Guess what I have.....Hint: 3 Watt instrument bulbs.
 

Finally in from Germany. My next door neighbor's nephew is a car nut/engineer over in Germany (the Eifel (near the Nürburgring)). He was able to source the elusive BA7s based 3W/12V bulbs.

This weekend I'll start to conduct some simple tests to present to the crowd.

The following tests will be conducted for new Bosch 2W bulbs, new 3W bulbs and my 20 year old OE bulbs :

- Individual current draw
- Light meter readings (In and/or out of guage??)
- Visual impressions/pics

I'm trying to decide on an appropriate power source for the test as I'd like to conduct indoors. I'll also have to source a light meter...I think dad has an old german one :) .

From there we can attempt to calculate load capabilities of the dash harness.

Cross your fingers.

I want a set!

Rick,

No matter what, the factory's dash harness is pretty weak. It's a finer gauge, like 18 or so, and there's no fuse. Any retrofit solution should go to a lower gauge wire with better power handling capability and a fuse for safety.

Agreed. Don't want to present a possible "solution" that introduces a fire risk. Let's get some values together and see what we have. Should at least be interesting.

While we're at it I'm hoping the bulb socket is capable of the increased draw.

I am interested in the results please keep us up to date.

me four. i'll deal with the wire size, regardless.

Yep,
I would love to be in if it works.

Count me in too.

RickM,

The instrument illumination bulb Black/Blue wiring is 0.5 mm^2, or slightly smaller than 20 ga on the AWG chart ... as shown below:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/gif/awg.gif


My suggestion for bench testing is to use a variable 0 - 20 Volt power supply, monitored by a good digital multimeter, and set the variable supply to the same as your system Voltage -- measured above 2000 rpm with the headlights on ... which tends to run higher [14.5 - 15.0 Volt range] than most earlier cars! You could build a variable power supply with parts from Radio Shack ... a 24 Volt transformer, bridge rectifier, LM317T regulator chip, and a handfull of other parts should fill the bill!

For a light meter ... I would suggest a Gossen Ultra-Pro with Fiber Optic probe.

The bulb sockets won't be a problem, as you are only going from 142 mA at a nominal 14.0 Volts ... to 214 mA. My suggestion for wire size would be 16 ga. There really isn't a fire hazard here with the additional load, but an upgrade should be over-engineered to give the best illumination and reliability. It wouldn't hurt to incorporate a 2.5 or 3.5 Amp circuit breaker into the new wiring loom.

One step in the upgrade should be to clean all of the bulb socket's body with automotive white polshing compound ... to get rid of any oxidation or corrosion, and give the best possible grounding, which does depend on the friction fit in each instrument! You can clean the receptacle for the bulb holders in each instrument by positioning the gauge face up, and apply polishing compound with a Q-tip, scrubbing the sides thoroughly ... followed by isopropyl alcohol on Q-tips as well.

I'm in...

Sweet, I've seen the light........ me too

Re: Guess what I have.....Hint: 3 Watt instrument bulbs.
 

Bingo

I'm in for a set! :cool:

BTW, I'd be more concerned about the capabilities of the dash illumination rheostat than the wiring. The stock ~20 AWG wiring will support the additional load, but without knowing the details on the dimmer, I'd proceed with caution. A simple dimmer circuit could be installed to handle the extra load if need be. It could be driven off the stock rheostat.

Where do I sigh up?

I'm in for a set.

Build a better (or at least, brighter) mousetrap...

I'm in, too.

You should sell a bulb-and-fuse-set combo.

I'm in for a set!

Before I opened the thread, my guess was burned-out dash light wiring and curled PC traces ;)

Do you guys really have trouble seeing your dash ?? I usually have my dimmer turned down 1/3 or even 1/2.

I'd love to see my gauges at night. Count me in.

Definitely interested!
thanks
dave

count me in!

Thge latest attempt at LCD lights just didn't do it - just changed the color of the light, but did not make them any brighter! definitely interested!

Caching, I'm in. Been wanting this for the longest time!

I'm in too!

Hi all.. Home today with the family. Just wanted to check in.

For the record I only have 30-3W bulbs and 10-2W bulbs for testing. If they work Plan A is to offer Wayne the contact info and he can add to his product line. Perhaps a replacement harness, fuse and bulb kit or bulbs with instructions can be offered. How many bulbs are in the typical setup?

Warren, thanks for the well thought out testing advice. I should have a power supply or two around here. I'm going to try and utilize existing equipment if possible.

(BTW, I just received my Thermocouple and Stainless K probe to do the torch comparison. Can't wait. Thanks to all who suggested the type of equipment to use.)

Be back tomorrow.

This thread is worthless without pics :cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1110378688.jpg

You must be younger than I am.

Okay, so it sounds like the existing wire loom is arguably capable of handling the additional current, but that heavier wire would be better. How many wires would need to be replaced?

The availability of the 3w bulbs has created a fair bit of interest here. I hope you get the source information to Wayne quickly. I'd like to have these bulbs. Ideally there would be a kit, particularly if it's a good idea to change some wires.

Gosh, a guy could even paint the bulbs to achieve a custom dash color, and still have sufficient brightness.

I would DEFINITELY be interested in a protected/fused "plug and play" harness with new bulbs.

- Skip

Anyone have their dash off to show us what's involved with the harness? A pic would be great.

Rick..deal me in too. Let me know if I can help with the testing.

Would love to see this work out. Keep us in the loop!

JoeA

I am thinking a .5" fiber optic rod connected to a q-beam :D

rick, neat stuff.

i was thinking about the light meter. IF you have an older manual camera, like a NIKON FM or something, couldnt you use the light meter built in? you may have to use the bulb to illuminate something, like a small photographic grey card. then simply measure the aperature at a set shutter speed. (or opposite, in shutter priority mode). basically, note what setting the camera will require you to shoot the "photo" in. then the next bulb you can measure relative brightness. i am sure you will have to do this in consistent conditions, like a dark room with the bulbs at a set distance. i dont know what will happen if the bulb is 1.70x brighter, because all camera stuff is double or halves, when it comes to exposure.

cliff

Cliff thanks for the advice. My father does have a light meter. It was part of a Camera ensemle he picked up when he was stationed in Germany during the Korean war. IIRC the camera is a Kodak Retina. Anyway he has a seperate meter.

I'm planning on somehow mounting the bulb onto one end of a tube...perhaps a 2'-3' section of pvc. The meter mounted on the other end.

No matter how scientific I get the bottom line is that it illuminates the guages better :D

UPDATE: My dad's light meter is inadequate. Therefore, I just purchased one and will hopefully have by week's end. Everything will be ready when the meter arrives.

they'll be fine. just send me some!

I'll take 25 of them..

O.k. before I'm in as well,....but before that.......
is there a company-issued comparison chart?
i.e. average amperage draw vs. OEM wire size vs.AMP vs. candlelight at a near and far reading?

Science will prove most....

Just send me some as well - I'll be the guinea pig!

Only reason being I put 80/100 watt bulb in the headlights (up from the "stock"60W ) and the turn signal stalk burned up while driving at night.
I hadn't put in a headlight relay kit yet.