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dim instrument lights

J

Jonny B

New member
Mine are bobbins, its hard keeping to speed limits with my dash lights being dim, is it just a matter of changing bulbs? would be interested to hear other peoples suggestions/ solutions. Ive seen the flaming eye things and think its a tad pricey,
cheers
JB
 
Sometimes just changing the bulbs can do it, commonly the biggest problem with the instrument lights is that the reflective coating has degraded on the 'glass' prizms that distribute the light. There are a few solutions for restoring their reflectiveness, some of which are described in this forum. I had this problem with mine & used tin foil & lots & lots of care but I think I'd just find some reflective stickers of something if I was going at it again.

Could be worth trying a replacement dimmer pot too or cleaning up the one you have (labour intensive but cheap) to reduce resistance.
 
There is a kit available that replace the old prisms with a new system which incorporates LED's. It is quite a pricy option though but recently there was a company selling something very very very similar on ebay, so if you use the search function you should be able to pick up the link and contact the company if you are interested.
 
I replaced ALL of my dash bulbs as some of them were discoloured/greyish and you just need one not working to make a difference to the illumination.
 
My dash currently have the 2w bulbs which are rather dim and I am thinking of changing them to the 3w standard ones. Having look at the new Xenon filled bulbs available, I am thinking of getting the 3w Xenon ones for they are brighter, longer life and generate less glass surface heat. I may even get the 5w Xenon bulbs if they generate less heat which will be a big improvement. My worries are will the current dash light fuse accommodate that.

Has anyone tried the Xenon bulb in the dash yet?

Charles
 
I have old style dash - replaced bulbs in the speedo and rev coumter with LEDs. Different bulbs in other instruments and never found LEDs that fitted.
Bought mine from www.ultraleds.com - direct replacement and I can now see the dials.

Cheers,
 
ORIGINAL: Fred Hindle

I have old style dash - replaced bulbs in the speedo and rev coumter with LEDs. Different bulbs in other instruments and never found LEDs that fitted.
Bought mine from www.ultraleds.com - direct replacement and I can now see the dials.

Cheers,
Click to expand...

Fred,
I bought some LEDs from them too but only found a slight improvement over the standard 2w ones.

Charles
 
Hello Charles,

I found them to be a great improvement. Perhaps a case of perceptions. 944 has yellow lettering whilst 924S has white so can't put it down to colours.

Please let me know how you get on with the Rapid bulbs, it maybe the way to go with mine.

Cheers,

Fred
 
cheers guys much appreciated, are blue ones possible or they a no-no? By fitting bulbs with larger wattage will it affect the rest of the illuminated parts, like to the switches and ciggy lighter etc?
 
ORIGINAL: charles.y

Does anyone know how much heat (temperature wise) a standard T10 wedge base 5w and 3w bulb will generate?

Charles
Click to expand...

IIRC from my (somewhat hazy) student days something like 95% of the energy consumed by a filament light bulb is heat [:D]
 
HERE IT IS ... Total cost: £1.89



After a number of not quite successful attempts and now I think I may have found an alternative (and cheaper cost) solution to cure the common dim instrument light problem. The results is actually much better than in the picture.

The bulbs used in my solution are the new T10 Xenon filled bulbs from CML-IT. They claimed they are 30% brighter and 30[FONT=comic sans ms"]ºC cooler on the glass wall temperature. [FONT=verdana,geneva"] I have contacted the manufacturer (CML-IT) and their engineer have done some tests for me in their lab and given me the following maximum glass wall temperature generated by their Xenon filled bulbs (Note: the tests were conducted in an open-air environment not enclosed and the max temp was measured at the highest point due to convection currents in within gas-fill):


[FONT=comic sans ms"]501XLF T10[FONT=verdana,geneva"][FONT=comic sans ms"] Xenon[FONT=verdana,geneva"][FONT=comic sans ms"] 12V 5W 112ºC[FONT=verdana,geneva"][FONT=verdana,geneva"]
[FONT=comic sans ms"]1503XLF T10[FONT=verdana,geneva"][FONT=comic sans ms"] Xenon[FONT=verdana,geneva"][FONT=comic sans ms"] 14V 3W 97ºC[FONT=verdana,geneva"][FONT=verdana,geneva"]
[FONT=comic sans ms"]501LF T10 Argon 12V 5W 139ºC[FONT=verdana,geneva"][FONT=verdana,geneva"]
Since they don't do 12v 3w standard argon bulbs, he reckons the max temp for them may be near 110ºC. If what they claimed is true about the cooler glass wall temperature then the max temp of the equivalent argon fill bulbs should be:
argon 12v 3w 110ºC
argon 12v 5w 142ºC

and therefore the Xenon 12v 5w (112ºC) bulbs should be quite safe inside the 944 instrument cluster. I have tested both the Xenon 5w and 3w bulbs inside the cluster and the results are very impressive. The 3w are already big improvement over the standard 2w bulbs and those LED bulbs that I use inside my cluster until now (the LED are better than the standard 2w bulbs). When I swapped those Xenon 3w with the 5w ones, its no doubt that they are the to go for. Its brighter than the Xenon 3w and soooooo much brighter than my LED and 2w bulbs (different league).

I have switched on the cluster lights fitted with the Xenon 5w bulbs and have them on for 2 hours and there are no issues/burnt smells/problems.

Total cost: £1.89

Parts ...
3 x XENON LAMP WEDGE BASE 5W (RC) bulbs (cost: 3x48p = £1.44p)
3 x WEDGE LAMP SOCKET (RC) sockets (optional - you can keep the old ones) (cost: 3 x 15p = £0.45p)

They can be ordered from Rapid
http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?&tier1=Electronic+Components&tier2=Optoelectronics&tier3=Miniature+Lamps&tier4=Xenon+lamps+–+wedge+base&moduleno=75683

Please note I have no business interests/connections with CML-IT or Rapid and hold no responsibilities for any damages that my suggested solution may have caused. Good luck.

Charles
 
Forgot to mention ... The instrument picture taken was with ISO speed 100 and no over-exposeure i.e. as is.

Charles
 
Charles,
Thanks for the information. Just need to suss out if the twist lock connections are okay for the early dash models.
Certainly a bargain price.

Cheers,
 
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