Dave:
Interesting observations, with several things I had never
considered.
I have found that simply relamping all the instruments to be
extremely helpful, as the bulbs do dim somewhat over time even if they
are still working. The filaments will evaporate some of the tungsten
onto the inside of the bulb, lowering the output. In addition, the
lighting rheostat can get cranky, further reducing the output. New bulbs
and some switch cleaner will work wonders. I would recommend that a TR
owner give that a try before opting for a custom solution for dim
instrument lights.
For dim headlights, I have been recommending that people simply
replace whatever they have with modern sealed beam quartz/halogen
headlamps, at the same wattage as the standard headlamps. 40% more light
with no custom wiring or alternator upgrades required. I mention this
because I wonder if there are quartz halogen replacements for the
instrument bulbs. That might be a very simple upgrade for people, if
lamps of that sort even exist.
Vance
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of David Murray
Sent: January 13, 2006 9:37 AM
To: James_ TR6
Cc: 6pack@autox.team.net; triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: DASH Lights: LED replacements
I have fabricated some bulb replacement circuits using multiple
super-brite LED's designed for backlighting LCD's (for the smaller
gauges only to date) which consume a fraction of the current that the
existing bulbs but produce enough light to read by at a distance of over
3 feet (sorry no luminance numbers to compare bulb vs. LED yet).
Performance in the guages is more uniform lighting but only slightly
brighter. The gauge construction does not lend itself to having a
"modern" level of guage illumination since the only path for light is
around the perimeter of the back face and then reflected off the back of
the front face (which is below the needle and guage markings) and the
interior of the cover glass. I suspect that painting the inside of the
guage with a high gloss white or chrome paint will improve the amount of
light reflected into the viewing area but the result will still be less
than desireable. My next step is to try and mount the LED's through the
back face b
ut below the front face opening (and out of the way of the guage
mechanism) to inject the most amount of light into the viewing area.
The amount of work to retrofit and the cost of the LED's, etc. in small
quantities will likely turn this into a gee-whiz project and not
something that most would consider worth-while.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: James_ TR6 <jattr6@hotmail.com>
Date: Friday, January 13, 2006 9:18 am
Subject: DASH Lights: LED replacements
> I have found what appear to be really good screw mounted LEDS for
> a direct
> replacment to those
> whimpy dash lights. I don't have the TR handy and was curious if
> anyone
> knows the correct
> size of bulb to use? measurements are made at the threads.
> diameter in
> mmeters.
>
> also, has anyone tried investing the money in LED bulbs?
> I found some green ones and they are wide angle....if i buy them...
> i will provide a full report! :-)
>
> thanks!
>
> james
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