Water inside face shield. Any solutions?

[VinnyR11]

Well, coming home today in a heavy rain, once again I get drops of water inside my face shield that drive me nuts. I have an Arai Quantum and keep all the vents closed. It's not really bad, but within a half hour, there are enough drops to be annoying. Real light rains aren't an issue.

 

Does anyone else have this problem? If so, are there any tricks/solutions you can recommend? Is it just my helmet? I'm thinking water may be getting in by the eyebrow/forehead vents that other helmets are lacking. I had a Shoei that didn't seem to be so bad.

[scout6]

How old is the helmet? I have had issues with this type of leak, and found that cleaning the rubber seal helped out. Needed to be done a few times each year.

[10ovr]

Move to AZ,,,You problem is solved

[Lmar]

I have an old Quantum E that I replaced with a Shoei Multitech two years ago. I never had issues with water running inside the shield. I have always replaced the shield with an Arai replacement. I also used Plexus on the shield to keep it clean.

[jjg3]

Man, I've had this and noise as complaints forever. You'd think in 2009 (almost 2010) that a helmet with the shield down would keep water out and with ear plugs wouldn't be so darn noisy. I have a Nolan N100, HJC Symax, and a Caberg on the shelf, and use to have a Bell and none would keep water out in a good rain. With a close look you could see none of the shields were sealing well when closed. I tried to build up the seal on the N100 layering tape to get it closer to the shield, but it was a failed effort. My latest, a Nolan N103, really does a pretty fair job at keeping water out and is more resistant to fogging than any other helmet I've had. The seal is pretty snug with the shield down. I would recommend if the helmet is old, look for another but look in a bike shop helmet area specifically at how the shield fits against the helmet seal (some don't even have a seal, like they weren't meant for riding in the rain). If you're hat is still relatively new, maybe try getting a replacement seal.

[VinnyR11]

How old is the helmet? I have had issues with this type of leak, and found that cleaning the rubber seal helped out. Needed to be done a few times each year.

 

It's an old helmet, and I've never cleaned the rubber seals. When I inspect it very closely, I can see that there is a very small gap between the shield and the rubber towards the outside of the eye vents. It looks like a function of the shape of the shield and not due to any shrinking of the seals.

 

I'm thinking it may be time for a new helmet, but I may go back to Shoei.

[VinnyR11]

Man, I've had this and noise as complaints forever. You'd think in 2009 (almost 2010) that a helmet with the shield down would keep water out and with ear plugs wouldn't be so darn noisy. I have a Nolan N100, HJC Symax, and a Caberg on the shelf, and use to have a Bell and none would keep water out in a good rain. With a close look you could see none of the shields were sealing well when closed. I tried to build up the seal on the N100 layering tape to get it closer to the shield, but it was a failed effort. My latest, a Nolan N103, really does a pretty fair job at keeping water out and is more resistant to fogging than any other helmet I've had. The seal is pretty snug with the shield down. I would recommend if the helmet is old, look for another but look in a bike shop helmet area specifically at how the shield fits against the helmet seal (some don't even have a seal, like they weren't meant for riding in the rain). If you're hat is still relatively new, maybe try getting a replacement seal.

 

I think a new hat is in order. I was going to try building up the seal, but I'm pretty sure the results would be similar to what you encountered.

 

As posted above, I don't think new seals will do the trick.

[SageRider]

Try using the silicon lubricant (provided when you acquired the helmet) on the seal.

[VinnyR11]

Try using the silicon lubricant (provided when you acquired the helmet) on the seal.

 

Thanks, but on my helmet I don't think that's going to work. It looks to me like the attachment points on the sides of the helmet are raised too high for the shield to meet all the way across. I'm talking a very, very slight difference, but certainly enough for water to leak in.

 

I'm hoping it's just the case of having an old helmet, and that a newer one will be a fix. I now know where to look to see if the seal fit is proper. I've always bought relatively high end helmets, Shoei or Arai, so I figured (wrongly) that the seal would be fine.

[Firefight911]

Have you tried adjusting the side plates?

[VinnyR11]

Have you tried adjusting the side plates?

 

I took a look, and don't see how I could adjust them. They appear fixed.

[outpost22]

Vinnie,

Of my 5 helmets, the Nolan N102/103 was best for rain (i.e. no leaks)

 

You may consider one, but they are a heavy helmet and best used behind a wind screen.

[EffBee]

Get some masking tape (the blue stuff is pretty good) in a wide roll. Cut off a strip wide enough to go across the top of your face shield. Lay the tape on a table, sticky side up.

 

Now cut an equal strip, then cut it in half lengthwise. Place this exactly down the center of the thicker strip, so that the sticky surfaces bond to each other. You should now have a long strip of tape with sticky along the long edges, and a non-sticky section all the way down the middle.

