308 Handbrake Lever Bulb LED solution

As a comment here Stephen, the photograph you posted with Martin's green LED seems precisely the color that the original lamp produces (OK, colors in photos can often be deceptive...). As such, a testimony to Martin's work...

I almost always drive my car during the day, so have rarely had my lights on in 25 years (WOW, has it been that long and still puts a massive smile on my face every time I get in it!). As such, the original bulb appears practically brand new. I did a comparison of the illumination of my original to Martin's green LED replacement and they were pretty much identical.

Looking at your original bulb, I would imagine that the 1/4 Ampere current through this (same as goes through a 60W bulb in the UK) has caused the degradation over the years. All the more reason to replace it with the LED version and put the original somewhere safe.

Additionally, picking up an original bulb may not be a bad idea (as scudF1 inferred)... Who knows when these will become NLA like so many other parts have?...

Best,

John.

 

Green definitely looks the best! Martin sent me both, but I think green is the way to go for sure.

 

Thank you Peter and Ken for your feedback. I'm extremely pleased about Peter's message, since Australia Post refuses to track these registered letters as soon as they have arrived in AUS

John, one question. Can you determine, whether the original bulb is actually green tinted glass, or simple white glass painted with green bulb paint?
I don't have my original any more and used a green painted white bulb in the past up to the day, when I made this LED light.
Steven's bulb looks like painted white glass as well.
Steven,
the green light looks brighter, than during my own tests. Is it photo exposure or does the light leather make such a difference?

Best Regards
Martin

 

I think it's the leather. When I took the picture I have car cover on except the drivers door so its really dark.

 

Hi Martin,

The original bulb is clear glass with a green lacquer coating. You can see from the photograph that Steven posted that his has unfortunately degraded (bits flaked off) over the years. Attached is a photograph of the one I removed from my car. Note also it has small black rubber pieces on each end. We can speculate on what these do, but I would imagine that they would become brittle with the heat over the years and crack.

Best,

John.

 

Forgot the picture?

Best
Martin

 

Here's the photograph...
(actually had some kind of crash that did not allow me to attach it, had to re-boot and start again)
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Thanks John.
Interesting. Never seen that. Maybe a custom solution, since someone actually managed to create a short-curcuit on the +-side?
The +-side actually is very near the ground/earth with those cylindrical bulbs.

Best Regards
Martin

 

Hi Martin,

Now that would make sense...

Many years ago I had a 1967 911E with buggered interior lights. The corresponding fuse was blown and would blow immediately when you replaced it. Lights never worked.

Massively long diagnostic journey ensued...

Short version is that I pulled everything out and systematically tested for voltage, electrical continuity, etc. Ad Nauseam, Ad Infinitum and eventually got it to work when all of the various bits were sticking out of their sockets. I started to stuff them all back in when the fuse blew again.

Bottom line was that when I snapped the interior side light metal holder back into place, it grounded out against the body. An examination indicated precisely where this was happening at the rear of the holder. The fix was to put a piece of electrical tape across the back of it at the offending location...

It is possible that something similar is or could be going on here with the original handbrake lamps.

My take is that this will not be a problem with your LEDs as a result of the design.

Deutsche Technik im Haus!

Best,

John.

 

Ohh yes, while testing the new LED bulbs I was thinking the simple design of the bulb holder could easily cause a short circle considering the round all metal ends of the glass bulb if the metal is bent incorrectly due to fitting issue or others. The new LED one will have no such problem indeed.

You need to bend the holder a bit to fit the bulb, wiggle a bit so the stop in the front will go in the depression/hole and slide the holder back and forth to fit the screw...

See Brian Harper's thread below for a clear view of the mechanism. You can see his bulb had the same issue with the green paint.
The Adventures of 42137: A Shipwright's Tale
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=143780272

 

Thanks Steven and John.
In the beginning, I actually thought about soldering circular tips onto the ends to make installation easier, but this would have been counterproductive regarding the short-circuit issue.
With these flat ends it is slightly harder to get it into the front recess/hole, but it's much safer, because contact of the +-side is unlikely to happen as opposed to the original bulb.

Best Regards
Marrin

 

Martin
Fyi, my car has the sleeves around the ends of the bulb as well. Another peculiarity for all of us to track 😎

Glenn

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

I have to check out my burned out bulb and see if it had them as well.

 

I wonder if it defers from year to year.

 

Hey Martin -

Got the old bulb out today and new in. Looks great. The old bulb did have some remains of green paint. No rubber insulators though.

Just FYI.

Thanks again.

Ken

 

Got round to fitting the LED handbrake bulb today. Bit fiddly but got there in the end. Looks great. Lovely job thanks Martin. My old bulb which still works appears to be the original and has OSRAM Italy stamped on the end and you can clearly see the glass has been painted green. A fun little project.
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OK.

Just found this thread.

Is this light also found in the NA 308i cars?

If so, Martin I need two in GREEN, Please.

 

Hi Mark,

yes. All 308 GTB/S, 2Vi, and QV cars, all versions, no matter EUR, US. But NO 328, like I unfortunately wrote in the thread title by mistake.

Best Regards
Martin

 

Graham,
thanks for this. What exactly was a bit fiddly?
Interesting, that the original bulbs are stamped OSRAM. What a pity, because I sourced some Lucas-bulbs in these dimensions and wattage
Again not original.

Best Regards
Martin

 

I installed the light today. It casts a perfect green hew on the levers. I turned off the garage lights and it looks great. Thank you for your effort Martin, especially since I didn't even know a lite was installed under the brake lever.
Prost !

 

Getting the bulb holder out was a bit fiddly as it possibly hadn't been moved since the car was built but with some gentle persuasion it eventually popped out. I'm guessing my bulb was original as the car has only done 32k miles and is generally very original.

 

My original bulb that was burned out also had the rubber insert on one end. I bet this thing has been burned out years ago and it was sold that way and no one since, including myself, knew a bulb was even there. Thanks for creating this thread Martin.

 

For me actually those not accurately cut rubber sleeves look like some heat shrink tube added later as a precaution against a short-circuit at the critical spot ( cable side of the holder ).
Or a specific US-safety thing? Like the unique chicken wire in front of the side air inlets solely on german 308 GTB/S cars? (luckily don't have it. My car was french)

Best Regards
Martin

 

Funny thing about this green handbrake light. My first ride in a 308 (actually, the first for any Ferrari) way back in 83 when I was 15 was at dusk and I distinctly remember that green glow over the center console. I thought it was cool looking.

I got my lights this weekend, Martin. Plugged one in and it is perfect. Just as described and now I am seeing my console just like that time 33 years ago! Thank you so much. Mine was still working but very little color was left.

 

Since these are low voltage LEDs and they are in a car I drove only 2000-3000 miles a year and not much of that is even after dark, I would say your light should be good for about 1500 years. I have two which means I am good for at least 3000 years.

I doubt I will outlive them both