| |
|
About us
who we are & how we came to be
Resources
collected wisdom from group members
Rebuilds
what others are doing or what they have done
Classy Cruising
cool member tow vehicles & Scottys
Scotty Newsletter
keep up with what's going on
National Rally
held every July in Pennsylvania
NSSO Stores
buy NSSO/Serro apparal & merchandise
Members Only
forums and mailing lists - join here too
Contact us
have a question?
|
|
|
NSSO Home > Resources
Taillights
The Yankee Turnflex Taillights
used on the older Scottys originally are no longer to be
found. Below are the original lights, showing depth and width.
Also below are some solutions for replacements, or fixing your originals. If
you have anything to add, please
e-mail me.
Repairing original lights
- From Gary Babich: The local NAPA was closer than the RV store (Peterson parts) and they had just what I needed. I got two sockets (pn#LS6228) and two new 1157 lamps. The sockets are just two wires with 2 little fiber disc on the end. One disc has the contacts and the other just has holes that the wires go through. In between them is a spring for lamp tension. Gary adds: after many frustrating trials, I have found two very important side notes:
- Test the lamp sockets on a 12v source. The brighter lamp is the signal! If wired the other way, the taillight will wash out the signal. Everything will work, you just won't be able to see the brake/turn signal lights.
- Before installing the new sockets, remove the bottom fiberboard. The spring will have the bottom of the socket to force against, giving plenty of tension and the lamp will fit better. If the lamp spring tension is too loose, stretch the spring out.
- From Steve Provost: I found replacement
parts for the light bulb sockets themselves! They're manufactured
by Peterson
Manufacturing Co. of Grandview, MO 64030. Their name is, "Replacement
Pigtail" and their part number is 413-07. Our dealer called them "Contact
Pigtails" and they cost $1.89ea!
They were very easy to replace after removing the lights from
the trailer, except for having to slightly enlarge the hole at
the bottom of the light through which the wires of the pigtail
pass and a plastic seal/spring retainer portion of the pigtail
sits in. The hole needed to be made larger to
allow the plastic part which is tapered, to sit at the correct depth in order
to allow the spring and contacts portion of the pigtail to compress deep
enough to allow the bulb to lock into place. This didn't
need to be done to the first light I rebuilt, but it did need
to be done to the second one, so I went and did it to the first
as well, and the bulb sits better now in it also.
Before assembling the new pigtails, I cleaned up the lights real
nice and found a round wire brush, that fit the inside of the
light bulb socket and cleaned the old socket, which had become
quite corroded. I've also
added rubber gaskets to go between the lights and the trailer and the lenses
and the lights, to keep out all moisture! I also applied "Dielectric" grease
to the bulbs and sockets, to further eliminate that darn nasty moisture from
corroding the sockets again!
- From Rob: the bulb has two little nubs that stick out, and fit into corresponding slots that are shaped somewhat like the letter "L". The bulb is inserted in the socket against the spring pressure, the nubs line up with the vertical area of the slots, and then the bulb is turned slightly until the nubs "lock" in place.
Single contact/single filament bulbs generally have two nubs that are on the same horizontal plane, that is, they are directly across from each other, and mean the bulb can be inserted either way.
Two contact/two filament bulbs have two nubs that are not directly across from one another. One nub is higher/lower than the other. This indexes the bulb so it can only be inserted/locked in one position. This is because one contact is for the tail light, and the other for the brake/turn light. If reversed, the wrong filament lights up.
It wouldn't be a problem, but the tail light filament is less bright than the brake/turn filament.
The bulb being locked into place doesn't/can't move, or be loose. If the spring under the contact pad is weak/broken, there can be poor contact with the bottom of the bulb. Another common problem is rust, dirt, or just general corrosion that doesn't allow the contact pad to easily slide up and down in the socket.
Sometimes stretching the spring will help, but usually it is just a neglected area that is missed in most restorations that prevents proper operation.
Sometimes, no matter how nice one can make the outside of a lamp look, the inside, or "guts" are just plain shot!
Replacement contact pads (it is the small round plastic or bakelite disc that holds the contact(s) and wires are available, as well as new springs. If they are easily available, it is a good option assuming yours are shot. Another option (my favorite) for a lamp that is just too far gone to waste time on is to drill out the rivet(s) that hold the socket assembly to the lamp base and throw it away. (Save any good parts, of course)
A trip to the local auto parts place nets me a brand new (inexpensive) clearance, tail, or whatever style lamp I need. I choose one that has a similarly sized socket assembly. Once home, I drill out the rivet(s) and throw away the new lamp, and install the new socket into my old lamp body.
One last thought would be cleaning the bulb the socket, and the contacts.
The bulb: It is made of brass and glass. The brass will tarnish, and should be kept shiny. The metal is the path for ground, dirty brass equals poor ground. A wire brush or sandpaper works well. Just don't sand the nubs off...
The Contacts: At the bottom of the bulb, there are 1or 2 contacts. These contacts are made of a lead based material. Lead oxidizes very fast...so always clean them off. Lead is very soft, so be gentle, you can actually use a fingernail to scrape the oxidation off, though a wire brush is easier.
The socket: It is made of brass also. Same story, it needs to be shiny clean to maintain a good ground. If it isn't apparent yet, while the overall body of the bulb and the overall surface of the socket make contact for the ground, it is the little bubs and corresponding slots that make the majority of the ground contact, and thus need the most attention.
Once clean and shiny, if you just put it all back together, you can expect a year or so before the tarnish/corrosion begins to create more problems (less if your area is very humid or is exposed to salt air. Simply applying a light coat of automotive grease to all the metal areas (contacts, nubs, and slots) you can keep corrosion at bay for years and years. Oxidation/corrosion is caused by oxygen. The thin layer of grease prevents oxygen from reaching the metal. Very simple, but very important...
Replacing original lights
|
|
|
