Does anyone's Rear Trunk Lamp Lens plastic get hot when the lamp has been on for a while?

I am testing mine on the bench in open air about 72F and the plastic seems very hot to the touch. The front measured 285F after 1 hour, the side walls were hotter as my digital thermometer maxes out at 300F.

I never noticed this when it was installed in the Fiero, but then again, I don't recall ever needing to touch it unless the lamp burnt out.

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Paul Romsky

Yes, the bulb gets very hot and because of this I have seen a few trunk lights that yellowed due to the heat. Not only that, they are hard to get out. I upgraded mine to led a long time ago. You’d be amazed at the current/ amp draw on those bulbs.
Kit

Yes, the bulb gets very hot, and the plastic lens is hot as well. I designed a 9 white LED array for it and a switch to shut it off to prevent battery drain when the trunk is open for a long time.

I have the switch in my 3D printed part that I reversed engineered from my original with the broken tab. I improved the OEM design so it doesn't break as easily - with step by step instruction to install and remove it. I am testing it with the incandescent bulb first for reference before I wire in the LEDs

Its a 12 Watt bulb, so that is about 1A at 12V.

The 9 LED array will only draw about 60mA at 12V... and 90mA at 16V.

quote Originally posted by Romsk: … I designed a 9 white LED array .

I bought this instead:

https://a.co/d/9v6leKI

Brian, thanks, that's a lot cheaper than 9 discrete leds. Putting those leds an a buld form factor is a great idea. I am going to some. Thanks.

quote Originally posted by Romsk: Does anyone's Rear Trunk Lamp Lens plastic get hot when the lamp has been on for a while? I am testing mine on the bench in open air about 72F and the plastic seems very hot to the touch. The front measured 285F after 1 hour, the side walls were hotter as my digital thermometer maxes out at 300F. I never noticed this when it was installed in the Fiero, but then again, I don't recall ever needing to touch it unless the lamp burnt out.

none of mine have ever worked actually, but the one in my s10 melted overnight once when the courtesy lights got stuck on
ive since put a s10 rear light with switch into my gt since my stock wiring was kinda just garbage

Carter,
Good to know. Thanks.

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Original Owner of a Silver '88 GT
Under 'Production Refurbishment' @ 136k Miles

Vintage-Nut,
Thanks, I am going with the $7.99 for 4. They are not a high quality as your suggestion, but the price is right. I'll have to see how long they last.

I bypassed the hot bulb issue meany years ago by removing the bulb within a few days of buying my car. Haven't even thought about it since.

Css9450,

I don't blame you. Its rare you have to hunt for something in the rear trunk on a dark night. Its just nice to have... and I added a switch to mine so I don't have to jam a piece of folded paper in the Latch Switch anymore to keep it off when working on the car.

My prototype 3D printed lens was done in white plastic... which holds up well to the incandescent bulb heat, but I am making it LED anyway.