Condensation In Rev Counter?

[Geoff 888]

Am I the only one?

Or do they all do it?

[docc]

I joked once it had to do with English weather, but several chimed in from all over that the tach fog is pretty common.

 

There have been some attempts at solutions. Have a shot at the search function

 

Are you having to park it out of doors? White face gauges or black?

[belfastguzzi]

You'll find information about various attempts to fix this.

 

I have tried, but have found no solution that made any difference at all. Jaap says that drilling a hole worked for him. The climate is probably damper here, but I don't know if that really explains why it didn't work for me.

[BRENTTODD]

Mine does it all the time in New Jersey. It always seems to go away after a bit. No big deal to me

[OregonAl]

Mine does too, especially on relatively cold days. I wonder if the Veglia gauges only do this or do the later ITI (black) ones fog up as well?

[Ballabio Bertie]

Yes,the later ones do it too. I've drilled a hole in mine but it still does the same thing. I wonder why its only the tach and not the speedo?I don't worry about it though, it's just another Guzzi quirk.

[Guzzi2Go]

Yes,the later ones do it too. I've drilled a hole in mine but it still does the same thing. I wonder why its only the tach and not the speedo?I don't worry about it though, it's just another Guzzi quirk.

I have a theory on that one.

There is an acrylic glass ring between the dial plate and the glass and its purpose is to evenly distribute light coming from a bulb attached to the instrument's bottom across the dial plate. The side effect is that it creates a sealed chamber between the dial plate and the glass. Any moisture trapped in there is will condensate when instrument is lit (warm inside), and "splashed" with cold air (cold outside). Which is more or less always, as we all must ride with headlight on.

 

The speedo does not exhibit the same problem, as it's dial plate features two large holes (odometers, are they? ), which allow for some air circulation between the "chambers".

 

Drilling the tach body bellow the ring, won't help since the that will not "unseal" the "upper chamber".

Drilling the tach body through the ring won't help since this one will be sealed by the rubber grommet holding the instrument in the panel.

 

The only valid options (however, untested :!: ), are:

A: drill through the glass (exposing the inner workings to rain, bugs and other things that rely on gravity to assume the state of minimum energy)

B: drill through the dial plate (which may create a bright "hot spot", as the light from the bulb would now shine directly through).

[belfastguzzi]

I have a theory on that one.

There is an acrylic glass ring between the dial plate and the glass and its purpose is to evenly distribute light coming from a bulb attached to the instrument's bottom across the dial plate. The side effect is that it creates a sealed chamber between the dial plate and the glass. Any moisture trapped in there is will condensate when instrument is lit (warm inside), and "splashed" with cold air (cold outside). Which is more or less always, as we all must ride with headlight on.

 

The speedo does not exhibit the same problem, as it's dial plate features two large holes (odometers, are they? ), which allow for some air circulation between the "chambers".

 

Drilling the tach body bellow the ring, won't help since the that will not "unseal" the "upper chamber".

Drilling the tach body through the ring won't help since this one will be sealed by the rubber grommet holding the instrument in the panel.

 

The only valid options (however, untested :!: ), are:

A: drill through the glass (exposing the inner workings to rain, bugs and other things that rely on gravity to assume the state of minimum energy)

B: drill through the dial plate (which may create a bright "hot spot", as the light from the bulb would now shine directly through).

At last a sort-of answer! Or at least a move towards a plausible theory. I didn't know about the acrylic ring (or plate?). As in old thread, I drilled holes in tacho in positions to replicate the speedo case, so I still don't think that the whole answer is in the speedo's 'ventilation holes' though I need to look at the things to properly understand what you're saying.

Thanks

[Guzzi2Go]

At last a sort-of answer! Or at least a move towards a plausible theory. I didn't know about the acrylic ring (or plate?). As in old thread, I drilled holes in tacho in positions to replicate the speedo case, so I still don't think that the whole answer is in the speedo's 'ventilation holes' though I need to look at the things to properly understand what you're saying.

Thanks

It is not the speedo's case, but the dial plate!! Sorry for being unclear about it. The speedo's dial plate has two large rectangular holes in it, where the mileage/kilometer counters "protrude". That helps to "ventilate" the "upper chamber".

 

The ring, not plate, is what you find between the instrument's glass and the dial plate. As said, its sole purpose is to evenly spread the light across the dial plate, which is made of solid aluminium (as in opaque). Its "unintended purpose" is to seal off the top half of the instrument.

[belfastguzzi]

Ah, ok. Got you.

[O2 V11]

This is quite common with the Veglia gauges. Mine does it as well. The solution is to drill a hole in the body of the tacho. I haven't done this because it doesn't worry me at all. No one apart me has ever noticed it. I think the speedo doesn't have the same problem because it is naturally ventilated to the degree that a bug of some description entered mine. I posted a pic of this some time ago.

Rob

[macguzzi]

Condensation comes as standard

[Guest stockport claret]

Condensation comes as standard

Damn, thought mine was a special limited edition self fogging one to go with the limited edition nature of my Rosso Mandello

[Ryland3210]

I have a fool proof solution for Moto Guzzi to this problem

 

Assembly of these should be moved to the South Pole, where the humidity is low, then sealed to keep the dry air in.

[Bbennett]

Warning: do not attempt to sort this while driving!