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RE: Dim Panel Lights

To: "Feldman, Jack (Jack)" <jack@lucent.com>, paul.hunt1@virgin.net,
Subject: RE: Dim Panel Lights
From: Larry Hoy <larryhoy@mcione.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 07:07:20 -0600
I went to the local NAPA dealer on Wednesday.  The counter person was kind
enough to go through the GE lamp catalog with me.  We looked at every lamp
with a screw style base and found none rated at 12v.  When I'm in the area I
plan to check "The Lamphouse", a local lamp distribution company.  When I
do, I'll let the list know what I find.

Larry Hoy; Denver, CO. USA
1969 MGB Roadster
1987 Jaguar XJ6 VDP
"It's not how fast you go, it's how fast you go fast"
=========================================================
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of Feldman, Jack (Jack)
> The GE small lamp catalog actually lists all the information from
> voltage to current draw to candlepower. While I'll admit that most car
> accessories are listed as 12V when we are really dealing with over 14
> volts, lamps are given their true rating, or none at all. The package
> doesn't usually say anything but the number.
>
> I am only extrapolating from the fact that I took one lamp that says #52
> out of my Healy, and another that said 12V, 2.2W out of my MG. I'm
> pretty sure that if the spec sheet says 12V, it is 12V. The problem is
> that the lamp with the specification doesn't have a number on it.
>
> Jack
>
> > ----------
> > From:       DANMAS[SMTP:DANMAS@aol.com]
> > Sent:       Wednesday, April 29, 1998 3:37 PM
> > To:         paul.hunt1@virgin.net; Feldman, Jack (Jack)
> > Cc:         mgs@autox.team.net
> > Subject:    Re: Dim Panel Lights
> >
> > Buying a 12 volt light bulb is like buying a 2 X 4!  Just as a 2 X 4
> > is not
> > actually 2" X 4", a 12 volt light bulb may not be rated at 12 volts.
> > 12 volts
> > is the nominal value, just as 12 volts is the nominal value for the
> > voltage of
> > a car battery. In good conditiopn, a car battery will produce 12.6
> > volts.  As
> > an example of light bulb ratings, take the very common 1157 bulb, used
> > in
> > almost every American car (at least in the older American cars).  It
> > is a dual
> > filament bulb, one filament rated at 27 watts and the other filament
> > rated at
> > 8 watts.  If you look up the manufacturers specifications, you will
> > find that
> > the brighter filament is rated at 2.1 amps at 12.8 volts, while the
> > other
> > filament is rated at 0.59 amps at 14 volts.
> >
> > If you go to an auto parts store to buy one, if it says anything at
> > all on the
> > package, it will say 12 volts.  For 99.00% of applications, that is
> > close
> > enough.  If you really need to know how much current it draws, you
> > will have
> > to get the spec sheet and find out at what voltage the 27 and the 8
> > watts were
> > rated at.  Then you will need to know what voltage it will be seing n
> > your
> > application, which is very hard to do, as the voltage in a car varies
> > from as
> > low as 11+  volts to as high as 15 volts.  In a car with a properly
> > functioning alternator, the voltage will be around 14 volts most of
> > the time.
> >
> > If you go to the manufacturers spec sheet, as the gentleman who raised
> > the
> > question did, you may find the 12 volt, 2.2 watt bulb you have is
> > actually
> > rated at 14 volts.  Or 12.8.  Or 16.  Or whatever.
> >
> > Dan Masters,
> > Alcoa, TN
> >
> > '71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
> > '71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion
> > - see:
> >                     http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/
> > '74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8
> > soon
> > '68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
> >
>


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