EL Coach Lamps February 07, 2009, 03:38:53 PM Does anyone still have interest in restoring or repairing the original electroluminescent coach lamps?After some reasearch I was able to repair mine by fabricating new foil packs on my Couger LS. I used EL blue but, I think the originals used EL white. EL white (foil packs) are available as well as other colors. The foil packs on both were degraded/delaminted and not making light. Fortunately, both inverters were still singing. I am still reasearching the best repair method for failed inverters but, I have not found any failed inverters so far. If the inverter is working you should be able to hear a tone or a squeal that comes from the foil packs inside the lamps whether they're emitting light or not. Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #1 – February 07, 2009, 05:05:57 PM You can still buy EL panel from All Electronics Corp for super-cheap. Some of the panels have a series of terminals and can be cut to fit, and they have different colors and off-state colors. Back in the '90s, I installed a "wheat grain" bulb in the base of the housing, then scuffed up a thin piece of plastic behind the stock diffuser plate. It looked great to me, but I haven't seen it in years. I never installed it on the car; I kept it on my desk in a custom housing and plugged it into the wall using a 120V-12V transformer. Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #2 – February 07, 2009, 05:58:39 PM The EL Coachlamps are currently working on our 85 LS: Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #3 – February 07, 2009, 06:44:34 PM I have a set stashed away in the garage.Still worked when I checked them after I received them... Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #4 – February 07, 2009, 07:52:51 PM GearHorn, pm me with what you bought and how you did it. I have a 80 Silver Anniversary Bird that still work but my kids 83 Heritage are inop with no buzz Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #5 – February 07, 2009, 10:19:50 PM The problem I keep running into is finding white EL panels that are also white when they are powered off. All the white ones out there are salmon-colored when off and that will not suffice. Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #7 – February 08, 2009, 12:18:37 AM I've thought of a few ways around it but would like to find white parallel electrode EL sheets that are also white when no power is applied. I've found plenty of pink ones that are white when powered but pink when off. I suppose a very thin piece of frosted Lexan or something like that could be placed over it but I haven't tried that yet because I wasn't home most of 2008.I bought the last original inverters from the manufacturer that made them for our cars in the '80s though. Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #8 – February 08, 2009, 12:24:20 AM Karl, Do you still have our 2 old EL Coachlamps to work with ?? :poke: Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #9 – February 08, 2009, 12:25:11 AM Quote from: mercury-man;255862Karl, Do you still have our 2 old EL Coachlamps to work with ?? :poke:Yeah, that's the only reason I am involved with this. Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #10 – February 08, 2009, 03:11:57 PM C2g,All of the OEM coach lamps I have seen indeed have an off white opaque diffuser lens covering the foil pack. Seems like this would solve the off-pink problem. Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #11 – February 08, 2009, 03:39:51 PM I'm also looking to restore mine and replace the sun yellowed sheet.and just now checking them, neither one works. looks like I going for a total rebuild now Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #12 – February 08, 2009, 06:21:45 PM Well, if anyone finds new parallel electrode EL sheets that are white with and without power, let me know so I can finish mercury-man's lights Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #13 – February 08, 2009, 06:52:31 PM I don't have lit ones, If I did I would want them to light body color. Quote Selected
EL Coach Lamps Reply #14 – February 08, 2009, 07:48:00 PM Quote from: Kitz Kat;255997I don't have lit ones, If I did I would want them to light body color.But your car is gray... Quote Selected
Topic: EL Coach Lamps (Read 3226 times)
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