Are there brighter bulbs that may be used instead of the 1.2A peanut bulbs that are standard on the instrument cluster? The Oil Press, Voltmeter, Clock and Ambient temp gauges in my 240 are so dim I have trouble reading them. The main rheostat seems to be working, as I have no trouble reading the speedo and tach, but the other instruments are really dim.
The Amb temp in particular is dim using a standard bulb, as the depth of the instrument itself is probably 50% more than the other instruments, so further for the light to travel.
Has anyone found a brighter bulb that will not overheat the instrument?
Thanks
JD
65 1800S
74 Jensen Healey (with REALLY dim instruments!!!)
84 240GLE
89 760 GLE
92 960 GLE

Hi, guys.
I routinely keep my dimmer halfway. Sure, it's hard to see the gauges at first at first, but your eyes acclimate to the light level, and after a little while you (or at least I, with 58 year-old eyeballs) can see the instruments just fine.
The more important thing is preserving your night vision for the things that are really important, like the road and the objects on it! I found that if the instrument lights are too bright, it cuts down my "night vision" (because, unfortunately, our instrument panels aren't illuminated with red light).
As I get older (maybe when I'm 70 :-), I might consider replacing the bulbs with red LEDs, but I've got a long way to go before that (and my 240's will be, like, 30+ years old :-).

The problem lies in the two hours of fading daylight each evening, during which the sky is still too bright for my mid-fifties eyes to see the instruments. Once it is full dark I have no problem reading them.
JD

How about the cheap way out .... Get a can of Candy Apple Red Modle paint .. remove, clean, squirt, let dry then replace the bulbs .... voila instant red light ... or whatever candy colour you prefer ...

Brett
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Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com

I really don't see the point in keeping your instruments dimmer just for the sake of night vision, which never kicks in during driving situations. After all, the light from your headlights as it bounces off of the road and various objects and street signs and enters your eyes is much brighter than your instrument cluster could ever be, to say nothing of the oncoming headlights regularly blasting you right in the face. In a typical driving situation you never come close to getting a chance of developing true night vision, which for most people only kicks in when they go camping, completely away from artificial light. I think it's a lot more valuable to have the information at your disposal about your car's innards provided by the instrument cluster and additional gauges.

Check out Dave Barton's Volvo site. He has developed a set of white face instrument overlays that really improve readability. I installed them on my '83 and am amazed at how easy they are on my 50+ year old eyes.

If you don't want to make the switch to white faced instruments, Dave has links to a couple of articles on improving instrument lighting that were written by others. Worth investigating.

Skip
'93 850GLT
'83 242TI Flathood

Well bright compared to what?

The instrumentation lighting is quite atrocious on a 240, no question; on the brighter (?) side, on my stock 81 there isn't really any instrumentation worth looking at anyway.

If I put in additional gauges, they will of necessity be self lit aftermarket ones.

Sounds like you have some volvo gauges that are worth looking at (i.e. not just a clock) and since it is all light absorbing black face stuff you don't get much illumination.

I haven't read a decent solution for this beyond brighter bulbs. If you are really rallying at night you will want upgraded electrical, and lamps to go with the gauges anyway.

The stock system is silly, with (I think) 2 bulbs in series on the automotive world's least necessary dimmer. Was there ever a part that didn't need to be in a design like this?

I have 3 even tinier and dimmer bulbs behind my rocker switch panel to faintly glow on the hazard/defog switches.

I consider it part of the charm of the car. Beats crappy brakes, lousy seating, nonexisistent safety standards, etc.

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__Stef -- 81 DL wagon B21A SU carb M46 314000km

I guess if you compare them to the kind of tacky backlit florescent lighting on the latest VWs, the 240 lighting is dim. The dash lights on my 240 are too bright for my liking. On my 89 I have actually switched the instrument panel casing with an old turbo for the blue filter. It tones down the harsh white halogen lighting. I would also like to tone down the overdrive and highbeam lamps. I did try doubling the filters but that resulted in no lights. I also have the lights almost fully dimmed most of the time, because I live in a rural area. I still have my CR712 radio installed because its lights dim at night, even though it has pretty crappy sound. I have a much nicer Alpine unit in my basement but the bright green lights drive me crazy at night.

If you want to make the acessory gauges brighter you can
bypass the dimmer to get full voltage.
replace the bulbs- they get black as they age
increase the wattage- use the one for the small clock its higher wattage

>>The stock system is silly, with (I think) 2 bulbs in series on the automotive world's least necessary dimmer.

Amen.

Consider replacing the dimmer rheostat with two D-cells for a boost. Just don't do this on an 89- as those two halogen 3W bulbs are expen$ive.

Not really, this is a problem discussed many times here..I posted a soluton I did a few months ago with LEDs in blue.. It is possible to get a better lighting with them but you really have to use the brightest and the widest angle LED you can find,, I had to revamp mine after I posted the results bit had nice success. There is a reply to my posts that lists an LED manufactor that has many selections better than the source I used.. I have a better night view of the gauges now but still not what I would call bright.. Good luck maybe someone else has a solution.. Max
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Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights.