12 volt wall light parts for '66 overlander

[technautica]

Has anyone found a source for the ball and socket knuckles which allow the aluminum light fixture heads to adjust for directional lighting. I have 3 - 2 headed wall lights in my trailer and all of the knuckles in question have popped out and seem broken. These parts must be available somewhere. Thanks James

[26.982 amu]

I found that a piece of 3/8" silicone rubber tubing slit up the side with a razor blade works nicely as a substitute bushing for the wall lights in my '72 International. This holds the ball of the light unit snugly in the hole where it rotates.

By the way, I replaced the power-hungry lamps in mine with white LED arrays from SuperBright LED's. These are quite enough for night reading and/or accent, and use very little power.

[AYRSTRM2]

Originally Posted by Vince Brach

I found that a piece of 3/8" silicone rubber tubing slit up the side with a razor blade works nicely as a substitute bushing for the wall lights in my '72 International. This holds the ball of the light unit snugly in the hole where it rotates.

By the way, I replaced the power-hungry lamps in mine with white LED arrays from SuperBright LED's. These are quite enough for night reading and/or accent, and use very little power.

Vince, can you post a picture of your technique here? I, and I'm sure others, would be most interested in this. Thank!

John
John's Camping Blog

[GreatPumpkin]

Originally Posted by technautica

Has anyone found a source for the ball and socket knuckles which allow the aluminum light fixture heads to adjust for directional lighting. I have 3 - 2 headed wall lights in my trailer and all of the knuckles in question have popped out and seem broken. These parts must be available somewhere. Thanks James

In the spirit of originality, I just recently rebuilt all of mine. I disassembled each one, and sanded and painted them with a Rustoleum textured paint on the outside, and used a high temp white on the inside. It's only slightly darker than the original paint. as far as the ball and socket knuckles, all of mine popped back together nicely, most of them had popped out and were hanging loose. They are kept in place by the spring, and kind of a curved washer at the top of the socket. To take care of the oxidation I gently chucked them into my drill press and used "met-all" polish. they shined up beautifully. I'll try and post pictures later.

[26.982 amu]

Here are some images of my cheap repair job of the ball-and-socket wall lights in my '72 International. The new "bushing" is a piece of 3/8" medical silicone rubber tubing, cut lengthwise with a razor blade. It is a very snug fit--don't plan on moving the lamp much!

The LED is from Super Bright LED's, #1157W30 narrow angle @$14.99/ea. These are quite bright enough to read by, but they don't put out the same "space-filling" light that a regular lamp does. However--they burn a tiny fraction of the power!

[GreatPumpkin]

A little late, but here's the pictures of mine. I emailed them to technautica earlier, but in case anyone else needed the visual.

[26.982 amu]

After looking at the images of my '72 Ambassador wall lights versus those from the '66 Overlander, I see that we were talking about apples and oranges. Sorry for the mistake!

[65glbtrotter]

Originally Posted by Vince Brach

After looking at the images of my '72 Ambassador wall lights versus those from the '66 Overlander, I see that we were talking about apples and oranges. Sorry for the mistake!

Thats the great thing about being able to post pics, you can't always tell if it's the same item by description only. I'll bet your solution will help someone that looks here, good looking fix. I like the LEDs I am considering trying them out in my lamps.

Originally Posted by technautica

Has anyone found a source for the ball and socket knuckles which allow the aluminum light fixture heads to adjust for directional lighting. I have 3 - 2 headed wall lights in my trailer and all of the knuckles in question have popped out and seem broken. These parts must be available somewhere. Thanks James

I will be watching this post I have one of mine that will stay in until you move it then it comes loose.

[Melody Ranch]

Just a follow up to this thread. I also need a fix for these lamps or a suitable replacement. Apparrently missing the "small lock in washer."

[Streamin 65]

I fixed mine a couple of weeks ago. I was fortunate enough that the PO left two new ball and socket parts, so I had two broken ones to experiment with first before repairing the other 4. The trick is to take the lights completely apart. You'll need some regular pliars, needle nose pliars and vice grips. Take the ball and socket ends and stick them into a vice and squeeze the ball back into the socket. After that, I took a pair of vice grips and crimped the last 1/8" or so. Turn it 90deg. and crimp again. After completeing the first one, I pulled on the thing with moderate pressure to try and separate the two, but they held fine. Let me know if anything is unclear, I can post pics more step by step if needed this evening. --dave

BTW- There was no lock washer on any of my lights.

[BIGED52]

Originally Posted by Streamin 65

I fixed mine a couple of weeks ago. I was fortunate enough that the PO left two new ball and socket parts, so I had two broken ones to experiment with first before repairing the other 4. The trick is to take the lights completely apart. You'll need some regular pliars, needle nose pliars and vice grips. Take the ball and socket ends and stick them into a vice and squeeze the ball back into the socket. After that, I took a pair of vice grips and crimped the last 1/8" or so. Turn it 90deg. and crimp again. After completeing the first one, I pulled on the thing with moderate pressure to try and separate the two, but they held fine. Let me know if anything is unclear, I can post pics more step by step if needed this evening. --dave

BTW- There was no lock washer on any of my lights.

