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Number plate lamp short-circuit
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:57 pm
by winger300
Hi,
I had a problem with my number plate light shorting out and causing the wire to melt.
It seems that the bulb holder is shorting out on the boot-lid around the posts that bolt it on. There is nothing to isolate them from the earthed body. I've bodged a fix with some rubber glove squashed in there,
but what was originally used to isolate it? It can't be just the paint
Re: Number plate lamp short-circuit
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:57 pm
by PSL184
The problem is the insulation between the bulb holder and the base that has given up. The earth is through the base so if the bulb holder is no longer isolated it will short directly to earth....
Re: Number plate lamp short-circuit
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:23 am
by mike.perry
Fit rubber gromets in the mounting holes to insulate the mounting bolts from the light base
Re: Number plate lamp short-circuit
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:08 am
by bmcecosse
Fix the insulation - or buy a new light!
Re: Number plate lamp short-circuit
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:16 pm
by winger300
Ah, I think my problem is that the thing is wired incorrectly. The base should be earth, and the inner contacts live?
Re: Number plate lamp short-circuit
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:26 pm
by PSL184
winger300 wrote:Ah, I think my problem is that the thing is wired incorrectly. The base should be earth, and the inner contacts live?
Correct
Re: Number plate lamp short-circuit
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:47 pm
by paulk
Did that myself once.
Wondered why I could smell cooking wire after a late night rebuilding of a boot lid.
S'easy done but also easy to fix. Just make sure you haven't melted the insulation off the wire by checking all the way back to the dashboard.