The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

--
*Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Fluorescent green?

On 12/10/2014 19:20, Bod wrote:
On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Fluorescent green?
Forgot the ;-)

Bod wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Fluorescent green? ;-)

Radium paint ... no? OK, how about this instead

http://www.phosphorescentpaint.co.uk...nescent-paints

On 12/10/2014 19:33, Andy Burns wrote:
Bod wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are
white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Fluorescent green? ;-)

Radium paint ... no?...

Still available, it seems, even if it is old stock:

http://www.radioactivethings.com/rad...paint-and.html

OTOH, an Indian company is offering a product that is described as
radium paint, which, they say, makes walls look attractive in the dark
and contains no harmful components:

http://www.ankitpaints.com/mobile/radium-paints.htm



--
Colin Bignell

That sounds like the makers of exploding paint who never had anyone come
back to complain!

I wonder if anyone makes an affordable radiation detector. IE not a
dosemeter, but something that one can hear and see and run over stuff to see
what is coming off it.
I always thought the old trimphone dials were clever. IE radioactive gass
in a container with a phosphor on the top.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Nightjar "cpb"@" "insert my surname here wrote in message
...
On 12/10/2014 19:33, Andy Burns wrote:
Bod wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are
white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting
all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Fluorescent green? ;-)

Radium paint ... no?...

Still available, it seems, even if it is old stock:

http://www.radioactivethings.com/rad...paint-and.html

OTOH, an Indian company is offering a product that is described as radium
paint, which, they say, makes walls look attractive in the dark and
contains no harmful components:

http://www.ankitpaints.com/mobile/radium-paints.htm



--
Colin Bignell

On Sunday, October 12, 2014 7:12:49 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?
Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Whatever metal paint you've got lying around?


NT

On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Are they painted or is there supposed to be a lamp at their base that
makes them "glow"?


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Sun, 12 Oct 2014 21:00:28 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

Are they painted or is there supposed to be a lamp at their base that
makes them "glow"?

That would be my guess as well. Certainly on any car younger that
about 30 or 40 years. I don't think Daves Rover is that old.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are
white during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green
lighting all but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous
paint which has failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Are they painted or is there supposed to be a lamp at their base that
makes them "glow"?

Fairly standard instrument lighting for a car of this age - except it is
green. The green numerals on the black faces are still perfectly clear.
Just the needles that aren't. They used to be, so the only logical
explanation is their paint. Except that it looks ok in daylight.

The car dates from 1985. I was wondering if the original paint would still
be available - or fallen foul to some H&S legislation?

--
*No hand signals. Driver on Viagra*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are
white during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green
lighting all but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous
paint which has failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Are they painted or is there supposed to be a lamp at their base that
makes them "glow"?

Fairly standard instrument lighting for a car of this age - except it is
green. The green numerals on the black faces are still perfectly clear.
Just the needles that aren't. They used to be, so the only logical
explanation is their paint. Except that it looks ok in daylight.

The car dates from 1985. I was wondering if the original paint would still
be available - or fallen foul to some H&S legislation?

My guess is some instrument lamps have failed.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Fairly standard instrument lighting for a car of this age - except it is
green. The green numerals on the black faces are still perfectly clear.
Just the needles that aren't. They used to be, so the only logical
explanation is their paint. Except that it looks ok in daylight.

The car dates from 1985. I was wondering if the original paint would
still be available - or fallen foul to some H&S legislation?

My guess is some instrument lamps have failed.

I'd have thought you know me well enough to be aware of this possibility.
Having owned the car for some 25 years I know of the results of a bulb
failure here.

--
*Even a blind pig stumbles across an acorn now and again *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sun, 12 Oct 2014 23:37:02 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Fairly standard instrument lighting for a car of this age - except it is
green. The green numerals on the black faces are still perfectly clear.
Just the needles that aren't. They used to be, so the only logical
explanation is their paint. Except that it looks ok in daylight.

The car dates from 1985. I was wondering if the original paint would still
be available - or fallen foul to some H&S legislation?

I know you should know the electrics inside out but it sounds like a partial
lamp / electrical failure, maybe a dimmer not working or a split arrangement
where the needles are lit at full brightness and the lamps have failed and the
rest of the panel is dimmable and the lamps last forever
--

In article ,
The Other Mike wrote:
On Sun, 12 Oct 2014 23:37:02 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Fairly standard instrument lighting for a car of this age - except it is
green. The green numerals on the black faces are still perfectly clear.
Just the needles that aren't. They used to be, so the only logical
explanation is their paint. Except that it looks ok in daylight.

