[Mk2] [Generic] Heater leds

[BLZ-8027]

Ive been doing my heater leds today ,and wondered does anyone know which is live and neutral on the circuit board ,so i can solder on a led strip instead of the led bulb which is on there now ?



Ive traced the circuit, and the two wires from the plug are a red and a brown

[marcnoonan]

Hi Trev,

On the bottom LED the positive is on the left top, -ve bottom right.

Not sure on the top (doing all mine this weekend) but there are lots of pikkies and "How To's" on www.halfspec.com/services.htm.

Cheers

Marc

[BLZ-8027]

Hi Trev,

On the bottom LED the positive is on the left top, -ve bottom right.

Not sure on the top (doing all mine this weekend) but there are lots of pikkies and "How To's" on www.halfspec.com/services.htm.

Cheers

Marc

Cheers mate ive finished all mine today and the door switch ,ill post a picture when the phones been recharged

What are you using ?
(the red wire is live and the brown earth)

[marcnoonan]

Hi Trev,

I'm guessing you mean to replace the 5mm LED. First try will be the SMD strips

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0294462709

but I've still got to open the unit up so I can measure what lengths.

So far I've managed to do the door switches, front and rear fog switches, headlight angle thingy and I also did the hazard light but after stripping down a spare one carefully and delicately with a hammer I've discovered that the red light given off can't be changed. Hopefully start on the aircon/heater tonight.

(the red wire is live and the brown earth) Thanks for that pointer. I generally just plug things in and if it goes bang or doesn't work then I swap them around so that might save a strip or two.

Cheers

Marc

[BLZ-8027]

Hi Trev,

I'm guessing you mean to replace the 5mm LED. First try will be the SMD strips

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0294462709

but I've still got to open the unit up so I can measure what lengths.

So far I've managed to do the door switches, front and rear fog switches, headlight angle thingy and I also did the hazard light but after stripping down a spare one carefully and delicately with a hammer I've discovered that the red light given off can't be changed. Hopefully start on the aircon/heater tonight.

(the red wire is live and the brown earth) Thanks for that pointer. I generally just plug things in and if it goes bang or doesn't work then I swap them around so that might save a strip or two.

Cheers

Marc

Heres mine i did at the weekend ,still cant get it to light up all the way across ,its awkward with the strips because of where the switches come ,and with these strips (ive used them ) you can cut them in certain places and they might be the correct length and might not ,i think its three leds and a resistor each cut ?
Ive spoken to a guy who might make some up in the length i want
also these strips are flexible but not to a 90% angle they just snap being as they are so thin ,
I also tried fibre optic wires drilled loads of holes in the clear plastic and glued them in ,that didnt work either
This is as good as they get for now ,im looking at a better and easier solution so good luck with yours

strip laid inside

tried like this but the buttons wouldnt press

cut off the protruding plastic to make a flat surface (old unit so ive not made a very good job just experimenting


cant get the buttons on the right to light up though?


putting it all back in today so will do another picture later
nearly finished now just the fog switches and ciggy lighter(going to get some blue glass paint and just paint the bulbs i think

[marcnoonan]

Cool,

Thanks for the pics and how you've done it. That looks spot on to be honest, if you can figure the right side out that would be perfect. Door pocket done too heh?

Was thinking about the way the guy did the needles, i'e. drilling into the perspex but as I haven't opened up the unit yet I'm not sure if it'll work.
I tried the 3 way SMD 286 wedge in the ignition ring and it doesn't give that much of a better spread than the 10p 286 wedge blue LED but is alot brighter (as you know) and fitted one in the ashtray which works perfectly and is adjustable depending on where you twist the bulb to. Being a dirty smoker these things matter.

Honest mate, fogs are soooooo easy, I didn't even solder mine in as the rubber holds it all together perfectly (and it didn't work once I'd soldered it anyway).

With the dimmer wheel make sure that you angle the bulb towards the front and the positive is marked with a little book looking mark on the twist holder as it only fits in one way unlike the hazard light (-ve was a 7 mark I think). I did have to cut a hole in the dimmer shroud (small clippy part that goes over the front as it covers the bulb holder and the resistor sticks up. Fit that and the drop the bulb in through the new hole. The lighters the only one that looks like a b1tch to do seeing as you have to use the old bulb filament but if you just paint the bulb I can imagine it would make it dimmer and probably a different shade of blue. You've put more effort into it than most so don't cut corners at the final hurdle.

Did you have great fun getting the spring back in the window lock mechanism on the drivers door? If I didn't have patience it would have gone out of the window a few times.

