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Dashboard lighting

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delisaj

delisaj

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Last night, while driving home my TR-6, the dash board lights (gauges, tachometer and speedometer) were dark upon starting the car. The headlights and all other lighting good-- and the blue high beam and green trafficator indicators were also fine. After riding for a mile or so, and going over a bump, the dash board lighting came back on.

Not that there are anything to look at, when they do work --the lighting is ridiciously dim, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced some random loss of lights, or could recommend a place to begin to look??

Also, any easy way to brighten up the lighting??

I know, the famous Lucas electrical system!

Thanks, John
 
Sounds like the rheo to me. Or just a loose power wire. Either way could be trouble. Seen too many TR's with a burned up dash. UGLY
don
 
Sounds like it's time to take your rheostat out, apart, and clean it. Easy enough job.
As to dim lights generally and Lucas systems, I'll disagree. Have been driving Brit cars since 1960 continuously, and have never (!) had an electrical failure other than routine connections as any car would have. The dash light dimness was not the case 35 years ago when the harnesses were new. Now I'd suspect you have a high resistance issue in old, dirty harnesses. My current TR6 does as well, but it's not worth the expense and effort of installing a new harness.
Try the rheostat cleaning though - comes apart easy and you'll then see all the dirt on the little wiper and wires.
A bit of work with steel wool and you'll then be able to adjust at will from barely visible to almost on.
 
I just emailed a guy who was listed in the British Marque who sells 8 watt bulbs to replace the Lucas 2.2 bulbs that give us the eternal dim lights. I'll experiment with those and post results.
 
FWIW: Might be your old wires and connections that
make things dim.

I know exactly nothing about auto wiring. None
of the lights functioned in my TR so I purchased
an entire auto set of new Lucas lights.

I am very positive my Dan Masters wire harness has
much thicker wires that the original ones. When I
hook a 12V battery to the 5 watt gauge bulbs they
glow very brightly. Also I soldered new ground wires
to every bulb.

Maybe your ground wires are rotten or loose? Mr. Masters
book says most auto elec. problems relate to grounding
issues.

FWIW

T
 
Rheostatis probably the problem. As for the dim lights we all have that one. I put in LED's and am very happy. I got direct replecement bulbs from https://www.autolumination.com/
www.autolumination.com Tail Light Brake Light Turn Signal LED Bulbs. The white or green bulbs work best. If you go with the green ones you need to remove the green lenses in your gauges.
 
Found a different way to get the gauges brighter but it is a bit labor intensive. First you have to remove, disassemble and clean the gauges. Next line the inside surfaces of all of the gages with Bare-Metal brand Ultra Bright Chrome foil. This is available at better hobby shops or on line. The foil creates a reflective surface inside the gauge like a head light reflector, and is much more reflective than the white paint which Smiths chose to use.
After the cleaning and installation of the chrome foil my dash light dimmer actually performs its intended function! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I'd be interested in the results. LBC sells 5 watt bulbs I believe, but they seem very pricey. Anyways let me know how you make out.
 
Hello all,

8 watt instrument lights, far too powerful, even the side and tail lights are only 6 watts.
The real cure find any high resistance connection and repair that. Bear in mind that any high resistance point will be worse with a higher wattage lamp. V=I X R, 8 watts is nearly four times the current than 2.2watts so the voltage drop will also be nearly four times as much with an 8 watt lamp.
You will probably be able to see the problem with these lamps as it will heat up the poor connection:smile:

Alec
 
I really don't think that I have a resistance or connection problem. These lights, along with many other TR6's that I've seen over the years are just plain dim. A lot like some of the owners, me included!

After reading this, I will remove the rheostat and clean as stated above and I plan to install the LED's. But first I have to clean the dust from the speedo ad tach.

Now if I could only find that post on cleaning the gauges.....
 
LBC has a 4 watt bulb LLB233.

Is this the one that could be used for the speedometer, tach, and other gauges?

Sounds like it could brighten things up without the current draw of the 8 watt solution..
 
Brosky, Yes you ar right E10's. Good luck
 
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