How to wire up 1940 rubber CMP tail lights

[rob love]

I'll check the stock room at work tomorrow. I know we have a coupel bins of the rubber lights. I'll see what we have for connectors.

The connectors must be used on something a little more modern. I picked some short harnesses with them on at a surplus store about 6 months back . I can't rmember if they had a British or a Cdn NSN.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Lynn

Your lights are very different than what I have..... your smust be the Deluxe models

Mine are all one wire.....and all have the original pig tail....bulb is single filament.

Is it possible that you have a model for dual filament bulbs therfore two wires??

[Bob Carriere]

Wonder what your specific lights were for????

[rob love]

The bren gun carrier used a double pin base on the rubber lamp on the back sign IIRC, as well as the convoy light. The UC part number of C01UC13987 translates into NSN 6240-21-854-7650 which is trade number bulb #82. The description for it is OUBLE CONTACT BAYONET BASE,B9-G,G-6 BULB,1.438 IN. LG,TRANSPARENT,WHITE,6.500 V,1.020 AMP,500.0 HOURS LIFE C01UC13987

These are two pin bulbs that only had one filemant. One wire was ground and one was power. The base is spec'd as a "bay15d". The giveaway is that for dual filament bulbs, the locking pins will be on defferent levels for indexing purposes, so as to ensure that the brighter filament will serve it's purpose. (ie turn signal is brighter than the running lamp). On a single filament bulb, the two locking pins are on the same plane since plarity does not matter.

Could it be possible that you have found a stash of carrier lamps? Photo below is a bin of the rubber lamps and leads at my work.

[Lynn Eades]

Bob and Rob, I would suspect the double pin lights are carrier because the carriers were all earth return to the switch in the instrument panel.

I have 3 that are two pin. (I bought these in 1992!)These have the cut out for the number plate light (which would be correct)
I have two that are single pin, and have a solid rubber body, and nothing written on them. It make sense that these are the CMP ones with no earth return. These I dont have the connecters for. incidentally the bif. rivets are fitted the other way around to yours.
As it happens, I have some alloy bodied connectors, (single and double)that disassemble, and that are easy to wire (they have a screw for locating each wire in opposite sides of the insulator (double pin))

I just wanted to know how the wire is supposed to be connected in the nice nickel type connector, as per Lauren's ones.
I am beginning to think that the British made the carrier ones and were copied by Ford of Canada for the CMP.
Maybe without the flash and difficult to wire, nickel connector?

It is after all logical, that the British made bright and shiny fittings for military use, that are complicated, but almost impossible to use.

Hopefully my British friends are asleep.

[rob love]

The terms "British" and "obscenely over-engineered" are symomymous. You only have to look back to my thread on funnels to see an example.

They were in the process of having the hell hammerred out of them, but still took the time and resources to make a connection that required machining and 15 parts to make a lightbulb work.

[Lynn Eades]

Aghhh, but then there are the Germans.
Think of British carrier track: Basic links and pins, with a high wear rate.
Think of an American Halftrack Rubber and wire and lasts until it breaks.
Think of the German Halftrack: 450 grease nipples, Torrington caged roller bearings, lasts for ever (until they had to retreat, and no one had time to grease them)

I just derailed my own thread