VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 dash lights

is there any brighter dash lamps available? mine does not seem to be bright enough. i cleaned them, but it still is hard to see the dash.
i also bypassed the rheostat but it was still the same dull brightness.

any ideas?

bubbatom

Try cleaning the plastic parts that the light bulb shines through in the area behind the inst.

on my 40 coupe,....

is there a higher wattage bulb that can be used without creating too much heat?

hmmmm!

bubbatom

Not that I know of. All were same....Have you cleaned the ground area around the clips that the bulbs go in to? Have you cleaned the ground area around the bulbs? Some time they have a film over them that looks clean but is not.

Tom,

Is the rheostat working? Have you tried a brighter setting?

I think those dash lights are supposed to be turned up to just enough brightness that you can comfortably read the gages and without them unduly interfering with your maximum ability to see down the lonely dark road. Avoid glare from them, in other words.

Charlie

Yesser there is. Call Bill Hirsch. They sell halogen bulbs for most all vintage applications. I bought two of their #51 bulbs and they made all the difference in the world. I can actually see my gauges now. Bill Hirsch.

I am no expert on electronics but I have worked on my dash lights. I assume that Bubba has his original wire harness and that the condition of the harness is his problem. He is loosing voltage to each light because of poor grounding or poor wire. I assume corrosion has caused the grounding problems, and also some of the wiring ones.

I had dim lights, frayed wires, and a rheostat problem. One night on the way back from a football game with two friends the headlights momentarily failed on a country road with a 5' ditch on the passenger side. There were no street lights, and it was pitch dark out. In the past the rheostat had been shorting out causing the fuse to the light switch to blow. Fortunately, the fuse didn't short out, but the next morning when I checked it, it had blown. Scared us all.

I fixed the rheostat by bypassing it as Bubba did his. That winter I replaced my frayed wire harness and hung it in the garage as a reminder of why they should be replaced after 60 or more years. Installing the new harness made all the difference in all my lights. At my age, 65, I want my lights bright, and reliable, and I didn't need halogen or LED lights to make them bright. I did it with good ground and good wire. I changed non of my bulbs, have had the harness in for about 5 years and have not had a burnt out lamp. Yes, I did dust the lamps off as I changed them.

Under the chat heading Mr. Goodwrench- Technical is a subheading called Electrical- 6 volt. It is well worth a scan of articles on light bulb discussion. I think most of the articles end up eventually talking about good grounding as a cure for bad lights, and I would add having a good wire harness is best for preventing fires.

It seems a cheap volt meter, from Harbor Freight, ought to be able to tell you a lot about what voltage you are getting where. I think of it as a must to have for keeping our electrical systems in good condition.

Good luck, Mike

P.S. A fire, or no light in the dark, pick your disaster. This is another safety issue we all should heed.

thanks mike,
that makes the best since. i'll try bypassing with new wire as a test to see if thats my problem. also cleaning the grounding points.
if that proves to be the problem solver i'll install a new wiring harness.

i'll keep in touch.

bubbatom

Mike's advise is sound however I had a brand new YNZ harness with new sockets and good grounds. The stock bulb is one candle power, not bright on the best of days. The brightness one considers adequate varies from person to person so whatever works for you is the best path. Good luck.