Hi Beam Light in the Speedo

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AustHaflinger
Posts: 2465
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:27 am
Location: Canberra Australia

Hi Beam Light in the Speedo

Post by AustHaflinger »

I am just under 6' tall and when sitting in the drivers seat I have to look down at the speedo at an angle so it is difficult to read the oddometer but what really annoys me is at night the blue hi beam light is almost impossible to see - it is so dull. I have considered putting a larger wattage globe in it but never got around to it.

This is what I see at night - in this pic the camera does not even pick it up as being on and I often do not realise I am on high beam until I get flashed.
PXL_20211123_100427340.MP.jpg
Well the other night I was checking that all the lights were working and while I had the headlamps on high beam I dropped something on the floor and as I stooped down I looked directly at the speedo from front on - wow the little blue light is actually quite bright, and I can read the oddometer.
PXL_20211123_100442575.jpg
I have had my Haflinger for nearly 10 years and never noticed this before. It doesn't need a bigger globe just a better blue surround - I might look at getting a 3mm LED to replace the fitting.

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
Range Rover Sport TDV6 (07)
Landrover FC 101 (77)
Landrover Series 1 SWB Station Wagon (57)
Landrover Series 1 SWB (57)
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gren_t
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:24 pm
Location: South Wales UK

Re: Hi Beam Light in the Speedo

Post by gren_t »

When I was doing the dash for my haf I looked at rolling a piece of plate in a crescent shape 5mm at the widest point narrowing to 0 to provide a surround for the speedo, this would have the effect of tilting the speedo up to make it easier to read.

I got as far as making a template but didn't bother in the end as my tig set is loaned out and needed to get the wiring loom finished.

Blue led's would look nice and you could go for a brighter led as heat wont be an issue.
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heinkeljb
Posts: 2754
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:49 pm
Location: Lewes, East Sussex - UK

Re: Hi Beam Light in the Speedo

Post by heinkeljb »

I replaced all the lights I could in Lurch when I put the HID's in the kit car headlamps. They consume 43Watts each on main beam so I was trying to reduce the power consumption elsewhere.
You need to leave the ignition / charging light bulb alone as the circuit needs the resistance provided by a tungsten bulb to actually make the bulb go out. Otherwise you will end up believing that your charging circuit does not work as an LED will continue to glow as they require less current to make them work. Most modern LED's have reverse current diodes in them so it doesn't matter which way round you put them in on a circuit - So you will still get a glow out of the LED put in that position.
If you put an LED in your indictors bulb holder, you might find that it flickers a bit just whilst driving as the power output on Haf is not very stable! There are lots of spikes and dips produced by the Dynastart and regulator. I have been thinking of putting a big value capacitor in the circuit just smooth the output!

I put LED's in the parking lights up front and the rear. I put LED's in the brake lights.
This reduced the power consumption overall on all those peripherals which compensates for the higher power requirements of the HID's.
I did NOT put LED's into the indicators as those rely on the resistance of the bulbs to heat up a bimetallic strip switch in the flasher unit. You could put LED's in, but then you have to put in a resistor to get he current back to an amount that make the flasher unit work, so what is the point? Ordinary tungsten bulbs work well enough.
When they become scares, then I might have to put LED's and a resistor or change the flasher unit for an all electronic one.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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