Road Signs Franco RS 104 T8

This design of signlight is the oldest that can still be seen around Derby - pictures from 1974 show them being used in quite considerable numbers. Over time, this amount has decreased, however there are still quite a few in situ. This particular example came from City Road, near the city centre (funny that!) and was removed when the column was taken out.

The signlight is mainly constructed of aluminium, however it has two fibreglass end caps.

The signlight is in need of a clean, but it isn't as bad as the unknown Truesigns signlight was when I first received that.

The two end caps are very flaky and will need painting to stop the fibres being given off.

The cap on the left was the worst out of the two. The triangle on this cap was once the RSF logo sticker, however it has worn off over time. The other cap has the words 'open here' on it, so let's open it there...

The gear tray only just fits in place - notice how close the starter is to the top of the signlight. This is partly due to the starter holder being loose however.

The gear tray slides out, revealing two old ballasts and two not-so-old starters. There is no capacitor, and it doesn't look like there ever was one.

The reflector is generally in a good condition but it will need cleaning.

I took the signlight to pieces, in order that the pieces could all be individually cleaned. The lampholders are very unusual and have the wires moulded into them, so I was careful not to damage them during removal.

I made an attempt at cleaning the reflector, but a lot of the dirt wouldn't clean off, so it was re-sprayed instead.

The other side of the reflector was unpainted, so I didn't want to paint it just to cover the dirt marks. Instead, a Brillo Pad was used to remove most of the dirt.

The canopy and end caps were also repainted. The end caps would have been the same colour as the canopy when new but over time, they have faded.

The RSF logo and the 'Open Here' marking can now be read easily.

The pieces all went together without too much trouble - although the cover proved slightly tricky to re-fit to the end cap that isn't meant to be removed.

The cover itself was cleaned and polished, to give it that 'new' look. Notice that the supporting bar has been repainted as well.

The copper nut cleaned up very well - it was dipped in vinegar, followed by tomato ketchup, as these products are well known for their ability to clean copper.

I powered the signlight up and luckily it worked. This must be the only signlight of this type that actually gives out any useful light - the rest are just like this one was before I restored it!

Truesigns T8C | Truesigns T8D

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