cooked tailight - don't burn up your bus

Tedsoldbus · August 07, 2021, 01:01:14 PM

My 1980 bus had upgraded tailights at some point. Right brake light went out enroute to a tune up. Thought I'd have them replace since I was there. Tune up guys did not have that bulb. Decided I am pretty lame if I can't fix at least that. Bad bulb is a GE 1665. Went to 4 auto parts places. They all tried to hand be a 22 something. I told them "It does not match what I am showing you". They ALL said the 1665 is obsolete or not available and the 22 works. So at the 4th place, I bought one. It fit in the hole, and lit up.
A week later I started up the bus and was waiting for temp and air to come up. Since the air brake was on, the brake lights were on. 10 minutes later I walked behind the bus to look for leaks and noticed new bulb looked brighter. A LOT brighter! Put my hand on the reflector and it was almost melting. Screw gunned the cover off quickly and grabbed the hot bulb with a leather glove. Bulb is all discolored. Filament in the bulb they all told me is "it" is much thicker. It worked when I replace it because I drove and then parked, but when kept ON for ten minutes it got way hot.
3 days of searching I THINK I have 4 GE 1665's coming from Zoro. Film at eleven.
So if the filament does not look exactly the same, don't let NAPA, Auto Zone etc etc let you burn your bus down.

Dave5Cs · August 07, 2021, 01:59:51 PM

https://www.bulbs.com/

Tedsoldbus · August 07, 2021, 02:24:05 PM

Thanks Dave. Typed in GE 1665. Checked miniature bulbs as well and there are some that are close. Looks like no gots, but I will call them Monday. I think Zoro has some on the way. They looked right in the close up pictures of the filament. Leave it to me to not be able to even change a light bulb without problems.

richard5933 · August 07, 2021, 02:57:55 PM

Have you checked to see if Luke has them on the shelf?

6805eagleguy · August 07, 2021, 03:49:17 PM

Once again, just use leds from superbrightleds.com

Tedsoldbus · August 07, 2021, 03:57:50 PM

Thanks Richard. Completely forgot about Luke!
They say denial is the first sign of Alzheimer's. I called two Prevost service guys I know and they did not have them. Did not think of Luke for a light bulb.
A light bulb. A light bulb! I feel like such an idiot. Tune in next week when I try to match pressure in all 6 of my tires!

Tedsoldbus · August 07, 2021, 04:00:37 PM

Will check on superbright. Like the idea of an LED. Much cooler???

richard5933 · August 07, 2021, 04:11:38 PM

I had a 24v turn signal lamp go out on my trip home after buying my bus. Truck stop after truck stop had nothing (of course) until finally one had a connection at a coach shop in town that sent one over. After that Luke was my go to guy for things like this and I carry plenty of spares.

RJ · August 07, 2021, 05:15:28 PM

Ted -

With a quick search, it looks like the 1655 is a 24vdc bulb. Have you checked - is all your exterior lighting 24vdc? Time to get out the VOM?

Anyway, here's an LED bulb that might work for you, reasonably priced, too.

https://www.amazon.com/Melphan-Auto-Reverse-12V-24V-Parking-Interior/dp/B08YDTJW5J/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=24vdc+1156+LED+light+bulb&qid=1628381303&sr=8-4

FWIW & HTH. . .

Nova Eona · August 07, 2021, 05:55:32 PM

LEDs for the win. I don't think I've installed an incandescent bulb into anything for at least the past decade and I've never once regretted it. Whenever I touch a bulb on the bus, it turns LED.

richard5933 · August 07, 2021, 06:15:36 PM

LED bulbs are nice, but they don't play well with every bus's turn signals. They also don't work in every lamp - if the reflector doesn't like the position of the LED element they can actually be dimmer than the incandescent.

That said, once I got good bulbs in my bus and clean sockets I have had no need to change any bulbs. The incandescent work fine and I don't see a reason to futz with getting LED bulbs to work with the signals.

chessie4905 · August 08, 2021, 09:44:16 AM

you may have luck on ebay. lot of nos for sale on there.

Tedsoldbus · August 08, 2021, 11:43:09 AM

Thanks for all the ides. Will call Luke if the ones Zoro sends are not exactly "it". My friend with a 4106 tried LED and he said it was so bright it looked like he was driving with his brakes on all the time. Like all things on this old bus, I have much to learn Grasshoppa, but if I try to keep it "fun" instead of always thinking...REALLY!!! It will go better.
But you would think a tailight would not be this difficult.
Again thanks for so many helpful ideas and solutions.

Tedsoldbus · August 08, 2021, 01:47:57 PM

Ta daaaa
FEDEX on a Sunday with a big truck, just brought me 4 lightbulbs. Genuine GE and exactly correct GE 1665, in case anyone else needs them. Zoro overpadded them and they were not expensive.
Glad my Niece is not here. She hates the 3 day delivery on everything now. Bad for the planet and everything.... Even my mailman sometimes delivers on Sundays for extra $. He says last week he drove 35 minutes to a house to deliver a pair of socks! I'm not an enviro nazi, but I didn't need these bulbs in 3 days? Rita says competition and all that rot.
Sorry. Snap out of philosophy mode ted and be happy about the bulbs. Still very curious about LED and will still learn about it, but for now, in getting ready for Loudonville Ohio, will run with bulbs the bus likes. Thanks again for the help gents.

chessie4905 · August 10, 2021, 09:41:38 PM

leds come in different lumens to closely match desired brightness. Superbrightleds and a couple other bigger outfits have different ones, and many anymore are rated from 12 to 30 volts.