VICKERS MK6B's resto

[colin jones]

I have fitted one and it slides up and down very easily. I also need to bolt the handle on.

[Owen Evans]

Originally Posted by colin jones

I have fitted one and it slides up and down very easily. I also need to bolt the handle on.

Very nice work, I must say!
Would there be a rubber seal between the hull and top disc, to serve as a weather seal when in the 'down' position?

Owen.

[David Dunlop]

What an interesting little lamp. Colin.

I wonder if it is multifunction in some way and served as an interior lamp in the down position?

David

[David Herbert]

David,
That is a very good idea !

David

[David Dunlop]

Colin, Colin, Colin!

The nature of this little lamp is really starting to bug my gizzard!

When it is extended, the interior colour really stands out against all the exterior green paint, and it would be a fairly bright lamp in the dark when lit. All of that would logically seem to weight against its intention as a means of signaling, unless it was issued with some form of filter/shroud kit. Then, if it was issued with some form of kit, it appears the easiest way to install possible accessories would be in the extended position. In a combat situation, that could prove a very high risk task for the crew.

So I think about it a bit as being nothing more than an interior lamp. Seems over designed for that purpose, save for the rather restricted amount of interior room in the vehicle. The designers may then have decided for maintenance purposes, just make the lamp slide up above the vehicle. When done, slide it back down. That, however, raises (no pun) another issue: possibly preventing a lit lamp from accidentally being raised.

Do you have any wiring diagrams at hand that show the circuit for this lamp? At it’s simplest, I would expect to see an ON/OFF Switch located somewhere in series with the lamp. One could kick that basic circuit up a notch by inserting a spring loaded cutout switch in it to automatically shut the lamp off when it was raised for maintenance.

I notice in the last two photos you posted, an new little bit of metal work tucked into the lower bottom corner right below what is possibly the lamp handle support plate? That would be the perfect spot for locating a cutout switch for the lamp.

Then again, I could be totally out to lunch on all this...

David

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Colin, Colin, Colin!

The nature of this little lamp is really starting to bug my gizzard!

When it is extended, the interior colour really stands out against all the exterior green paint, and it would be a fairly bright lamp in the dark when lit. All of that would logically seem to weight against its intention as a means of signaling, unless it was issued with some form of filter/shroud kit. Then, if it was issued with some form of kit, it appears the easiest way to install possible accessories would be in the extended position. In a combat situation, that could prove a very high risk task for the crew.

So I think about it a bit as being nothing more than an interior lamp. Seems over designed for that purpose, save for the rather restricted amount of interior room in the vehicle. The designers may then have decided for maintenance purposes, just make the lamp slide up above the vehicle. When done, slide it back down. That, however, raises (no pun) another issue: possibly preventing a lit lamp from accidentally being raised.

Do you have any wiring diagrams at hand that show the circuit for this lamp? At it’s simplest, I would expect to see an ON/OFF Switch located somewhere in series with the lamp. One could kick that basic circuit up a notch by inserting a spring loaded cutout switch in it to automatically shut the lamp off when it was raised for maintenance.

I notice in the last two photos you posted, an new little bit of metal work tucked into the lower bottom corner right below what is possibly the lamp handle support plate? That would be the perfect spot for locating a cutout switch for the lamp.

Then again, I could be totally out to lunch on all this...

David

David,
As I said in an earlier post, this is a Signalling lamp, nothing more, nothing less, there was a signalling switch in circuit with it. There is no reason for it to be an interior lamp either as Festoon Lamps were fitted in the turret and lower hull. I was involved in the installation of the electrical system of the Australian Mk6a that was restored for the Jacque Littlefield Collection, about 15 years ago. See below a clip of the wiring diagram showing the lamp and switch.

regards, Richard

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for posting the diagram, Richard.

I think the problem we sometimes experience today, in understanding vehicles designed and built 80 years ago, is we evaluate them with far more experience and knowledge than the people who built and operated them 80 years ago ever had available to them.

We can look at a Signal Lamp like this today and wonder why you would want to use a Signal Lamp that is obscured in a very large radius by a part of the vehicle to which it is fitted, why said lamp would not be directional to minimize detection by the enemy in the field and probably a whole host of other observations. When this vehicle was designed and built, these issues may very well have been oblivious to all involved until the concept was put into real life practice. And things evolved from that point.

An interesting example of us being lucky enough to be where we are today, because of all the things that came before us.

Great to see Colin’s work in keeping all the amazing little details of these fascinating little tanks, alive and well today, and available for future generations to appreciate.

David