Grimes landing light upgrade

[csnell]

Hello all. I am looking to upgrade the incandescent light in the grimes swing down light. I’ve seen a lot of folks recommend the Whelen PAR-46 but I can’t figure out how to secure the light in the existing housing. How have others accomplished this? Any help is appreciated!

[6597]

There is a retainer ring that holds the 'bulb' in the housing.

grimesring.jpeg (45.31 KiB) Viewed 2136 times

[csnell]

Right. The problem is most replacement LED out there are PAR46 and the original grimes light is PAR64 which is much bigger. The new LED light won’t fit the larger aperture of the original. I’ve seen some adapters but they are $300 for 2 pieces of aluminum. Curious how others mounted new lights.

[hotrodmac]

I put the PAR46 from aero-lites in mine. It fits well and is stupid bright.

https://www.aero-lites.com/product-page ... usion-46lr

[6597]

https://www.aero-lites.com/product-page ... usion-46lr

i did the same. Fit just fine. Not sure what a PAR64 is as far as aircraft lighting. I used to burn a 4522 bulb which is a PAR46. A PAR46 diameter is nominally 5.75", a PAR36 diameter is nominally 4.5". You should have a model G-3602 or D-3040A drop down light.
See below from Grimes overhaul manual

par46.jpeg (209.6 KiB) Viewed 2097 times

....

[csnell]

Thanks. I must have an odd variant. The light bulb is attached in the center of a ring fixture with three spokes. I measured the interior diameter of the enclosure and it is 6.25 inches. So it’s bigger than a PAR 46. I may have to go back through the logs and see if I can find the part number.