switch lights

[Phil Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

>Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 13:09:33 -0500
>From: Chris Maresca <ckm@eainet.com>
>Subject: Re: '93 90 seat heater switch light (long)
>
>At 10:11 AM -0500 1/16/98, Chris Newbold wrote:
>>
>>I think the switches on these newer cars are a little different than the
>>older ones... I got the impression that the older switches used a clear
>>bulb with a red filter, which made it easier to find a replacement...
>>
>
>Switches on a '90 CQ are clear, small bulbs.  The whole assembly is incased
>in a clear red plastic holder thingy (a technical term...) which holds the
>wheel and the spring ball-bearing thing, with the circuit board on one
>side.  That assembly then slides into the square switch case, which in turn
>clips into the center console.
>
>The red, therefore, comes from the red plastic holder thingy, not the bulb,
>at least on the CQ.  If you do have to have a colored bulb, the easiest
>route to go is to find some bulb condoms.  They exist in red, amber & green.

On the subject of bulb replacement:

A Merkur friend and I were chatting today, and the subject of replacing
switch illumination came up. He mentioned a bright (no pun) idea that has
worked for him. Instead of getting some tiny 12V bulb from Radio Shack, he
went to a model railroad hobby shop where he was able to locate suitably
tiny 16V bulbs, which while a bit dimmer than 12V bulbs, will last a good
while longer. Hope I'm not repeating an old bit of qlist wisdom.

Phil

Phil Rose		Rochester, NY
'89 100			pjrose@servtech.com