LagondaNet

[JohanB]

The illumination of the binnacles on my CRT dashboard is powered for each unit through a blue relay shaped unit with ERG inc 70-613-03 printed on it. Am I correct that this is a 12VDC - 120VAC inverter?

[JohanB]

I can now answer my own question. I pulled the little device apart, cut away part of the wax that surrounds the components, replaced the only transistor in the circuit and got it working. It is indeed an inverter and it is specifically for electroluminescent lights. There is a panel sandwiched between the top of the switch panel and frame plate underneath. This gives green light when fed with a fairly high AC voltage (50 - 100V). The inverter converts 12V DC to something around 100V AC for the light panel.
Unfortunately one of the 2 of those panels is broken and blew up the inverter again. Replacement inverters are not difficult to find when looking at companies that sell this sort of lights. The fact that all components were covered in wax became very quickly apparent, it is makes a loud noise when out in the open.
The issue now is to come up with something that gives the same green backlight effect to replace the broken panel. Will explore further, have at least one idea.