The car dates from 1985. I was wondering if the original paint would still
be available - or fallen foul to some H&S legislation?

I know you should know the electrics inside out but it sounds like a
partial lamp / electrical failure, maybe a dimmer not working or a split
arrangement where the needles are lit at full brightness and the lamps
have failed and the rest of the panel is dimmable and the lamps last
forever

The only illumination is the back lighting through the instrument face via
the numerals - and spill round the sides of the face or through the needle
bearing hole. As I said, the case is white, so there will be some. Thing
is, the backlit numerals are perfectly normal - it's only the needles
which are dim.

--
*I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions. *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Yes I had a Pioneer hi fi that had more bulbs in it than transistors once,
they too put a bulb in pointers and strange forms of plastic light guides
etc. Therewas even a Philips once that changed colour as you tuned it, the
dial and pointer that is not the unit itself.The main issue with all of
those was that it was a real pig of a job when the bulbs died.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Are they painted or is there supposed to be a lamp at their base that
makes them "glow"?


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Not sure you can still get luminous paint. I tried to get some about 12
years ago to put dots down a door edge, but was told elf and safety mate,
its radioactive innit.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

--
*Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Can you tell if there is a UV or blue exciter diode to make them
fluoresce? If so any dayglo red/orange/yellow felt tip will do the job.

Otherwise if you can find it the plastic stuff they make GloTorch cases
out of is brilliant for glowing for hours after dark. Buying one of the
keyfob ones and dissolving it up to make a paint perhaps?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GloTorch-G...item23271c5161

(or a sliver of plastic from its case)

I have never seen any other luminous paint I would rate at all.

Tritiated fishing float lights or plastic is another possibility but
their weight might affect the readings and MOT certification.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Monday, October 13, 2014 10:13:02 AM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white

during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all

but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has

failed?



Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the

best stuff to use?



Can you tell if there is a UV or blue exciter diode to make them

fluoresce? If so any dayglo red/orange/yellow felt tip will do the job.


In 1985 blue LEDs were stil a pipedream.


Otherwise if you can find it the plastic stuff they make GloTorch cases

out of is brilliant for glowing for hours after dark. Buying one of the

keyfob ones and dissolving it up to make a paint perhaps?



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GloTorch-G...item23271c5161



(or a sliver of plastic from its case)



I have never seen any other luminous paint I would rate at all.


Strontium Aluminate activated with Europium is what your looking for, `Strontium Aluminate` should find plenty of hits

These people have been OK to deal with in past:

http://www.readysetglo.com



Tritiated fishing float lights or plastic is another possibility but

their weight might affect the readings and MOT certification.


Traser is the big name in Tritium vials nowadays.

Anyone wondering why Radium is out of fashion should probably look up Marie Curie, The Radium Girls and Dalgety Bay...


--

Regards,

Martin Brown

On 13/10/2014 13:06, Adam Aglionby wrote:
On Monday, October 13, 2014 10:13:02 AM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Can you tell if there is a UV or blue exciter diode to make them
fluoresce? If so any dayglo red/orange/yellow felt tip will do the job.

In 1985 blue LEDs were stil a pipedream.

No. They were very inefficient SiC substrate and incredibly expensive
faint pale turquoise blue rather than royal blue but visibly blue.

http://www.ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ledsic.htm

Some high end early 1980's hifi used them as power indicators.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Monday, October 13, 2014 2:41:22 PM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
On 13/10/2014 13:06, Adam Aglionby wrote:

On Monday, October 13, 2014 10:13:02 AM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:

On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:



The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white

during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all

but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has

failed?



Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the

best stuff to use?



Can you tell if there is a UV or blue exciter diode to make them

fluoresce? If so any dayglo red/orange/yellow felt tip will do the job.



In 1985 blue LEDs were stil a pipedream.



No. They were very inefficient SiC substrate and incredibly expensive


I remember getting quoted 80GBP each sometime in late eighties.

faint pale turquoise blue rather than royal blue but visibly blue.


OK :-) practical Blue LEDs for which Shuji Nakamura and colleagues have just won the Nobel Prize .

http://www.ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ledsic.htm



Some high end early 1980's hifi used them as power indicators.

Rememeber any brands? its an anorak interest of mine

Thanks


--

Regards,

Martin Brown

On 13/10/2014 21:31, Adam Aglionby wrote:
On Monday, October 13, 2014 2:41:22 PM UTC+1, Martin Brown wrote:
On 13/10/2014 13:06, Adam Aglionby wrote:

In 1985 blue LEDs were stil a pipedream.

