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Question for you small (little-not unfat) electronic wizards out there

harrycalahan

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The Hen that laid the Golden Legos
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I went to use my trusty ole sears timing light the other day and no bueno. Looks like the filament tube is burnt out. Beings that theres no parts for these, what are the chances that a simple led swap would work? The wires from the tube go to some capacitors or diodes? I dont know. Thats why you’re here. So would those components keep an led from firing like it should. Thanks for any help. Hate to make a wall hanger out of it just because of a blown bulb.
 

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You might be able to find an led that would work with the voltage / wattage without modification, may need to hook it up to measure the values, unless you can tell from the components.
 
From my old memory, these used a flash tube that fired off of 330-500 volts from the coil circuit. Might take a thick rug to conjure up enough LEDs and resistors that would fit and replace the tube. JMHO. There are a bunch of these on youtube for $20 up for parts.
 
Last time I used a timing light it was an adjustable one. You could read how far off you were. If I needed one I would get that. Most of the time I just advanced it until the engine missed and then dialed it back. It was a 4 cylinder and I wasn't sure the distributor was good.,😃
 
Last time I used a timing light it was an adjustable one. You could read how far off you were. If I needed one I would get that. Most of the time I just advanced it until the engine missed and then dialed it back. It was a 4 cylinder and I wasn't sure the distributor was good.,😃

I have a newer inductive light but couldnt put my hands on it when I needed it the other day. I think I’ll stick this one in the drawer for now. The lower half of the filament is blackened which leads me to think its fried. But if its not a straight forward repair with modern parts then Im not going to mess with it. I know my limitations when it comes to electronicals.
 
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