[Farmall] Repairing IH "flat back" lamps

[Jim Becker]

Several years back I tried replacing the bulb in one of those units.  I 
wrote up the process somewhere, maybe mailed it to this list.  Could be you 
saw that.  The original bulb is essentially the same as an 1133 except it 
has a threaded tip rather than a contact nub.  Basic steps were remove the 
sealed unit, cut the crimped edge off the outside, remove the original bulb 
and solder a replacement in ( a little tricky to get the right depth).  I 
found a small nut that matched the original threads (I think it was a brass 
thumb type).  Solder the nut on the tip of the bulb.  I was careful not to 
heat the original solder too much as I assume it would blow the vacuum and 
ruin the new bulb.  Reassemble the lamp.  This requires a good reflector.  A 
good gasket is needed as that is all that will keep water out after the fix. 
I did this mainly just to see if I could as replacement sealed units were 
not available at the time.  It seemed to work OK.  The soldered on nut 
sticks out more than the original, which can be seen by the close observer. 
I didn't have a tractor that needed it at the time and it is still sitting 
on a shelf here.  Between the effort required and the need for a very good 
burned out unit, I'd probably just go for one of the replacement units as 
long as they are available.

Jim Becker jim.becker at verizon.net

-----Original Message----- 
From: Mike Sloane
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 8:25 AM
To: Farmall/IHC mailing list
Subject: [Farmall] Repairing IH "flat back" lamps

I remember, back a few years, there were instruction for repairing the
IH "flat back" so-called sealed beam lamps used on some '50s IH
tractors. They weren't at all like true sealed beam lamps - there was
just a regular bulb crimped into a reflector with no socket. Someone
posted the instructions for disassembling the lamp so you could replace
the bulb. I thought I had saved the instructions, but I can't find them
now. Does anyone else have that information or a URL? I tried Google
with no luck.

Thanks,

Mike
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