Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 09:01:40 -0700
Reply-To: George Chapman <landmark@THEGRID.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: George Chapman <landmark@THEGRID.NET>
Subject: Re: More Tailight Glow
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Volks:
Some folks thought my explanation of adding another tailight
bulb too brief. So here's a little more info. (This
explanation will probably take longer than the actual
"modification". First, remove the four screws that attach
the tailight assembly to the Vanagon. Once free of the
body the assembly can be opened by gently prying on the
plastic snaps on the short sides of the assembly. Once the
assembly is apart, you'll see that the electrical "wiring"
for the light bulbs is very similar to a printed circuit
board.
Remove the existing tailight bulb and you'll see a "bulb
clip" in the bottom of the socket. The cateye lens socket
does NOT have this bulb clip, but needs one if you want to
put a bulb there. I scavenged bulb clips from a junkyard
tailight assembly.
Look closely at the how the bulb clips fit into the
assembly. They slide down into slots already present in the
assembly. This requires gently prying up the soft metal
(very malleable) of the "metal circuit board" so that you
can fit the new bulb clip. Once the clip is all the way down
in its slot, gently bend the metal circuit board down over
it. (Again look at the existing assembly clips as a guide to
what it all should look like.)
With the bulb clip in place, you can now install a 5W
(single base) tailight bulb.
The next step is to connect the "nibs" of the metal circuit
board traces from the standard tailight to the cateye lense
bulb that you just added. (Do this with power to the
tailight assembly OFF). Look closely and you'll see which
two traces need to be connected. The "nibs" I'm refering to
are small pieces of metal that are about 2mm wide and
integral to the metal circuit board. (Some electrical
specialists on the List are free to suggest a more
substantial electrical connection, here.) With the "nib"
bent up to contact the cateye circuit trace the bulb lights
up along with the standard tailight bulb. Both bulbs are
powered by the same standard electrical wiring (no changes
made to wiring). (Another List member more experienced than
I in matters electrical suggested the wiring is plenty
sufficient to handle the small added wattage of the new
bulb.)
Snap the assembly back together. Fit it to the Vanagon. Turn
on your light switch, and gloat! Er, glow.
As and aside, Joel Walker had this whole idea bouncing
around his brain for some time, but believed a reflector
would be needed for the cateye compartment bulb. In fact,
an internal reflector would be nice, as there is minor light
"spill" from the new bulb in the cateye compartment to the
white backup lense, but it's very minor.
Let me be clear. My goal was to get more tailight glow,
quickly and easily. There are surely refinements that can
be made to improve the modifications we're discussing here.
Feel free.
Like I said this explanation, has taken longer than the
actual installation.
Hope this helps,
- - George Chapman, 91 GL
Lake Almanor, CA
