster fella again...adding logic 'plus' knowledge!!!! We really should ban such practices....
 
Last edited:
fwebster said:
You could leave the running lights on during daylight hours some week when your schedule allows you to get to the boat early and late.
Click to expand...
The problem w/ this approach is the gauge indicator lamp has low wattage, hence low heat to dry up the moisture.

On my gauges it takes several days of the running lamps on 24 hours for them to dry.

So, w/ the time for the low-wattage lamps to bring the gauge assembly to a steady-state elevated temperature daytime operation might not cut it.

With your location it sounds like disconnecting the feed so only the dash is illuminated, or obstructing the exterior lamps would permit dry gauges without causing a pile-up.
 
If the lights do indeed dry up the gauges, simply cover the exterior nav lights with black electrical tape so that boats on the water can't see them.

Wouldn't heating up the gauges with a hair dryer evaporate the moisture? It would probably work faster than the light bulbs....

Michael
 
you can band aid it by getting rid of the moisture but how do you prevent it from coming back? Or is this unavoidable with boats?

I know with the cheap aftermarket headlights I had on my truck last summer leaked. The only way to fix it was get them dry and re-seal all the seams with silicone.

But if the gauges are designed to be vented then i guess it would be pointless to go at them with the same approach.
 
The gauges are vented to the atmosphere, so short of changing to all sealed gauges, there is no way to eliminate it completely. Normally, when the temperature changes a lot you will see a little fogging that usually clears in a few days. When you get caught in a rain storm and your canvas leaks on your panel or if your boat sits under a leaky cover, you may get a good bit of condensation that takes a while to clear up.

I've had none, a little and a lot all depending upon the above variables. I don't mess with it, I run the boat every day we are in Florida and its never been a long term issue for me. When the weather is cooler we get significant temp. changes from lows near 20 to highs close to 70 in a given day, and times like that it just takes longer to clear up.
 
Just got back from running the boat today. Kept the lights on all day and it cleared right up! Thanks guys!!!
 
Man...I wish I could say that I just got back from running the boat all day.....IN FREAKIN' JANUARY...:smt013
 
You bottom fishing or are you guys still torturing eels down there?

OH...and there goes the resolution....hooks are sharp....:grin:
 
going down to North Carolina off the coast and trolling and/or looking for birds...
 
Mine actually got so fogged so many times over the years that they now have a permanent fog in them. Not a moisture type fog, but more like residue on the inside of the lenses from all the past moisture. Is there a fix for this, short of replacing the gauges themselves? This would save a lot of time and money if there is! Thanks!
 
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