Double filament convoy lamp bulbs

Having stripped down my convoy lamp for a repaint I found that it has a 14V

7W double filament bulb - not like the brake/taillight with 2 contacts, but with one single contact like a sidelight. I assume this is a sort of redundancy so the light doesn't just die when driving in convoy. Any suggestions where I can get bulbs like this (as I'd hate for it to fail when I'm in a blacked out convoy on the M4!)?
Reply to
Bob Miller
Loading thread data ...

On or around Mon, 16 Feb 2004 01:36:27 -0000, "Bob Miller" enlightened us thusly:

you can get some nice cute LED "bulbs".

formatting link
or somesuch - There's a link in another recent post of mine. They come from the states, so now's a good time to buy 'em... they do red, white, amber with 12 or 19 LEDs, and also sod-off 30-led ones, which don't look like they'd fit the standard LR lamps, so I've ordered the 19-led ones for rear and indicators, and the 12-led white ones for front side lights, seeing as the 19-led white ones are 2 bucks a piece more than the red/amber ones.

the 30-led ones come in green and blue, too.

set of 8 "bulbs" (2 red 2-contact, 4 amber, 2 white) plus elcheapo postage comes to about 68 bucks, which shouldn't be much over 30 quid ATM. extra 20 bucks for posh trackable postage.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Twas Mon, 16 Feb 2004 09:54:26 +0000 when Austin Shackles put finger to keyboard producing:

I've been thinking about getting these as I'd like to have clear lamp covers all round eventually... let me know what you think of them when you get them.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

formatting link
mrniceATmrnice.me.uk
formatting link
110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

On or around Mon, 16 Feb 2004 12:13:50 +0000, Mr.Nice. enlightened us thusly:

I'll hopefully have tuits to take some before-and-after photos... already got clear lenses on the front of mine, with amber indicator bulbs. As to whether I'll go the whole hog and have clear ones on the back as well remains to be seen.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Re LED replacement's, are they legal in the UK, can't seem to find any that aren't advertised as for show use only......would they negate an insurance claim ?

Reply to
Merlin©

On or around Tue, 17 Feb 2004 21:21:45 -0000, "Merlin©" enlightened us thusly:

f*ck nose. I have to admit I've not looked into that as yet. The lot in the US selling these don't say anything. I've seen 'em in use on bikes. Also, there are plenty of buses using LED lights, and I hardly think they'd be doing so if they weren't legal. The lighting regulations aren't that much help; vehicles first used after 1/4/1986 are required to have approval marks. These are laid down in the Designation of Approval Marks Legislation, which I haven't got. it also says "no filament lamp other than one bearing an approval mark" shall be fitted. Not sure that the bulbs in mine are so marked... maybe they are.

However... my copy of RVRL is a year or so out of date. Have just ordered a replacement from the nice people at

formatting link
I see their latest version no longer has separate "traffic" and "criminal" sections, but appears to be all in one, and seems to be HTML rather than PDF.

the other thing is "visibility" of 80 degrees. However, the "visibility" clause is as follows for front position lamps:

  1. Angles of visibility (a) A motor vehicle (not being a motor bicycle combination or an agricultural vehicle) first used on or after 1st April 1986 and a trailer manufactured on or after 1st October 1985 (i) Horizontal :- (A) Where one lamp is required to be fitted: 80° to the left and to the right (B) Where two lamps are required to be fitted: 80° outwards and 45° inwards (5° inwards in the case of a trailer) (ii) Vertical (A) Any case not covered by sub-paragraph (B): 15° above and below the horizontal (B) Where the highest part of the illuminated area of the lamp is less than 750mm above the ground: 15° above and 5° below the horizontal (b) Any other vehicle: Visible to the front

which means that any visibility is OK on pre-86 ones. The post-86 makes no mention of intensity, either, and since they'll be in the normal fittings, the lens will refract some light sideways, so I daresay it'd comply - if you can see *any* light at 80° then it must comply. The lot I've ordered from do also supply wide-angle ones, but they're less bright. The narrow angle ones are a 15° beam, but as I say, the lens will spread the light around, that's what it's designed to do. Rear position lamps have the same visibility requirements. None of them have wattage or intensity requirements, other than "visible from a reasonable distance"

somewhat similar rules for indicators, except that lamps *not* marked with an approval mark (probably old ones) are supposed to be between 15 and 36W, although the "intensity" requirement says "plainly visible from a reasonable distance". marked lamps have no requirements, so I assume they're built into the approval process.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

I think the whole approval mark side of things is essentially European, so that we have a single market.

I would be wary of LED bulbs, because what looks a suitable colour to a normal eye may be some other colour to somebody who is colour blind, and I gather that was a factor built into the original rules.

Reply to
David G. Bell

Twas Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:02:31 +0000 (GMT) when snipped-for-privacy@zhochaka.demon.co.uk ("David G. Bell") put finger to keyboard producing:

I was going to ger clear lenses all round and I like the never-going-to-blow idea of led's, however if it falls through can you get red stop/tail bulbs in the same way you get yellow indicator bulbs?

My side repeaters have almost clear lenses due to their age, I was going to replace them with LED units, are they wide-angle enough for side repeaters? just because I could buy them doesn't make it right....

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

formatting link
mrniceATmrnice.me.uk
formatting link
110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

On or around Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:29:57 +0000, Mr.Nice. enlightened us thusly:

erm. side repeaters might be a case for staying with bulbs. The bulb is in the middle and shines sideways. you could doubtless make a suitable LED arrangement, but I don't think they're to be had off the shelf.

as to the rear lamps, yes, AFAIK there are red bulbs available. but I was going to stick with red and amber lenses for the back of mine, anyway.

not sure about this colour-bl I guess the white ones might look odd. But they're not flashers or brake lights etc, only front position lamps, and most of the time if it's dark I'd have dipped heads on anyway - don't very often drive on sidelamps.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Twas Thu, 19 Feb 2004 07:49:29 +0000 when Austin Shackles put finger to keyboard producing:

One of the local motor factors I use has an area of his shop full of 'gubbins' for those who like modifying and I saw some side repeater units there that use, I think, 3 LED's, one pointing directly out, one angled forwards and one angled back in a curved amber moulding.

so the LED's you are getting are not coloured? leaving the filter/lens to colour the light?

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

formatting link
mrniceATmrnice.me.uk
formatting link
110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

On or around Thu, 19 Feb 2004 09:44:05 +0000, Mr.Nice. enlightened us thusly:

that'd work, would give you the required angles. But it's not a replacement bulb you can put in your normal side repeater lamp.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

On or around Thu, 19 Feb 2004 09:44:05 +0000, Mr.Nice. enlightened us thusly:

no, they are coloured. red, amber, white depending on type. The website suggests (rightly) that you get the best effect with lenses the same colour as the leds. white led, for example, in a red lens you'll filter out all but the red components of the light, so it'll not look so bright. A red led in a red lens will hardly get filtered at all. Granted, you could put white lenses on all of them, which won't filter anything much. I might or might not do that at the back of the vehicle, it already has white lenses and amber bulbs on the front indicators anyway, so I guess they'll be amber leds in white lenses - I can thus get a direct comparison between white and amber lenses withe the same amber led cluster inside.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Twas Thu, 19 Feb 2004 19:27:24 +0000 when Austin Shackles put finger to keyboard producing:

Indeed not, but as my lenses/filters are clear along the outer face I'm considering replacing the unit, probably do that after my intended respray, unles I hit an MOT problem with that first.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

formatting link
mrniceATmrnice.me.uk
formatting link
110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

Reply to
Mr.Nice.

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.