No. They were very inefficient SiC substrate and incredibly expensive

I remember getting quoted 80GBP each sometime in late eighties.

faint pale turquoise blue rather than royal blue but visibly blue.


OK :-) practical Blue LEDs for which Shuji Nakamura and colleagues have just won the Nobel Prize .

Yes. The "Blue" LEDs back then were dim and "blue" in the same sense
that the "green" ones were green. True "green" Emerald green came later.

http://www.ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ledsic.htm

Some high end early 1980's hifi used them as power indicators.

Rememeber any brands? its an anorak interest of mine

Not really. I do remember lusting after them but at the time as a
student they were stratospherically expensive.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Mon, 13 Oct 2014 05:06:40 -0700 (PDT), Adam Aglionby
wrote:

Anyone wondering why Radium is out of fashion should probably look up Marie Curie, The Radium Girls and Dalgety Bay...

http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...-rot-1-3474222

On Wednesday, October 15, 2014 8:46:17 PM UTC+1, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
On Mon, 13 Oct 2014 05:06:40 -0700 (PDT), Adam Aglionby

wrote:



Anyone wondering why Radium is out of fashion should probably look up Marie Curie, The Radium Girls and Dalgety Bay...



http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...-rot-1-3474222

And tipping industrial waste into rivers never did anyone harm either, facts a bit thin on ground in Mr Campbell`s letter:

"few radioactive particles from a beach"

"The total number of radioactive sources (particles) that have now been recovered since the beginning of our investigation in September 2011 is significantly greater than 1,000. Of these sources, to date, five had a radioactivity content of greater than 1 MBq of Radium-226 (1 Mega Becquerel = 1,000,000 Bq). "
Scottish Enviromental Protection Agency
http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_s...lgety_bay.aspx

"nor by those at Sandside Bay near Dounreay"

Dalgety Bay is radium dial contamination, Dounreay Sandside is fuel rod fragments, bit different:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_s..._reports..aspx

On 13/10/2014 10:13, Martin Brown wrote:
On 12/10/2014 19:12, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get at them to re-paint. What would be the
best stuff to use?

Can you tell if there is a UV or blue exciter diode to make them
fluoresce? If so any dayglo red/orange/yellow felt tip will do the job.


There won't be if he's had it 25 years!

On Sun, 12 Oct 2014 19:12:49 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

I doubt it, it is more likely the bulb illuminating them has failed.
BL/Rover were enthusiastic users of bits of fibre optic to illuminate
instrument pointers so the lamp driving those may have gone or the
fibre fallen out.

In article ,
Peter Parry wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

I doubt it, it is more likely the bulb illuminating them has failed.

Err, I'm talking about 5 instruments, all exhibiting the same symptom, but
to differing degrees. Which once was ok. And if one of the bulbs fail it
is obvious as you then can't read the numerals.

BL/Rover were enthusiastic users of bits of fibre optic to illuminate
instrument pointers so the lamp driving those may have gone or the
fibre fallen out.

The dial faces are clear plastic with white on black lettering. So the
numerals are white in daylight, but have green lighting from behind at
night. There are clear plastic light guides to illuminate the odometer
numerals. No fibre optics here - only on the heater controls.

The outer casing is white plastic which would reflect the green light
coming through the numerals. At one time this was enough to illuminate the
needles - but not now. In daylight, the needles appear to be a decent
clean white.

--
*The average person falls asleep in seven minutes *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 13/10/2014 11:01, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Peter Parry wrote:
The instrument needles on my old Rover disappear at night. They are white
during the day and show up ok - but at night with the green lighting all
but vanish. I presume they have some form of luminous paint which has
failed?

I doubt it, it is more likely the bulb illuminating them has failed.

Err, I'm talking about 5 instruments, all exhibiting the same symptom, but
to differing degrees. Which once was ok. And if one of the bulbs fail it
is obvious as you then can't read the numerals.

BL/Rover were enthusiastic users of bits of fibre optic to illuminate
instrument pointers so the lamp driving those may have gone or the
fibre fallen out.

The dial faces are clear plastic with white on black lettering. So the
numerals are white in daylight, but have green lighting from behind at
night. There are clear plastic light guides to illuminate the odometer
numerals. No fibre optics here - only on the heater controls.

