A successful repair! Thought I'd share the details in case
someone else has the same problem.
The dash/instrument lighting on my '72 TR6 has been slim (dim?)
to non-existant. Turning the dimmer knob on the dash resulted
in your choice of dim, dimmer, or out. While the dash was out
for something else, I decided to see if the dimmer was fixable
-- or destroy it in the process.
My initial thought was to just bypass it. There's an extra
terminal contact where you could move the "guzinta" and "guzouta"
wires to the same spot. I figured that would brighten things
up. Then I decided to try fixing things.
With the control removed from the dash, and connected to my VOM,
I could tell where the problem was. Definately some bad internal
connections.
Multiple shots with cleaning spray seemed to make no
difference, so I decided on major surgery. It's held together
by three bend over tabs. A quick session with a tiny screw driver
and needle nose pliars and I have a hand full of parts. Not
even much to go "boing" when it comes apart. I then used a small
wire brush with the Dremel tool (I'm still glad I bought it!) to
clean the brass contacts inside, and then put it all back together.
It now turns smoothly, and has a nice smooth dimming range from
off to brighter than it ever thought about being before.
An easy process with great results. Only bad part was the process
of tearing the dash apart to get to it. (oh, and as Bently would
say "reverse process to reassemble". Right, but tired fingers
at the end of a job don't fit in near the same tiny places as
they do during the early takapart phase...)
Cheers,
Joe Flake
HP Atlanta
'72 TR-6
flake@a3115jmf.atl.hp.com
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