LUMINESCENT DASH LIGHTS / EL Dash Panel Inverter Replacement

[Darryl]

Stephen has the blue ice cubes.

D

[brhodes]

Frank,
The LED units are still available at:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Red-LED-...ZY-Fdv&vxp=mtr

[Bill Pape]

Originally Posted by brhodes

Frank,
The LED units are still available at:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Red-LED-...ZY-Fdv&vxp=mtr

Barry, Did you upgrade the gauges, or the bulbs inside the original gauges??

[brhodes]

I upgraded the DC voltage, Water Temp, Oil Pressure, and Fuel gauges and then replaced all lamps with bright white LED bulbs.

A few gauges required flat faced LED's also.

[mrivard]

Thanks for the replies, I had one good inverter and determined that my dash no longer lights up. I guess the shifter panel, and other panels to the right of the main dash were originally lit also but I never saw those working. I am going to work on an alternative.

[WarrenM]

Matt -
You may also want to look here: https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ate-bolt/1685/
If you want to call them aviation post lights: $14.95 ea. from Aircraft Spruce for the same item. :-)
A lot of LED alternatives as you plan your project.

[RAMiREZ]

Hello,

on my PT36 Model 89 the complete Dash light didn`t work. I tried to find it and opened the lower RH panel (with ignition key) and destroyed the EL. Then I found this thread and the "ice cubes".

I have only three inverters - I tested with a resistor and there is no 120 Volt AC output. The 12V DC work. I ordered 3 new inverters from Dupree products and the overhead dash (inverter #1) and upper Dash with upper RH dash (inverter #2) work perfect. The middle main dash doesn't (inverter #3). On the lower dash has 3 Parts. The left and right work, but only if I connected them separately. If I connect them together they don`t work. When I measure the resistance of the panels it goes up like a capacitor (around 900 Ohms and 215nF capacity - I think that is right then the voltmeter work with DC - if I change the polarity it starts low and again getting higher).

But the middle part doesn`t light. It has either a very high resistance like 3 mega ohms or a very low like 10 Ohms. Not like the other parts something around 900 Ohms. And it chances from time to time. is it forever lost? has anyone an idea what to do?


kind regards
Ramin

[chiplamb]

Just thought I'd share these pix of the dash all lit up with four new inverters from Stephen. I forgot the one in the upper compartment and have been testing out the old ones one by one while I wait for the last one I ordered. Some of them worked intermittently, I'm down to the last one and it's a bit flaky. Thanks to Stephen for getting these made again, nice to just be able to replace parts with parts and not reinvent the wheel!

[Scott White]

Now that’s a good looking dash for night driving.

[Tailfins57]

Makes you want to travel at night