Dave, I'd be interested in seeing pictures of your fix and any more instructions on how you did this. Thanks Ed

[Streamin 65]

Here's a more step by step with some pics I took today. The lights are already installed, so I have no pics of how to disassemble them, but hopefully this helps.
1. Remove the big nut holding the fixture on.
2. I had to drill out the rivets that held the mounting bracket to the wall to get to the wiring.
3. Unwire the fixture.
4. Remove the bulb and the nut that is on the switch (top of cone). Then remove the insides of the light. There's a reflector, switch, spring and socket for the bulb all in one unit. It's a little tricky, but it'll come out with some patience and feeding the wires through the ball/socket part.
5. Put some needle nose pliars on the nut inside the cone and a small wrench or pliars around the square washer just outside the cone and loosen the nut.
6. Then remove the nut that holds the socket part to the base of the lamp.
7. The ball/socket should now be disassembled enough to work on.
8. See the first pic, you should now have this (probably in two pieces though!)
9. Put the pieces together and in a vise (See Pic 2) and clamp them together
10. Set you vise grips to put a fair amount of pressure on the socket. I only crimped the last 1/8" or so on the part so as not to damage it any more than necessary as the vise grips will leave little teeth marks on the part. I even tried to crimp it with a rag between the part and the vise grips, but the little teeth marks still came through. See pic 3.
11. Turn the socket 90 deg. and crimp again. The socket should be slightly squarish now, but it should hold the ball in place even if tried to pull back apart with moderate pressure. I also shot a little grease in the socket to keep the ball lubed up. This should complete the fix! Clean the fixture, reassemble and enjoy! (pic 4)
12. If this is still not clear, I'd be happy to help out further --dave

[GreatPumpkin]

...on what Dave said.

on step 4 though, I found it easier to remove the reflector assembly and wire by first removing the socket part from the main lamp body and then puling the wires thru.

Step 10 and 11 are important. After we've used the trailer a couple times, I've found that two of mine have popped loose again as I didn't crimp them enough.

If you back up to post # 6 you can compare our lights. Streamin 65 and I have the exact same fixture, his appears to be shiny and silver (chrome?) while mine were originally painted.

I recommend using either LED replacement bulbs in them, or 1141s. The 1156's fit, but get very hot if you leave them on for awhile.

1156 = 2.1 amps / 25 watts
1141 = 1.44 amps / 17.3 watts
LED's = about 1.5 watts?? but very pricey (cool colors available though)
Also Wal-Mart has some in their meager RV section that look just like the 1156, but are available in 9, 12 or 18 watts

[Grtbggdgt]

I had to replace all six ball joints on the wall sconces in my '67 Safari. Here in Virginia I was able to find an almost exact replacement for the entrire post and ball joint unit. It fit right down to the square fitting that enters the aluminum shade. Most of the work was in removing the cheap brass plating that the part came in which when done exposed the all aluminum bar with swivel joint. To do this I used a mild acid that is used in creating patina for lead in stained glass work. A strong paint stripper and 0000 steel wool may work also.

If you want a part number and the name of the business where I found it I'd be happy to list it here. I'll have to call the retailer for the part number. You may find the same part in your local lighting supplier.

[BIGED52]

Originally Posted by Grtbggdgt

I had to replace all six ball joints on the wall sconces in my '67 Safari. Here in Virginia I was able to find an almost exact replacement for the entrire post and ball joint unit. It fit right down to the square fitting that enters the aluminum shade. Most of the work was in removing the cheap brass plating that the part came in which when done exposed the all aluminum bar with swivel joint. To do this I used a mild acid that is used in creating patina for lead in stained glass work. A strong paint stripper and 0000 steel wool may work also.

If you want a part number and the name of the business where I found it I'd be happy to list it here. I'll have to call the retailer for the part number. You may find the same part in your local lighting supplier.

Grtbggdgt, I would like any part number and business name you can come up with. I am trying to locate the swivels locally and any part number / manufaturer would be a great help! Thanks... Ed

[Melody Ranch]

Me too, Me too. Could you post the info here for access ?
Thanks!

[rasmuw]

As a fairly new owner to a 1967 Trade Wind, I have been stockpiling parts for a renovation. Our trailer had some square 12 volt lights on the walls in place of the sconces. I was able to find a couple of fixtures on Ebay, but they had the typical "droop." After studying Streamin 65's method of repair, I tried to figure out a method which would not leave the crimp marks from the pliers on the socket section of the stem. A friend at the local garage suggested the following method:

1. Pull the ball and socket together with a bolt and nut. Note that I left the nut from the stem and the brass fittings on the ends to protect the stem and its threads.

2. We made a sleeve from a small piece of pipe and ground a taper on the inside. The stem, with bolt, was placed vertically on a hard surface and the sleeve was placed over the socket and tapped with a hammer.

3. Remove the nut and bolt and reassemble.

4. Note that I removed the toothed washer from the nut end due to the internal size of the sleeve. The washer is just a bit too big.

You will see in the pictures that the paint on the stem didn't handle the process very well. I ended up wire wheeling off the paint, which was peeling before I began anyway. My plan is to polish the stems or paint them.

I've kept the bolt and the sleeve in case anyone wants to borrow them in the future. While bolts are easy enough to find, I couldn't find anything in 3/16" with a hex head, so I ground the shoulder off a carriage bolt. Send me an email if you want to borrow the "repair kit" rather than having to make your own.

Wayne

[Wingnut111]

I see this is an old thread, but still relevant. I purchased a 67 Tradewind this summer with 3 of these wall sconces. All 3 had come apart and were hanging lifelessly by the black wire supplying power.
Thanks to the previous contributors, i was able to disassemble them and repair the ball socket joint.
I held the pieces together in a vise and hammered the edge to keep the ball in place.
By the last one, I was smart enough to hammer a piece of hardwood on the metal to prevent any marring of the finish.