1960 Parking Brake Alarm Bulb
The operator's manual calls for a #90 6 Candle Power (CP) bulb. Many people in the past, including myself, believed that this was a typo because the current #T90 6 CP is a two pin bulb and the bulb holder on the parking brake alarm is designed for a single pin bulb. The problem is that there does not appear to be a modern equivalent of the single pin #90 bulb; all are two pin. The flasher will not operate with a #53 or #57, but I used a modern two pin #T90 to test the system and it works perfectly. Does anyone know of a single pin #90 bulb that is the size of a #53/#57?
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Re: 1960 Parking Brake Alarm Bulb
Joe the parking brake alarm bulb should be a #57 bulb if you have the correct flasher. I use a #257 blinking bulb (since I don't have the original flasher) and it works fine that way too. A # 90 bulb could not even fit in the hole in the speedo head that's certainly a mistake. Dan -
Re: 1960 Parking Brake Alarm Bulb
The #57 is 2 candle power (CP)and the #53 is 1 CP; neither with enough CP to make the Tung-Sol flasher work. I agree, the current #90 bulb is 50% wider than the dash bulbs, but I confirmed with one of them that a 6 CP bulb will make the flasher flash consistent and rapid. I suppose I will install a #257 and forget about the NOS Tung Sol flasher ever working with a 6 CP bulb.
Someday, I will find someone with a correctly working parking brake alarm and determine what bulb they are using.Comment
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Re: 1960 Parking Brake Alarm Bulb
Jim, I have 2 Tung-Sol 642 flashers. One was used and one was NOS. i am getting 12.4 volts to the 642 flasher. For 6 months, I used a #57 bulb and both flashers made the #57 bulb flash very erratically, but it flashed. One day, I went out to test the unit installed in the car and the used 642 flasher no longer made the bulb flash; bulb lights up, but never flashes.
I assumed the used 642 burned out so I connected the NOS flasher and it no longer made the #57 bulb flash. A modern #90 bulb will flash when I connect the hot wire to one contact and ground the other contact; bulb flashes very rapid and very consistent flash and I can hear the 642 click. I have run out of options with the 642 flasher so I will install a flashing #257 bulb and forget about it. I hate to be defeated by a 50+ year old parking brake alarm, but that is what has happened.Comment
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