Recon cab light problem????

[MHammer]

I just installed recon cab lights to my 2000. It didnt have cab lights at all before. Well they worked great when I put them in, but today, about 4 days after installed. I noticed the middle one is brighter then the rest and it seems like the other four have dimmed considerable and the middle is the same as when I installed them. What is going on??? All connections were soldered and shrink wrapped and it is wired parallel. I'm not sure were to start. Could it be four bad bulbs??



Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Pawpaw]

You have a bad connection somewhere, either power or ground.



You said you soldered all connections. I have to ask, how accomplished are you at soldering? Soldering is a skill that has to be learned. There is no quicker path to a bad connection than a soldering iron in the hands of someone who hasn't been properly taught.



I hope I didn't offend you, but it needed to be said.



Bob

 

[MHammer]

The soldering was done by my old man who was helping me with the install. Needed a second opinion before cutting holes in my roof. But anyway he has worked in the telephone service industry for thirty some years. They used to solder a lot of the connections. So he pretty good at it. But I will be checking that over and make sure everything is done right. Shouldnt it have had the problem right away if it was the wiring?? I dont know that is why I am confused. In one week something changed with the install. I checked the ground and it made no difference. I called the company tonight and they thought it was the bulbs, so they want to send me some to try. I'm not sure how the bulbs could go bad that fast but I guess.



Thank you for the response and you did not offend me, I'm looking for any suggestions. The wiring connections were my first thought too, but the way it is wired and the way it worked to start with I'm having a hard time talking myself into it being the problem.



My old man's thoughts are that the middle bulb is going bad and there for drawing to much power (less resistence in the bulb) and taking away the power from the others.



It's a wierd problem, any other idea's I should check? I will let you know what I figure out.



Thanks for the help bob



Matt

 

[DF5152]

sounds like bad grounds

 

[MHammer]

I tied all of the grounds together and grounded them. They should all have bad grounds not different ones.

 

[Pawpaw]

OK. The next thing I'd check is the bulbs' connection in the socket. Make sure each bulb has firm contact with the contacts in the sockets. If possible, reach into the sockets with a small pick and try to bend the contacts up slightly for better contact. Of course, disconnect power first.



You might want to go to an electrical supply and pick up some dielectric grease. It will improve the connections and reduce, if not eliminate, corrosion. Spread it on the bulb base and contacts. This won't solve your problem, but will help down the road.



I've never seen or heard of bulbs going bad & doing what you describe. As for the bright one being bad & dimming the others... that can't happen when the bulbs are wired in parallel. Each bulb is, in essence, in it's own seperate circuit. If one draws excess power, it wont take away from the others, it will just draw more current from the battery feed. If it got too bad, it would just blow the fuse.



Electrical connection problems can be problematic and give wierd symptoms in any setting. When the environment has lots of vibration as well as temperature & humidity changes, anything can happen. Mobile applications are the worst there are.



Say "Hi!" to your dad for me. After 22 years of working communications in the Air Force, I'm now retarded and working on fiber optic equipment. I spend lots of time in telco C. O. s. Good people there.



Bob

 

[MHammer]

Well I got it figured out, I pulled the lights off of the cab today, finally got some time and I found that the four dim bulbs were burned quite badly. They had even started to melt the sockets. I called recon and was told that some of the chevy cab lights they sell take a 5 to 7 watt bulbs while dodge and ford take one that is less then 5. Well somewhere along the line some of the bulbs got mixed up and put in the dodge and ford kits. So they caused the problem. I got 5 new bulbs from a auto parts store so we will see how they work. I also found that the lenses on 4 of the lights have developed cracks. Recon told me to take pictures of it and email them to them and they will replace them. So I guess we will see how this all turns out. They told me they had one other customer have that happen and it was because the lights were put on in a warm garage and then taken outside in the cold causing the cracking. Mine were put on in a warm garage and then out into the wisconsin cold. It would have been nice if they would have included a instruction sheet.

Oh well.



Thank you to everyone who posted on here to help me solve this problem. I would have never guessed it would have been 4 burned bulbs.



Matt

 

[99Supercab]

My Recon lights did the exact same thing. 3 out of the 5 sockets melted, but since I replaced all the bulbs, I haven`t had any more problems. Mine also cracked, and I put them on back in the summer.

 

[2-ND TIME]

lights problem

Have you got a multi-meter if you can or have one check the ohms on the ground side they should be 0. 009 or less. Check the +12 volts at the lights to a good ground point. then check across the bulb if you can . This should tell you what is poor or bad. Your dad probably has a meter or it would be a good time to get one.