Stupid Human Tricks

[airstreamcaravel]

For those of use that are blessed (or cursed) with Bargman 99's
(Wedding Cake tail lights) I offer my stupid human enhancement advice:

Being less than happy with the "brightness" of my tail lights, I set about to increase their "Lumens"

What I settled for was to mount little convex mirrors directly behind the bulbs. I'm am sure that it increased the "Lumens"
by at least 500! So far so good! Even after inspection!

Also ... will one of you "Brainyer" types please explain what the heck a "Lumen" really is? I guess I shouldn't use a word that I really don't understand well ..... well?

DMC

[Silver Bullet]

basically 1 candlepower. Webster's version: a unit of luminus flux equal to the light emitted in a unit solid angle by a uniform point scorce of one candle intensity! But where to start with a candle and your tail lights, hmmmmm! I do agree with your Bargman observation, way to "dim". Oscar

[airstreamcaravel]

I knew someone would know exactly what they were!

I finally learned something new today ... now I may goto sleep!

DMC

[thenewkid64]

Another option would be to replace the standard bulbs with those high power LED types. They are supposed to be brighter , but without the heat. Of course they are not cheap, but I say saftey first. The mirror is a good plan as well, I may need to add something like that to my MH lights.

[ALANSD]

"Lumen tree very pretty and the lumen flower is sweet"
Trini Lopez 1963

[niftypkg]

Light was so bright I had to were sunglasses......No! not really. When I overhauled my tail/stop lights I spray painted the housing with a silver paint [Rustoleum] to protect from rust. Tom

[airstreamcaravel]

Brett ... I like the L.e.d idea!

I also repainted my mounting area, but first started with that
"turn rust into black paint stuff" seemed to work well.

The real challenge was creating new gaskets. I used a liquid
"gasket maker" stuff. I almost made the mistake of letting the goo dry without removing it. Almost caused a permently bonded
light. I used good old WD40 as a release agent. All is fine now!

DMC

[74Argosy24MH]

Another interesting fact I discovered while researching LED lights- they light up faster than incandescent bulbs. The people following will get more stopping distance because they see the brake light sooner.

John

[Pick]

An Amish man sells them around here. They are $29.95 for ONE bulb. It has 6 LED's in it. If anyone wants to purchase their own WHITE LED's, I found a source. They are around $2.37 each. Email or PM me if your interested.

[Pahaska]

My 2003 International has LED tail/stop lights. There must be 20 LEDs in each of the 4 lights. They are really bright.

My only problem so far is some condensation inside one of the lights.

[airstreamcaravel]

John,

Condensation leads to RUST!

Rust never sleeps! (Neil Young)

Better check your gasket!

I know that you know this, though I state the obvious for those who may not know.

OH what a run on sentence!

DMC

[Pahaska]

Actually, the gasket looks good. I is brand new and not crimped in any way.

The bad news is that once the bezel and gasket are removed, the light units are sealed tight so that there isn't any way to dry them out. The dealer told me to just open them, dry them, and reassemble them,but besides the fact that the lens is bonded to the back, the wires are so short that it isn't possible to get the light out far enough to work on it. I'm going to dump this problem back on the dealer.

Next time I go out to the trailer, I'll take a photo to post.

[74Argosy24MH]

The Trucklite stop/tail lights I ended up using have 48 leds in each and also are very bright. Another benefit is very low current draw. The 4 lights I have now draw a little more than 1 bulb, 2.0a for the stops, .32a for the tail lights. . The life span is incredible compared to a bulb, these are guaranteed for the life of the vehicle, original owner, legal mumbo jumbo, etc.

John