Chris, for my TR6, the conclusion I came to is that the trafficator might be
the only good application. A narrow bright beam might actually make this
thing visible in the daylight. It is the screw type bulb. Do the LEDtronics
people have something compatible?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-triumphs@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Chris Kantarjiev
> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 2:15 PM
> To: british-cars@autox.team.net; morris@autox.team.net;
> triumphs@autox.team.net
> Subject: LED lights for instrument panels
>
>
> I've been talking about this for some time now, perhaps
> years. I finally
> got together with the local rep for LEDtronics to see if there is
> a product that the Dimebank Garage could stock and sell to improve
> the instrument panel lighting in our cars.
>
> After messing about with gauges and sockets and bulbs for an hour, the
> conclusion is basically "no", or at least, "not yet".
>
> There are a couple of problems.
>
> 1. The "standard" small bayonet bulb that is used in the 2"
> gauges is a
> British oddity - LEDtronics doesn't make anything in that
> base. The LLB987
> that is used in the larger instruments *is* available. It
> turns out that
> there's a standard US fixture that can be made to fit up the access
> in the Smiths gauges, but it's not really pretty.
>
> 2. It doesn't matter anyway. The construction of the gauges
> is such that
> the light takes a tortured and reflected path from the bulb around
> the shrouds to illuminate the gauge from the sides. LEDs aren't up to
> that - they produce light at a fairly narrow forward angle. Even the
> "flat top" LEDs, which spread the light more, don't make any
> appreciable
> impact. This is true for both the small and large gauges.
>
> There are some Smiths gauges used in earlier cars that take
> their illumination
> from a central source through a window in the side of the guage. I
> don't have any of those, so I couldn't test that setup - those might
> be made to work better.
>
> However ... I'm going to sample some 1157 and 1156
> taillights. I think those
> have pretty much promise for cars with small taillight
> lenses, especially
> those with thick glass lenses. My GT6+ and Morris Minor will be test
> subjects - both of them have fairly low rear light visibility.
>
> More as testing progresses...
>
> chris
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