Dashboard instrumentation lighting

[Rubce]

Afternoon All

Popped out for a spin yesterday evening in the Stag to fill her up with some fuel. Hadn't been out in her after dark since early last year. I had forgotten how bad the instruments are lit. :?Thedimmer has zero effect plus the oil pressure gauge light has now decided to pack up completely.

Is there supposed to be lighting on the heater/blower controls? If there is, they are all non functioning in my car!:shock:

I remember readingabout someone replacing theirdashboard bulbs with LEDS. Can anyone shed any light (excuse the pun) on this subject?

Thanks as always

Bruce

[V8 Rumbler]

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Rubce wrote:

Afternoon All

Popped out for a spin yesterday evening in the Stag to fill her up with some fuel. Hadn't been out in her after dark since early last year. I had forgotten how bad the instruments are lit. :?Thedimmer has zero effect plus the oil pressure gauge light has now decided to pack up completely.

Is there supposed to be lighting on the heater/blower controls? If there is, they are all non functioning in my car!:shock:

I remember readingabout someone replacing theirdashboard bulbs with LEDS. Can anyone shed any light (excuse the pun) on this subject?

Thanks as always

Bruce

Hi Bruce the dial lamps are very easy to change, I bought some on e-bay
Triumph TR6/Stag/Spitfire/Herald, etc 4 Dash Bulbs (320240826502)

As for the dimmer switch it could be worth spraying some WD40 into the switch to free everthing up .
The heater controls do not light up at all
Regards

[Rubce]

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Hi V8 Rumbler

Thanks for the info. Even if I fitted new bulbs, how bright actually are they? The lights on the REV counter, speedo, fuel gauge etc all seem very dim. Perhaps they simply old bulbs near the end of their life, or the dimmer is stuck in low level mode or perhaps the whole design is simply poor?

Cheers

Bruce

[John]

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Rubce wrote:

I remember readingabout someone replacing theirdashboard bulbs with LEDS.

I'm in the process of doing just that. Bunch of LEDs and MES bulbs from ebay. Smash the bulbs and solder the LEDs in the remains of the bulbs. I think Kryton has already done this.

[John]

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V8 Rumbler wrote:

Hi Bruce the dial lamps are very easy to change, I bought some on e-bay
Triumph TR6/Stag/Spitfire/Herald, etc 4 Dash Bulbs (320240826502)

They're cheaper than that in Halfrauds.

[Guest]

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Just changed the bulbs in my mk2 to leds they dont seem much brighter but use considerably less power also changed all internal lights for the days when I forget to turn them off these are the ones I got £10 for 20 pre wired bulbs good ol fleabay

320227236100)

[TimShoubridge]

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Theres a thread on this we had running a while ago. Some of us bought our LED's from a guy in the US. No smashing & soldering,just unscrewed the old ones and screwed in the new ones. Not a huge difference but slightly brighter, less power and will likely outlast the car. DJT mentions painting the inside of the gauges white to enhance the brightness.

[John]

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Part of the benefit of DIY bulbs other than the price is you can fit four LEDs in one holder - that's pretty bright. I've just soldered up 10 bulbs - I'll see what effect it's had tomorrow.

[brian0443]

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Stagman Robin reports little improvement with LCDs. I can only recount my own experience. Poor dash lights. Thought of LCDs but had to change battery. Suddenly good dash lighting. Alternator plays up a bit and does not always charge at 13+, but when it does there is definitely no need to change from the bulbs. I have an early Mk2 and the dimmer is working. I know others have reported improvement by fitting LCDs but I suspect this is curing the symptom rather than righting the cause.Like so many other electrical problems on the Stag, poor earths and corroded or loose bullet connectors.

Brian

[John]

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Well, I've fitted my LED conversions, and I have to say it's not a huge improvement, despite the light given off by the naked LEDs being very significantly brighter than the naked bulbs. So, it looks like painting the insides of the instruments might be the next thing to try.

The dials are a starker bluey-white now though, which I think I quite like.

[stustag]

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The first Triumph 2500S Estate my dad had was equipped with green dash lights which I remember being a lot brighter and far easier to read the instruments than the Stag.

I never took the 2500S clocks apart so I don't know if they had more bulbs or how they got the green colour but they were definitely better. Perhaps green is a better colour to see at night than the whiteused in the Stag?

Stuart

[John]

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My old ford escort had a green dash light. That had normal bulbs with see-through green plastic sleeves shrunk unto them.

[stagalong]

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I recalled some detailed info on dashboard lighting in the jensen healey in the J.O.C. magazine some while ago. One of our american cousins did a detailed test on ten lamps to determine which gave the brightest light (lumen output) he concluded that lamp MS-1205 was the best and was a screw in replacement. thats the good news the bad news is that they consume more power so the dimmer unit would over heat so had to be taken out of circuit.I am not sure if the lamps are the same fitting as the stag perhaps someone out there may know. If this is of any help i can enquire as to availability in the u.k.