Truesigns T8C

This is my second oldest signlight - the date of manufacture being 1984 according to the capacitor. A good number of these signlights can still be seen in the Derby area, and most are still in good condition. This particular signlight was replaced due to the canopy securing screw becoming difficult to tighten. The canopy itself lifts up, rather than a bowl or cover being undone as with previous signlights. Thanks to Eric Woodhouse for identifying this signlight.

The signlight's body is of an aluminium construction, and as you can see, the paint is starting to react with the grease on people's hands so it will be repainted at a later stage. The other Truesigns signlight in my collection, the T8P/54, bears little resemblance to the design of this one.

Looking at the other side of the signlight, showing just how dirty the cover is.

A view of the inside of the signlight now - and yet more dust and dirt! When new, the gear tray would have been screwed into the canopy, but over time, these screws have been lost.

It would have looked like this (although it probably would have been cleaner!).

Cleaning for the signlight began on Wednesday, 8th December 2004.

As the signlight was so dirty, I took it to pieces and cleaned every piece individually. Any dirt that wouldn't come off in the cleaning was gently rubbed off with a Brillo Pad. This photograph shows the canopy after being cleaned.

The underside of the signlight came up very well indeed, even though the plastic panel cannot be removed due to three (originally four) rivets holding it in place.

I managed to find a couple of screws to hold the gear tray in place - these will probably only be temporary as they are not the correct size. The terminal block had to be temporarily immersed in water while cleaning was going on, so a thorough drying will be required before any wiring up takes place.

With the gear tray removed, it can be seen that the black marks on the underside of the canopy have almost been completely removed.

The gear tray itself was cleaned up and polished. The gear may unfortunately need to be changed as the wires going in and out of the components are in a poor condition and they can't be removed without being broken.

Examples of this type of signlight in situ can be seen below:

Two T8Cs in two different locations. Oddly, they are both missing their covers. Both examples pictured above have now disappeared as a result of the Derby Street Lighting PFI.

Pearce Gowshall Signlite Major T20 | Road Signs Franco RS 104 T8

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