 

Close the face shield on your helmet. Apply the tape so that one sticky edge is on the face shield and the other seals tightly on the helmet. The top of your face shield is now protected from the rain, so you shouldn't get drops leaking onto its inner surface. Also, as you can see, the purpose of the non-sticky center part is to allow you to open your helmet one or two notches for defogging or just to get a little fresh air.

 

Can also be done with duct tape, although it leaves typical duct tape residue. I've even made one of these using electrical tape by overlapping several strips of tape in order to make the initial wide strip.

 

Hmmm, sounds like a product some entrepreneur should be manufacturing.

[VinnyR11]

Get some masking tape (the blue stuff is pretty good) in a wide roll. Cut off a strip wide enough to go across the top of your face shield. Lay the tape on a table, sticky side up.

 

Now cut an equal strip, then cut it in half lengthwise. Place this exactly down the center of the thicker strip, so that the sticky surfaces bond to each other. You should now have a long strip of tape with sticky along the long edges, and a non-sticky section all the way down the middle.

 

Close the face shield on your helmet. Apply the tape so that one sticky edge is on the face shield and the other seals tightly on the helmet. The top of your face shield is now protected from the rain, so you shouldn't get drops leaking onto its inner surface. Also, as you can see, the purpose of the non-sticky center part is to allow you to open your helmet one or two notches for defogging or just to get a little fresh air.

 

Can also be done with duct tape, although it leaves typical duct tape residue. I've even made one of these using electrical tape by overlapping several strips of tape in order to make the initial wide strip.

 

Hmmm, sounds like a product some entrepreneur should be manufacturing.

 

I may give this a try.

 

Have you actually done this? Are you talking about painters tape (the kind that removes with no residue)? That's often blue. I normally carry some on my bike anyway.

 

I'm assuming that you only use this during the rain, because I wouldn't be able to open my shield fully otherwise. Is that correct? In the rain I only need to open it a notch or two as you said, so that would be fine. Could whip it together in a minute or so before a ride.

 

 

 

 

[JJZorro]

I have a Quantum II. I adjusted the visor according to the manual that came with the helmet. Unfortunately I can't seem to locate the manual anymore, but I remember having to pop off the side plates, loosen the screws that hold the visor and while pushing the visor back towards the helmet re-tighten the screws. My visor never leaks and I live on the wet coast.

 

Jeff

[VinnyR11]

I have a Quantum II. I adjusted the visor according to the manual that came with the helmet. Unfortunately I can't seem to locate the manual anymore, but I remember having to pop off the side plates, loosen the screws that hold the visor and while pushing the visor back towards the helmet re-tighten the screws. My visor never leaks and I live on the wet coast.

Jeff

 

Have you tried adjusting the side plates?

 

I could not figure out how to get the side plates off my helmet, and I also no longer have my manual. After searching, I was able to find a YouTube link

which describes what you both were talking about,and mimics Jeff's description. Thanks to both of you.

 

I was able to significantly reduce the gap, but after pushing the base plates back as far as they'll go there is still the tiniest gap on one side which I'm hoping a new shield will fix. If not, I think it's small enough that I can build up the gasket enough to fit exactly. In either case, I gave it a quick spray bottle test and it's a big improvement.

 

Thanks again!

[EffBee]

Get some masking tape (the blue stuff is pretty good) in a wide roll. Cut off a strip wide enough to go across the top of your face shield. Lay the tape on a table, sticky side up.

 

Now cut an equal strip, then cut it in half lengthwise. Place this exactly down the center of the thicker strip, so that the sticky surfaces bond to each other. You should now have a long strip of tape with sticky along the long edges, and a non-sticky section all the way down the middle.

 

Close the face shield on your helmet. Apply the tape so that one sticky edge is on the face shield and the other seals tightly on the helmet. The top of your face shield is now protected from the rain, so you shouldn't get drops leaking onto its inner surface. Also, as you can see, the purpose of the non-sticky center part is to allow you to open your helmet one or two notches for defogging or just to get a little fresh air.

 

Can also be done with duct tape, although it leaves typical duct tape residue. I've even made one of these using electrical tape by overlapping several strips of tape in order to make the initial wide strip.

 

Hmmm, sounds like a product some entrepreneur should be manufacturing.

 

I may give this a try.

 

Have you actually done this? Are you talking about painters tape (the kind that removes with no residue)? That's often blue. I normally carry some on my bike anyway.

 

I'm assuming that you only use this during the rain, because I wouldn't be able to open my shield fully otherwise. Is that correct? In the rain I only need to open it a notch or two as you said, so that would be fine. Could whip it together in a minute or so before a ride.

 

 

 

Absolutely. That's how it's designed to work. Now that I'm in WA, I'm using a lot of wide masking tape.