The outer casing is white plastic which would reflect the green light
coming through the numerals. At one time this was enough to illuminate the
needles - but not now. In daylight, the needles appear to be a decent
clean white.


Could you fit electroluminescent tape around the edge of the casing, to
light the needles directly, instead of relying upon reflection?

--
Colin Bignell

On Mon, 13 Oct 2014 11:01:50 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

The outer casing is white plastic which would reflect the green light
coming through the numerals. At one time this was enough to illuminate the
needles - but not now. In daylight, the needles appear to be a decent
clean white.

Has the instrument voltage regulator gone on strike? The output is
supposed to be 10V I think. The pointer would not have relied upon
luminous paint so light is being lost somewhere.

In article ,
Peter Parry wrote:
The outer casing is white plastic which would reflect the green light
coming through the numerals. At one time this was enough to illuminate
the needles - but not now. In daylight, the needles appear to be a
decent clean white.

Has the instrument voltage regulator gone on strike? The output is
supposed to be 10V I think. The pointer would not have relied upon
luminous paint so light is being lost somewhere.

The voltage reg has nothing to do with the lighting. It's only for (some)
of the instruments themselves - the hotwire types. Ie fuel level and
coolant temp.

--
*Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 15 Oct 2014 23:44:09 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Peter Parry wrote:
The outer casing is white plastic which would reflect the green light
coming through the numerals. At one time this was enough to illuminate
the needles - but not now. In daylight, the needles appear to be a
decent clean white.

Has the instrument voltage regulator gone on strike? The output is
supposed to be 10V I think. The pointer would not have relied upon
luminous paint so light is being lost somewhere.

The voltage reg has nothing to do with the lighting. It's only for (some)
of the instruments themselves - the hotwire types. Ie fuel level and
coolant temp.

Which is true and explains the slight nagging doubt I had when I
mentioned it in relation to blackened lamps.

Anyhow, apropo of any dimming control for the dashboard lamps, they
usually rely on a simple reostat rather than use a variable voltage
regulator controlled via a similar looking high resistance
potentiometer.

This, of course, does beg the question of whether or not you've
overlooked a cunningly discreet needle illumination control. I usually
only discover such discrete controls when someone else has accidently
turned the brightness right down, leaving me to prod and poke at the
most likely candidates until I _eventually_ touch lucky.
--
J B Good

On 13/10/2014 11:01, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Err, I'm talking about 5 instruments, all exhibiting the same symptom, but
to differing degrees. Which once was ok. And if one of the bulbs fail it
is obvious as you then can't read the numerals.



If its conventional filament bulbs in the instrument cluster then in my
experience they tend to go black rather than failing dead. (the filament
gets deposited on the glass envelope). It may depend on which part of
bulb is illuminating the needles and or the remaining intensity of the
bulbs if thyn have blackened.

On my car I can turn down the cluster illumination and one of the
effects when turning it down to near minimum is that I cannot see the
needles at night but the numbers on the dials are OK.



--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 19/10/2014 21:53, alan_m wrote:
If its conventional filament bulbs in the instrument cluster then in my
experience they tend to go black rather than failing dead.

You sometimes see white/grey areas on filament bulbs.

--
Rod

In article ,
alan_m wrote:
If its conventional filament bulbs in the instrument cluster then in my
experience they tend to go black rather than failing dead. (the filament
gets deposited on the glass envelope). It may depend on which part of
bulb is illuminating the needles and or the remaining intensity of the
bulbs if thyn have blackened.

Obviously I can't look at any of those particular bulbs at the moment, but
none of the ones on the spare unit exhibit this effect - nor have I ever
seen it on such low power bulbs - they're only 1.2 watt and have a very
large filament.

On my car I can turn down the cluster illumination and one of the
effects when turning it down to near minimum is that I cannot see the
needles at night but the numbers on the dials are OK.

Makes no difference to the relative intensity here between them from full
up to fully dimmed.

--
*You can't have everything, where would you put it?*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

They say a picture tells a thousand words, so perhaps these will.

Both taken only a few minutes ago so almost dark.

This one is taken with flash.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014396_zps1a8e1163.jpg

This one with the panel lights on.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014394_zpscd05d102.jpg

--
*With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Monday, October 13, 2014 6:41:59 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

They say a picture tells a thousand words, so perhaps these will.
Both taken only a few minutes ago so almost dark.
This one is taken with flash.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014396_zps1a8e1163..jpg
This one with the panel lights on.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014394_zpscd05d102..jpg

Perhaps you'll only find out by opening the thing up. If that happens, you coudl always have a few sm ultrabright LEDs on hand as a last option if the original system is not practical to fix. Either to fix to the inner side of the front, or if necessary to glue on to the needles. A few strands of extraflex loosely twisted would survive plenty of cycles and give about zero resistance to movement. Hopefully you can sort what's there though.


