Laboratory for Electronics (LFE) Signal Light Restoration

[ChgrSteve67]

I started working on restoring the traffic light my wife found at a swap meet a few months back. Made some good
progress and called it a day when it got about 105 outside. Perfect weather for painting but since I'm really at
the cleanning and sanding stage its not really great weather.

So here are some pics of my progress.

back side


Front side. I took out the colored lenses a week or so ago and put them in a safe location.






Back side of the light fixtures








Disasembly pretty much complete




I got one of the three boxes cleaned up and primered. Just too hot to do any more work for the day.


I didn't take any pictures of taking apart and cleaning the light fixtures and reflectors but I sanded each of

the frames and painted them a hammered grey then polished the reflectors. One was stained pretty bad in one section but will still reflect light really well. Here is one of them all clean and shinney.




I will work on the others this week and hopefully I will get each of the housings painted next weekend.

-Steve

[twodko]

That's a lot of progress on a hundred plus day Steve! Sweltering too in Seb. Are you to staying with 120v (were they 220?) or switch to low voltage LEDS? Where's it going to live? Can't wait to see it done!  

[ChgrSteve67]

I think I'm going to stay with a 120v system and use 60 or 75 watt bulbs. It had 165 watt bulbs in it. I think I can just use a inverter if I want to run it off a 12v source. There are several controllers you can by on the net that will easily mount inside and comes with a power chord.

Not sure where its going to go yet.

I have a street sign that says 1967 Dodge Charger Dr I would like to incorporate into the sign. Some have suggested taking it to car shows but I think the size and weight will not make that an easy task. I will probably go in my living room by my old Standard Oil can and brass fire extinguisher.  Some day the wife might let me do a automotive and gas theme in the kitchen.

[doctor4766]

Awesome project.
If it were me, I'd have had to label those lenses to remember where each one went 

[c00nhunterjoe]

Here is my 8 inch lfe that I restored with led's. It resides in my pool area.

[Todd Wilson]

Thats cool! I would like to get a stoplight one of these days. Makes me want to start on my railroad block signal.......




Todd

[Old Moparz]

Nice work on the light.   

When I was in high school the town I lived in updated all the traffic lights in town with new ones. The old ones ended up in the town DPW yard in a scrap pile with all the poles. I went down there with a couple of friends after I had heard that another guy in school snagged a light for himself one day. I spotted a 4 way & had to have it. It's cast aluminum in 3 sections, top, center & bottom, & was pretty crusty. I cleaned it up & brushed on a coat of a flat yellow paint my Dad had laying around. I also rewired it half-assed so I can plug it into a wall outlet.

It's in my basement all apart, but now I feel motivated to hang it up somewhere.   

[tan top]

cool stuff     

[c00nhunterjoe]

Nice r\r signal. I have several traffic lights that I have redone. My next project is a railroad crossing signal. I just finished the lights and have a mint cross bucks, got to get a pole and mount it all up

[A383Wing]

I'm gonna get a stop light also...probably at the end of the month...there is a guy down South of me in Olympia that contacted me who has a bunch of 'em for sale....

What my plan to do for the lights is to find or make a controller to change the operation to make it like a real operating street signal light. That way all 3 lights will not be on at the same time....

Bryan 

[c00nhunterjoe]

Check out the website "lightstogo" the circuit boards are...... 40 bucks I think. Can't beat it. I have several in my different lights.  They function as a real light will with adjustable timer, flashingyellow, flashing red, or both red and yellow flashing

[A383Wing]

thanks...I got that site saved....$44 plus shipping for the control of the 3 bulb traffic light....that's a good deal I think..I could not come up with something for that

Bryan

[Old Moparz]

Check out the website "lightstogo" the circuit boards are...... 40 bucks I think. Can't beat it. I have several in my different lights.  They function as a real light will with adjustable timer, flashingyellow, flashing red, or both red and yellow flashing

That's a reasonable price, thanks for posting that name.   

I found a photo of an old 4-way light that looks like the one I have.....

