And there was light.......not!

[mikeb]

I have noticed that the illumination on the switches on the oblong centre switch panel just behind the gear stick is very, very dim - in fact hardly visible. I have traced the illuminated switch surrounds back to some kind of lucas fibre optic unit located just in front of the heater matrix. Has any body tried uprating the reflective bulb inside the unit to give out more light??? or maybe changing to an array of 12volt LED''s Mike Mica Blue 350i Edited by mikeb on Monday 9th July 21:27

[mikeb]

I was thinking about a green LED 'cluster' arrangement glued in place in the fibre optic unit itself and doing away with the bulb altogether. I have seen them advertised in Maplins, they resemble the Tuscan rear lights - only a lot smaller. I was a bit dubious about putting in a high brightness (and therefore high temp) bulb as it might fry the car!!!. What do you think?? Mike Edited by mikeb on Wednesday 11th July 19:22

[jmorgan]

If you could cluster a few HI/BRI led's in the bulb holder with a suitable power/protection (for the led's) you could also choose your colour (within the limmits of supply). The fibre optic is probably plastic not glass but with led's that is not a problem. You may get a better source from RS if available? Edited by jmorgan on Saturday 14th July 00:05

[mikeb]

I have taken the Lucas unit apart. The inside seems to be slivered to reflect the crap light put out by the bulb. Each fibre seem to end in a sort of plastic lens inside the unit. I should think that a green cluster of hi bright LED's shoud do the trick. Anything is better that at present. In total darkness I can just make out a very faint glow around the switches. With the lights on, if you look insided the Lucas unit the light coming off the bulb is pathetic. I will do the conversion in the next few days and tell you how I got on. Mike Mica Blue 350i