House Lights Broken / Repair?

[tmtm]

Hi All,

During a recent trip 2 of the house lights broke, they seem very fragile, they were not roughly handled and they both broke in the same manner...
They are still functional but they do not rotate / tilt and stay in position.
There looks like a very small (paperclip) diameter rod that hold the "gear assembly" together which hold the light in a given position have come out on one end on the bulb housing, which in turn made the small rubber "rings" that pop into the "gears" and provide friction came out as well. Hope that makes sense...
Any advice on how to repair (or replace) these?

Thanks!

BTW- My first post... I bought my SMB pre-owned about 6mos ago, in excellent condition. A little disappointed that these lights broke so easily. Also I had replaced the bulbs w/ LED's as a result of the many great suggestions on this forum!

[SteveInLA]

Are you talking about this light? I did a little research while Sportsmobile was building my van since I personally don't care for this light. It's made by Progressive Dynamics and the design hasn't been changed since it first came on the market in the 60's. It is one of the only RV/Marine lights I found that is UL approved, a requirement for Sportsmobile to remain RVIA compliant.

Steve in L.A.

[BroncoHauler]

I have something like 6 of the reading lights that Steve points out. The one immediately forward of the side barn doors I've had to fix 3 times. It's location makes it very easy for a passenger to bump as they climb inside, and the little metal pin that provides tension for the light to remain in position comes out of one side of its mounting hole. Its a pain to get it back into position.


Herb

[tmtm]

Thanks guys.
Steve, yep that is the light, at least at $6- they're cheap to replace.
(Although I'll try to repair them first)

Herb, I wonder if I could replace the 'rod' with a longer version and peen the ends so it would be more secure?

Troy

[Langton]

Originally Posted by tmtm

Herb, I wonder if I could replace the 'rod' with a longer version and peen the ends so it would be more secure?

Troy

That’s exactly what I did; bought a rod from the hardware store and bent the ends. It sort of worked but in the future I will replace them.

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by Langton

That’s exactly what I did; bought a rod from the hardware store and bent the ends. It sort of worked but in the future I will replace them.

Good idea.

[John Kalmbach]

You can also reposition the rod in the light housing and place a drop of super glue gel or similar at both of the rod holes in the light housing, the rod can't shift out of position then. This was a common repair at SMB many years ago.

John K.