[c00nhunterjoe]

No problem. The circuit boards fit in the palm of my 9 year old's hand. I've had mine for 3 years, trouble free with LOTS of hours of use. I really like the 4 way light. Wish I had one but people arecrazy when they sell a set. I pay now more then 50 bucks a light max, and I see the 4 light sets go for over a grand....... crazy I tell you!!!!!!!

[A383Wing]

yea..I got a guy over here that will sell me a 3-light traffic light for $60

gonna get one in a few weeks

Bryan

[ChgrSteve67]

I think you need to pick up three

One to go under each of your tail lights hanging in your garage.

[ChgrSteve67]

Here are some pictures from today.

Its interesting that the paint turned to a darker green after it dryed in the sun for a few hours.
I'm going to give everything a few more days to cure before bolting anything back together.















The boring part is over, now is when things start getting interesting.

[A383Wing]

yea...you playing with electricity 

Bryan (waiting for California to have a power outage now)

[ChgrSteve67]

I ordered the controller with power chord today.

I'm still working on figuring out the base to mount it on and I'm making progress, just don't quite have it completely figured out yet.

I'm also working on a mount to connect my Dodge Charger street sign to it.

[Lennard]

When I was in high school the town I lived in updated all the traffic lights in town with new ones. The old ones ended up in the town DPW yard in a scrap pile with all the poles. I went down there with a couple of friends after I had heard that another guy in school snagged a light for himself one day. I spotted a 4 way & had to have it. It's cast aluminum in 3 sections, top, center & bottom, & was pretty crusty. I cleaned it up & brushed on a coat of a flat yellow paint my Dad had laying around. I also rewired it half-assed so I can plug it into a wall outlet.
It's in my basement all apart, but now I feel motivated to hang it up somewhere.   

Here's a pic of your? 4 way light and a Charger.

[ChgrSteve67]

Here are some updated pics





I have not wired the controller yet to light it up.

Now I have to figure out the stand.

[Dans 68]

...Not sure where its going to go yet....

I thought we discussed that when you bought it at the Ohlone show. Bottom line Marie gets to control which light is lit at any given time....   

Nice work, Bucko!

Dan

[ChgrSteve67]

She will

It will have two settings "off" "on"

[Neal_J]

I've had one in the garage for years.   Wife bought it in Cambria and I restored it.  To make it flash, I put a little disc in each lamp socket that flashes the lights for random intervals.  They were a couple of bucks each at Orchard Supply long ago. 

Even now, the first thing the kids do when they go in the shop is turn on the signal.

Congrats, Mr. Rogers!~

[c00nhunterjoe]

Just moved mine today because the bush in the corner isgetting tall and blocked it. I like the green on yours.

[ChgrSteve67]

A little more progress today.

Mock up of the signal stand and I wired up the controller.





Video of the Signal cycling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uYgTRReO80

I have the base of the stand in the back yard getting painted.
I still have to install the on/off switch and wiring for the stand.

[ChgrSteve67]

Final update on my traffic signal project.

I finally finished the restoration of my LFE traffic signal.

Here is a final picture and video of it in operation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_lmW5h9zmM

[Neal_J]

Nice work, contrats on completing your project.

Are you satisfied with the stand?   If yes, nevermind.  If no, another option is a cast iron round table base (that what I used). 

[ChgrSteve67]

Thanks Neal

I will see how it works out.
I may choose to use the original mount and hang it from the wall

[Steve P.]

I need this with a pressure switch so when the wife drives the truck she knows when to stop.. Could make the green come on once the garage door is all the way open. Yellow when she's half way in and red when she is in far enough....

I think I might be on to something here!!!!!!!   

Your light and sign look great Steve.. Nice job!!!!! 

[ChgrSteve67]

Here is the controller

http://www.amazon.com/Parkrite-Home-Garage-Parking-System/dp/B0010B1BKG/ref=sr_1_71?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1341962666&sr=1-71&keywords=parking+assist

Parkrite is the perfect parking Guide. Place the Parkeite at the back wall of your garage and it will show you where to stop each and every time you enter your garage. Ultrasonic sensor measure the distance between the Parkrite and the bumper of your car and turns on a Green light when you enter, Amber Light when you get closer, Red flashing light when you are very close and Red steady light for a stop.

[Steve P.]