Heater control bulb burnt out.....PICS.

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Briano1234
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Heater control bulb burnt out.....PICS.

Post by Briano1234 »

The bulb burnt out on my heater control.....that is okay I thought it was too dim...now it is really dim.

I fixed it by grinding out the bulb to leave an empty socket.


Image

I notched the socket the out side and down to where the connector pin were, enough to allow me to pass wires to the pin about the thickness of a couple of IDE drive cable type wires.


Image


Image

Then I took a 3mm Super bright white led, and bent the legs to allow the led to fit in the socket and the legs went out at a 90 degree to the connector case. I then soldered a 680 ohm resistor to the emitter ( the flat side of the led (short leg) and pointed it to the upper most pin of the connector pair (ground)

Image

Trimmed off the led leg and the end of the resistor where they were joined.

Image

I then laid them side by side in the groove that I had made down the connector. and bent them to hit the connector.

I then soldered them to the connector leads. Then covered with a little hot melt glue to insulate and affix...... see the hole that I ground out to get to the pins......

Image

Replaced in my car, and damn what a difference.....

The next time I have to take the dash out, them little bulbs in the cluster are getting replaced too....The led's should outlive the car...10,000 hours i think

The LEDs were 4.99 for 50, and the resistors were about the same shipping from china took 7 days, and cost about 6 bucks OFF of Ebay

Sorry i didn't get pic whilst doing it, but as soon as I get back from my chores I will snap one of the afters... and I have another led that I can bend and solder to snap a pic of....
Last edited by Briano1234 on Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:50 am, edited 4 times in total.
Briano

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sixsracing
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Post by sixsracing »

I have had the same problem, dealer wants $60.00 for a knew face plate. I didn't put an LED in it though. That would be way too trick for me. Good job.
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CalAltaDubber
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Post by CalAltaDubber »

I have the same problem, This sounds like a great fix. Can you send pictures?

I want to give it a try.
Phil

'87 Cabriolet, "Topless Bunny"
'88 Cabriolet, "Posh Bunny"
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Calimus
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Post by Calimus »

Good job Brian. One of these days, we will need to get you and Robert together up at my place and do like a whole tech day. Well, doesn't have to be at my place, I'm just used to everyone meeting up there.
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BigDaddy90Cabby
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Post by BigDaddy90Cabby »

Hey Brian... at night, go out and take pic of the finished re-installed product.. I am gonna go with RED LED's in dash cluster, and and gauge pod down by shifter, power window buttons, but bright white in heater /ac controls...SHOW ME!! :D
Jimmy
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Briano1234
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Post by Briano1234 »

Jimmy Tried to take a pic, but me digital camera didn't do it justice....lol I was darker than a coal miners butt. It is about 100 percent brighter.
Briano

Yes as matter of fact, I have the Luck o'the Irish...everything I touch turns to fertilizer of the bovine variety.
You can lead a user to a link, but you can't make him Click.... :screwy:
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-vertigo-
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Post by -vertigo- »

ive got Qs!

1. is the panel now lit white instead of green?
1b. if green, what causes the panel to illuminate green?

2. how did you separate the white plastic from the black plastic cover?

3. i have this sort of downy hair growing on my chest, i wondered, is that normal?
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theonlychuck
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Post by theonlychuck »

the green light is from a thin semi-transparent green piece between the light and the cluster. http://www.strictlycabriolet.com/ has a guide on how to make blue led's in your cluster, and in that guide it shows the green film if you want to be able to visualize it.
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theonlychuck
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Post by theonlychuck »

well i guess i could have just leeched the image, but that site has some good tutorials you might want to check out anyway. here's a pic of the film:
Image
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Briano1234
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Post by Briano1234 »

I had downy hair on my chest, but they saved it off....

the light looks just like it used to but brighter. the light is transported by a piece of clear plastic (lexan ?) and the face is painted with transparent paint.

I seperated it by using a x=acto ont eh edges between the black housing and the white inner piece. Haveto work very carefully.
Briano

Yes as matter of fact, I have the Luck o'the Irish...everything I touch turns to fertilizer of the bovine variety.
You can lead a user to a link, but you can't make him Click.... :screwy:
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-vertigo-
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Post by -vertigo- »

so it's the paint that makes it green? or like the cluster, is it that green film?

i have a red cluster and so if there is no way to make this match, i'll leave it burnt out.
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Briano1234
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Post by Briano1234 »

there is a colored (for the controls) piece of plastic behind the clear piece.

The heater contro is comprised of 4 different parts.

The lamp holder (white)
The Fascia (black the front)
The clear piece
The colored piece. it has the green paint over the blue....for the cold,,,
Briano

Yes as matter of fact, I have the Luck o'the Irish...everything I touch turns to fertilizer of the bovine variety.
You can lead a user to a link, but you can't make him Click.... :screwy:
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-vertigo-
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Post by -vertigo- »

thanks. that's what i needed.

might give this a shot with a red LED.
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BigDaddy90Cabby
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Post by BigDaddy90Cabby »

-vertigo- wrote:thanks. that's what i needed.

might give this a shot with a red LED.

Think about it dean. Think back about 3 weeks or so. remember now?
Last edited by BigDaddy90Cabby on Thu May 12, 2005 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jimmy
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-vertigo-
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Post by -vertigo- »

oops.

my memory is shot to hell.
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