The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Got some nulites to light up my panel, started installing them and NO LUCK I got 3 put in and I trying to get the other 3 but my cut outs for the vsi and altimeter are at the bottom of the instrument.....the other problem is my 2 1/16 oil temp and press and volt gauge. the smallest nulite is 2 1/4 inch......I dont like the original lights that TRY and light up those 3 small gauges......anybody using anything different on the small intruments at the bottom of the panel? My panel still has the original layout.

I know FLASHLIGHT I just know someone will come up with that one so ill let it out of the bag early.

My 170 has the original panel lamps behind the instruments. In addition there is an overhead light that shines on the entire instrument panel. Both are connected to the reostat so they can be dimmed as required (a higher wattage reostat is required for the additional load).
This works pretty well, although the eyebrow or post lights might be better. (Oh, yes, there is a post light on the compass).

I put Nulites in '82A before I sold it. I had the same problem with the knob position. We called the nulites people and they said to grind out a spot for the knob location and that doing so would not harm the light. We did as they instructed and everything worked fine.

I suggest you give them a call and see what they say.

As for the engine instrument lights (2 1/16), I left the original lights in for those.

Thanks Doug.......I was just looking at the nulites and I am going to dremel out for the bottom cutouts.........as for the 2 1/16 problem.....not sure what to do yet.....my orig. lights dont do anything....do you think some post light in this area would look bad?

A post light? As in mounted on the outside of the panel? Ummmm, might not be the most attractive thing if you are into keeping the panel original.

You say your old lights "won't do anything"... I assume you mean they do not work? Have you checked the wiring, sockets, bulbs, etc? Mine were working fine so I left well enough alone... mostly since I didn't feel like dealing with the problem you now have

Actually, the original lights do a pretty good job of reflecting off the back of the panel and illuminating the engine instruments. As for the rest, the nulites are definitely an improvement.

Thinking out loud for a second, rather than mounting the 2 1/4 nulites to the engine instruments (as you would with the rest of them), could you put some adhesive on the "front" of the light and mount them to the backside of the panel? Would they be close enough to adequately illuminate the instruments?

You might be on to something there.......they would def. be close enough.

the lights do work I think....... I know it sound crazy but i havent checked..........or should I say I cant remember I may make sure the bulbs have not burned out.......im not sure about the post lights.....I may order them and hold them up and see the look. Im not too woried about keeping exact original.....I would love to put in a new dash and convert over to IFR...not that I want to shoot anything down to mins...I just want to be able to get out of somewhere if I fly the plane out on vaccation.....

I have a '52 and earlier panel with a single post light (2 total) between two of the smaller engine gages. I've never minded the post light look and while not the brightest, is adequate for the job.

I used to commute to work with my 170 and have more than the usual amount of night time in it and have never felt a need to improve these lights. Others yes and if I was doing it I might be inclined to use one post light per gage.

The post lights are about $45 a piece last I checked so I wouldn't be buying them "just for the fun of it".

Bruce.....you came thru for me I ordered 2 post lights this afternoon and am going to do the exact same thing.........one post to light per 2 instruments........Im not too woried about the look I am more interested about the functionality. thanks for all of the help..I can always count on the assoc. for pleanty of advice. are those post lights made out of diamonds....they sure are proud of them..

I have Nulites, if you haven't already commited yourself as to their orientation, I suggest orienting them on the guage so that the light source is closest to the part you need to read the most.

Here's what happened with mine. On the airspeed indicator the light source is at the bottom of the dial, (the wiring is all done and clipped to length so I don't feel like messing with it at this point). The light illuminates the the lower half of the dial quite nicely, but the part in the upper right side isn't so well lit. This made it very easy to read while cruising, however I discovered that on final approach when my eyes flicked down to see the airspeed I had to stare at it for a second to really read it. I fixed this problem by aiming my post light at that guage and it's fine, but I thought I'd mention it. Put that LED bright spot where you really want quick definition for your eye, ie right side of the ASI, left side of the VSI, top of the HSI etc.