Ainsley Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Came home in the dark last night for the first time in my just finished 7. Two issues I found: Not ticking the LED option for headlights may have saved £800, but I ended up driving very slowly as a result. The dash lights are way too bright, particularly the blue ones. I can of course upgrade my lights, which I dont mind doing at some point. I dont plan to drive in the dark much, so may just wait a while to sort that slight issue out. But the dash lights are bloody bright even in daylight, never mind in the dark. Anyone sorted out a way of dimming them ? Perhaps a bit of darkened film on the inside of them ? Are they bulbs that can be changed, probably not as I bet they are just modern LED's. Anyway, apart from realising non LED headlights are dim, and being dazzled by my own dash, the drive home was great. Warm with the roof down, wiggly roads, great way to finish off the evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteliosV Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Circular black sticker on the gauge directly over the blue "full beam is on" light works for me. Stelios 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 1 minute ago, SteliosV said: Circular black sticker on the gauge directly over the blue "full beam is on" light works for me. Stelios Yep, me too. I used a paper hole punch to make a circle of black tape that I could stick over the full beam light. Problem solved and looks nice & neat too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteliosV Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 This sort of thing - all bases covered! Stelios Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miker7 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 I had my second night time drive last night, the first was more dusk. My incandescent headlights are fine on well lit streets, on country roads like you I was noticing a lack of illumination. I also noticed a lack of lighting to the sides, going round corners was scary as I'd no idea what the road was doing. LED headlights are moving up the ever changing upgrade list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GulfSeven Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 First thing I did when i bought mine. I didn't spec them from new because It was a few hundred quid cheaper to spec the halogens then fit the JAL headlight inners (which are identical to the OEM ones). Oh, and put a sticker over the blue main beam LED on the dash. Sorted 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteliosV Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Re: LED headlights. I bit the bullet late last year and upgraded from the standard lights. No regrets. Stelios Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ainsley Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 OK, stickers for LED dash lights ordered. I will have a look at the JAL headlight inners and see if there are any other options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiddy7 Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Many people use the original cafe racer shop LED headlights, £115 for a pair , and as good as the Caterham ones. Ive fitted 2 pairs to different cars and can vouch for how good they are Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ainsley Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 Have you a link to them, at that price they sound "brilliant" 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted July 1 Member Share Posted July 1 13 hours ago, Andy135 said: Yep, me too. I used a paper hole punch to make a circle of black tape that I could stick over the full beam light. Problem solved and looks nice & neat too. This is the most commonly reported conclusion to this problem. Dash lamps of lower intensity are also available. NB some modifications might be needed if changing from incandescent warning lights to LED. Jonathan PS: But the most elegant solution that I've ever seen was on the Sunbeam Stiletto, and presumably other Imps: lamp covers which were translucent eyelids that could be flipped to decrease the brightness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted July 1 Member Share Posted July 1 12 hours ago, Miker7 said: I also noticed a lack of lighting to the sides, going round corners was scary as I'd no idea what the road was doing. Usual plea for sharing photos of how alternative lamps illuminate the road. Best done with left-right comparisons once you've replaced only one, and with locked exposure. There are more photos in the archives of how the lamps look when you're facing the car than of how they help you see where you're going! Jonathan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteliosV Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 (edited) The JW Speaker options as sold by Sevens & Classics are expensive, but this gives a good indication of the improvement that they can make. Stelios Edited July 1 by SteliosV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattB Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Reference the dash lights, I too find the gauge backlights in my 2022 420 incredibly bright (not the blue full beam light). I talked to the Caerbont guys at Goodwood last year and they said that the led output was as specified by Caterham, but if I sent them all my gauges they could replace the leds with less bright ones. Since I’m not prepared to go through the hassle and cost of removing/posting/waiting for/replacing all of my gauges just to fix yet another piece of poor Caterham engineering, I asked if I could fit a dimmer, and they said that they thought a PWM dimmer should work. Looking at Andrew Revill’s beautiful wiring diagram for a K series (Andrew - can we have one for a 420 pretty please?) it seems that the lamps for all of the gauges are fed in series from a single source - a red/white wire from the fusebox. Assuming that the wiring in my 420 follows the same principle, I just need to find where that wire comes out of the fuse box and splice in something like this https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/stack-led-dimmer-switch-for-stack-gauges-stast269114/ or this https://www.pilotlights.net/pwm-dimmer-12-vdc-high-power-7a-easy-fast-terminals-12-14vdc. Does anyone have any photos of the wiring coming out of a 420 fusebox? I’m struggling to see anything under my dash, even with the help of a mobile ‘phone camera. MattB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted July 1 Member Share Posted July 1 4 minutes ago, MattB said: Does anyone have any photos of the wiring coming out of a 420 fusebox? I have the factory (and other) wiring diagrams and the layouts of fuses and relays... And Caterham usually adhered to the "standard" British colours... Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattB Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Jonathan Thanks, but unfortunately the factory diagrams are no use whatsoever in this case. I do know that it’s a red/white wire I’m looking for. I’m hoping that someone has a photo taken when they had their scuttle off that shows the physical wiring arrangement out of the back of the fusebox. I just need to see where the beginning of the wire is, so I know where to splice in the dimmer. MattB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiddy7 Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 https://www.originalcaferacer.com/product/lotus-caterham-morgan-led-headlight-pair-5-75″-e-approved-530/ these are the lights i use, you get a 10% discount from a pop up 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ainsley Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 Ooh, splendid. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raw Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 The dash/gauge lights are usually fed off the sidelight fuse; I don't have a picture but if you take the fusebox off the scuttle, it should become clear (looking for red/white and a red wire off the same fuse). The Stack dimmer does work ok on the dash/gauge lights. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonym Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 (edited) yes me too a bit of electrical sticky tape over the too bright blue light. Edited July 3 by anthonym Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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