NT

In article ,
wrote:
On Monday, October 13, 2014 6:41:59 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

They say a picture tells a thousand words, so perhaps these will. Both
taken only a few minutes ago so almost dark. This one is taken with
flash.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014396_zps1a8e1163.jpg
This one with the panel lights on.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014394_zpscd05d102.jpg

Perhaps you'll only find out by opening the thing up. If that happens,
you coudl always have a few sm ultrabright LEDs on hand as a last option
if the original system is not practical to fix. Either to fix to the
inner side of the front, or if necessary to glue on to the needles. A
few strands of extraflex loosely twisted would survive plenty of cycles
and give about zero resistance to movement. Hopefully you can sort
what's there though.


I think it would be easier to find out what reflective paint was used
originally, and re-paint them. ;-)

The actual bulbs are standard items that even Halford sell.

--
*Remember not to forget that which you do not need to know.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Monday, October 13, 2014 7:10:29 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,

wrote:

On Monday, October 13, 2014 6:41:59 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:



They say a picture tells a thousand words, so perhaps these will. Both

taken only a few minutes ago so almost dark. This one is taken with

flash.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014396_zps1a8e1163.jpg

This one with the panel lights on.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014394_zpscd05d102.jpg



Perhaps you'll only find out by opening the thing up. If that happens,

you coudl always have a few sm ultrabright LEDs on hand as a last option

if the original system is not practical to fix. Either to fix to the

inner side of the front, or if necessary to glue on to the needles. A

few strands of extraflex loosely twisted would survive plenty of cycles

and give about zero resistance to movement. Hopefully you can sort

what's there though.





I think it would be easier to find out what reflective paint was used

originally, and re-paint them. ;-)


Reflective or photoluminescent, reflectives tend to be glass bead in a binder and fail in patches,



The actual bulbs are standard items that even Halford sell.



--

*Remember not to forget that which you do not need to know.*



Dave Plowman London SW

To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 13/10/2014 21:35, Adam Aglionby wrote:
On Monday, October 13, 2014 7:10:29 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,

snip

I think it would be easier to find out what reflective paint was used

originally, and re-paint them. ;-)


Reflective or photoluminescent, reflectives tend to be glass bead in a binder and fail in patches,



Luminescent paint doesn't just fail all of a sudden, does it? Half lives
and all that. 'Energising' the needles with a bright torch should induce
a glow, I'd have thought.

And it's a bit of a daft design, if it is luminescent. Light from the
instrument or other dash lights obviously wouldn't reach the needles'
face - or they'd show up. And if that light doesn't reach them, where's
the source? Sunlight's going to be a bit unreliable when they're most
needed :-)

Is there an SD1 inner circle you could consult?

Best of luck with it all. My guess would be some sort of secondary
lighting circuit, but you seem to have ruled that out.


--
Cheers, Rob

On Monday, October 13, 2014 7:10:29 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,

wrote:

On Monday, October 13, 2014 6:41:59 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:



They say a picture tells a thousand words, so perhaps these will. Both

taken only a few minutes ago so almost dark. This one is taken with

flash.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014396_zps1a8e1163.jpg

This one with the panel lights on.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q309/trakkies/13102014394_zpscd05d102.jpg



Perhaps you'll only find out by opening the thing up. If that happens,

you coudl always have a few sm ultrabright LEDs on hand as a last option

if the original system is not practical to fix. Either to fix to the

inner side of the front, or if necessary to glue on to the needles. A

few strands of extraflex loosely twisted would survive plenty of cycles

and give about zero resistance to movement. Hopefully you can sort

what's there though.





I think it would be easier to find out what reflective paint was used

originally, and re-paint them. ;-)



The actual bulbs are standard items that even Halford sell.



--

*Remember not to forget that which you do not need to know.*



Dave Plowman London SW

To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Get a spare panel to experiment on, does look like should just be lower lamps below needles

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID009051

In article ,
Adam Aglionby wrote:
Get a spare panel to experiment on, does look like should just be lower
lamps below needles

As regards the smaller instruments, there is one panel light each at the
top. The lower ones you're probably seeing are warning lights and nothing
to do with the instrument illumination.

--
*Does fuzzy logic tickle? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.