Version 1 of Cap less Dashboard instrument bulb holder T10 by darthwomble1

Last crawled date: 2 years, 11 months ago

This is a replacement Pressac type twist-fit bulb holder for dashboard, instrument panel, or interior light bulbs, designed to fit a Ford Transit van (but I believe older VW campers among many others also use these), to take T10 (10mm) capless bulbs. We found that there are many T5 sized ones available and this larger size are quite hard to find.
This is the plastic part only.
You're going to need to get a pair of needle nosed pliers out for the contacts.
If you buy a pack of the nearest size that you can get, you might find that they still don't fit the dashboard.
But, you can get your pliers and pull the contacts out of them. you might need to re-bend the contact lugs out a little bit to make them a little longer, and they should push straight into the new sockets. You may need to gentle filing to take a 10th of a milimetre off the contacts to make them fit but they'll go in.
I would suggest swapping the bulbs for some LED replacements. The bulbs don't get very warm at all, but it might be warm enough to eventually delalminate PLA.
These are the type of contacts that you need to fit. Shop around and you can find a multipack of the holders for just a couple of coins in whatever your currency may be.
https://www.carmodshop.co.uk/product/t10-501-w5w-w3w-capless-dash-speedo-dials-bulb-holder-socket-twist/
To fit a hole of 15mm diameter and 1mm thick. the locking lugs are 20mm long. the diameter of the body is 24mm.
Print it handle side down with some supports touching the buildplate and it comes out nice and tidy. I printed it with the support x/y to 1mm, density 25.0, pattern Lines and it separates really cleanly.
Takes about half an hour to print one.
Sorry about the extra geometry in the preview. It doesn't get printed. (Anyone know why Maya's OBJ Exporter add that stuff and how to fix it?)
EDIT:
They do work, however, DO NOT rotate them 90 degrees, as the little metal contacts will then meet with the key holes and lock it in place making it a proper bugger to get back out.
Only rotate it about 45 degrees, at most. I'll tweak the design and upload a V.2 with a stopper on it to prevent this (I'd assumed that the back of the hole into which it slots has a stopper, but it needs to be on the piece itself).
If you're using LEDs, it does matter which way round it goes. If it doesn't work, try turning it around 180 degrees. It'll work or it won't.