I researched old posts (2001) and the best I could do was a bulb # 631. Can anyone confirm a brand and bulb # ?? Thanxx.......

From what I remember, the original bulb was shaped like an "S". That bulb uses the same base as a 631 Bulb.

My coach has a new grab handle by Fleeming and it uses the 194 Bulb.

On mine the bulb is a #63 #67 and is in the top of the handle.

#63 #67 Bulb

Socket in top of handle

Original lighted handle working to this day

A 63 bulb is 6 or 7 volts. I wonder how the voltage gets dropped.

Barths are not all the same. ......On my '84, the bulb has a 7/16" OD screw-in base, {candelabra)and fits in our house chandelier. It has a S type envelope. It is unmarked, but is probably a 6S6 of some permutation or other. I now use a http://www.grainger.com/Graing...bmit.x=32&submit.y=9, which is a little too bright for Susan. Anything brighter than a campfire ember or a lit cigar compromises the outdoor-ness of the camping experience for her.

I have considered putting in either a home made LED replacement or a 30 volt substitute to get a dimmer light. Or, maybe cobble up an adapter so I could experiment with miniature bayonet bulbs. The problem with that is that most of the donor candelabra bulbs I found have aluminum bases, which are not suitable for soldering. Another way to go would be to replace the socket with one that took miniature bayonet lamps. Then I could work on the brightness and current draw.

BTW, if the top end of your Lucite handle bar is a little rough, file it smooth, sand and polish. Then play jiggery-pokery until you center the filament of the bulb directly over the center of the Lucite. This will improve the optical characteristics immensely, resulting in more dark being sucked.

On mine, the entire handle needs to be removed for easy access to the bulb. If you have clutch head screws, and don't have a set of clutch head bits (or can't find them), a #1 square bit will fit well enough if they are not really tight. A 1/4 inch ratcheting box end wrench is handy for turning the two lower screws in the upper mount, as straight-on access is not possible.

If you replace the screws with phillips heads, be sure to use stainless where you don't have straight-on access. Cocked phillips tip screwdrivers will chew up the plating and result in rusting later. The ideal set up would be stainless flat head allen head screws, but then you would be back to needing a special tool (ball end Allen wrench) for some of the screws. But, stainless allens look nifty.

Thanks for the question Bill, I took it apart again today, and it is a #67. 7's & 3's look the same to some old eyes.

Makes sense that if the end is nice and smooth it will be easier for the dark to be sucked in.

I was lucky to have a handle that is "like new". It was an easy removal with an off set Phillips head screwdriver. I had a burned out #67 bulb. I could not locate a #67 after trying several auto stores so I settled for a #63 bulb ( told it was a "crossover" bulb).Bill H states it is a lower voltage. So I'll wait till tonight and see how much darkness gets sucked out of the handle. The bottomline is this makes Betty happy in a camp site to find her way home.............

quote:

Originally posted by carlflack:
I could not locate a #67 after trying several auto stores so I settled for a #63 bulb ( told it was a "crossover" bulb).Bill H states it is a lower voltage. So I'll wait till tonight and see how much darkness gets sucked out of the handle.

"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Carl's Handle"

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With apologies to Lerner and Lowe.

Bill H
It is 9:15 p.m. EDT and I just confirmed that when I turned the switch on all the darkness was pulled out of Carl's handle.
It looks fantastic........Betty

Way to go Carl!!