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Electroluminescent

Finally getting into the the EL. When we first got the car the EL worked and was beautiful. However they stopped working just kind of suddenly. I did however have my headlights on and shut the driver door and they came back on after being dead for a bit and then have never come on since. I got up under the dash and disconnected the headlamp switch and removed it and cleaned the connectors and used some deoxit. Plugged it back in and made sure it wasn't loose. I'm getting 12v at the orange wire at the power pak plug side but not getting 230 AC at the white wire at the power pak plug side. I guess my question is, does this sound like a bad power pak in need of rebuild or something shorted?
 
Power pack may not necessarily be bad... Indeed the power pack is AFTER the dimmer rehostat, so if you are getting 12 volts at the orange wire at the power pack, but not getting the nominal high volts AC on white wire, I assume that you are making measurements with power pack connectors mated ?? Since this problem is intermittent, you can only find the problem when the EL is NOT working. You would only see the high voltage IF the EL is illuminated and working. When not working, you will need to use clip leads or other means to hook up the power pack and INTERRUPT the white wire yet still have ground and 12 volts applied to the orange wire. Measure for hi volts on power packs white wire going no where, connected to nothing. If power pack is working, you should hear a a low volume high frequency "squeal" coming from the power pack. If you have the hi volts AC with this test, when you connect the white wire to the feed the EL devices and loose the hi volts, then you have a dead short somewhere among the Electroluminescent items. If there is a short anywhere on the hi volts white wires path or anything EL related, the power pack shuts itself down.
EL items are : Gauge background buckets, gauge needles, radio pointer, clock face and hands, shifter indicator. Only way to find out which item is the problem is to disconnect items one at at a time till you find whats defective. This short cant necessarily be found with an ohm meter as it may only be shorting with hi voltage applied.
 
Power pack may not necessarily be bad... Indeed the power pack is AFTER the dimmer rehostat, so if you are getting 12 volts at the orange wire at the power pack, but not getting the nominal high volts AC on white wire, I assume that you are making measurements with power pack connectors mated ?? Since this problem is intermittent, you can only find the problem when the EL is NOT working. You would only see the high voltage IF the EL is illuminated and working. When not working, you will need to use clip leads or other means to hook up the power pack and INTERRUPT the white wire yet still have ground and 12 volts applied to the orange wire. Measure for hi volts on power packs white wire going no where, connected to nothing. If power pack is working, you should hear a a low volume high frequency "squeal" coming from the power pack. If you have the hi volts AC with this test, when you connect the white wire to the feed the EL devices and loose the hi volts, then you have a dead short somewhere among the Electroluminescent items. If there is a short anywhere on the hi volts white wires path or anything EL related, the power pack shuts itself down.
EL items are : Gauge background buckets, gauge needles, radio pointer, clock face and hands, shifter indicator. Only way to find out which item is the problem is to disconnect items one at at a time till you find whats defective. This short cant necessarily be found with an ohm meter as it may only be shorting with hi voltage applied.
Thank you! I disconnected the power pack plug and used a jumper to power the orange wire and ran a test with my voltmeter and was getting 225 volts AC and heard the humming from the power pack, so the power pack is good. I removed the cluster last night to start the bench testing. I have gotten everything hooked up as per the service manual for the bench test, but when I put the wire on the 12v battery I get nothing even when unplugging each gauge the EL doesn't light up and I hear no humming from the power pack. I do get 28 volts AC though. I'm thinking maybe the wires I am using aren't a big enough gauge? Forgive me for all the questions as electronics is not my strong suit. Thanks in advance!
 
You're about 172 volts shy of the minimum at 28. The plug has an orange and white, correct? Remove the white wire only from the connector. The radio, console indicator, something is shorted. The amperage is relatively low, so unless you're using 22 gauge, it shouldn't be a problem for testing.

The early 60's Imperials used the same system. Background information:

http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Electrical/EL/index.htm

http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Electrical/powersupply.jpg
So i did all the un car testing, im doing a bench now to.find which gauge is shorted, if any. My in car AC voltage at the white wire on the power pack side was 225 volts AC. The 28 was during the bench testing. Ive followed all the steps in the service manual, disconnecting each gauge and then touch the 12v DC to battery and the guages did not light. I just want to make sure that I am actually doing the bench testing right before I put the gauges back in to chase a harness issue.
 
So on the bench, + 12 V to power pack orange wire, - 12 volts to metal frame of power pack, and NO power pack white wire connected to any gauges, you should see the 225 VAC you saw in the car when you tested. On the gauge cluster, make sure that all the raw metal on the rear of the gauge buckets are going to your chassis ground of the power pack. PM me with your phone # and I may be able to help further if you like..
 
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