Good luck with yours too mate

Cheers

Marc

[BLZ-8027]

on this picture you can see the lines going down the clear plastic ,

this is where i drilled, first with a couple of leds ,and then with fibre optic wires ,neither of which worked
On the clear plastic you dont need to seperate the two bits ,i only did so i could get it on the bench grider easy ,and its only temporary ,when i finally figure it out ill make a better job of the one in the car

I dont have headlight levelers just the traction control button to figure out
what did you use for the indicator arrows ?
Oh and the door pockets ,footwells and ignition ring are wired together so they fade out after a while,

I need to work out have to get the interior lights to come on when you unlock the door because Next job is something like this (i think it will look good when you approach the car and unlock with the remote ,the handle lights up ,along with the mirrors unfolding )
any ideas

[BLZ-8027]

wonder if these would work
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FIBER-OPTIC-LED-N ... 240%3A1318

Heres mine back together



The giggy lighter is a lot easier than the door switches
you dont use the filaments from the old bulb ,break off the bulb and then pull out the two pins either side (the filaments connect to these)
follow the instructions on that second link you posted ,but i drilled mine all the way through ,and fed the resistor up inside
replace the two pins

Fold the resistor legs back on them selfs ,then solder one end to one of the pins ,and the other goes to the led .the other leg from the led connects to the other pin
when i used the hot glue i stuck the led in before it set after splaying out the legs so it sat flat

(sorry about the pictures)

[marcnoonan]

[quote="BLZ-8027"]
what did you use for the indicator arrows ?
Oh and the door pockets ,footwells and ignition ring are wired together so they fade out after a while,

I need to work out have to get the interior lights to come on when you unlock the door because Next job is something like this (i think it will look good when you approach the car and unlock with the remote ,the handle lights up ,along with the mirrors unfolding )
any ideas
{/quote]

All looking good mate and thanks again for the pics and directions.

I know I've added alot of weight to my car with all the kit, think you're doing the same with wires and bulbs

For the indicators I used these 286 (T5), same as the ignition ring and ashtray,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-PCs-Car-Blue-L ... 240%3A1318

For your door thingy (technical I know) I would guess that you could put some kind of contacts on the locking mechanism or the arms from the door lock so that they touch when unlocked or take a feed from the actual alarm where it sends the signal to unlock the doors. Gotta bear in mind that theres only so much wiring that you can get through the door rubber though. Isn't something I'd go for because I've got no handles and my mirrors don't budge.

Try not to go too OTT though on the lights, at least your door pockets etc dim down (great idea BTW), mates got a GT4 and someone's put blue leds in the interior and it's very distracting when driving. Just trying to keep mine to the stock items.

Could really do with a spare heater and dash to play with as I normally manage to willy things up first time round, but as both my brothers cars are off the road too...mmmm Have you dismantled the dash at all, would really like to know if the warning light coloured covers can be removed.

Oo, Just remembered, where do you get the acylic for the clock from please?

Cheers

Marc

[BLZ-8027]

All looking good mate and thanks again for the pics and directions.

I know I've added alot of weight to my car with all the kit, think you're doing the same with wires and bulbs

For the indicators I used these 286 (T5), same as the ignition ring and ashtray,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-PCs-Car-Blue-L ... 240%3A1318

Try not to go too OTT though on the lights, at least your door pockets etc dim down (great idea BTW), mates got a GT4 and someone's put blue leds in the interior and it's very distracting when driving. Just trying to keep mine to the stock items.

Have you dismantled the dash at all, would really like to know if the warning light colored covers can be removed.

Oo, Just remembered, where do you get the acylic for the clock from please?

Cheers

Marc

Thanks for the link
i didnt want the interior lights on all the time thats why i wired them to the ignition ring so they faded out
ive got those strips in the boot as well
I have the dash apart now,what do you mean by the warning lights??
for the clock i used a purple CD case ,the colour has to combine with the green light to make blue, and purple worked for me

[marcnoonan]

Aha,

Smart, was wondering how you got them to fade.

Gone LED mad in my boot too with a 2m LED strip, same one as the audi lights but it does get used for doing chinese/pizza deliveries now and again and as I'm oot in tut contryside it comes in well handy, even put in a little shelf and carpetted it to keep the light out of my eyes. Sad aren't we sometimes.

With the dash I replaced all the warning lights oil, battery, etc, etc with the blue LED that I gave you the link for, as I want everything to light up blue apart from the main beam which I'll put to red so I know I'm not blinding everyone. The red indicators came through purple, amber as green etc and were very dim. If your dash is a spare one I was wondering if there were coloured perspex strips across the back of each warning light that could be removed and repaced with blue perspex, or even purple?

Probably won't have time to play with mine until the weekend now, house DIY first unfortuantely.

Cheers mate

Marc

[BLZ-8027]

Aha,

Smart, was wondering how you got them to fade.

Gone LED mad in my boot too with a 2m LED strip, same one as the audi lights but it does get used for doing chinese/pizza deliveries now and again and as I'm oot in tut contryside it comes in well handy, even put in a little shelf and carpetted it to keep the light out of my eyes. Sad aren't we sometimes.

With the dash I replaced all the warning lights oil, battery, etc, etc with the blue LED that I gave you the link for, as I want everything to light up blue apart from the main beam which I'll put to red so I know I'm not blinding everyone. The red indicators came through purple, amber as green etc and were very dim. If your dash is a spare one I was wondering if there were coloured perspex strips across the back of each warning light that could be removed and repaced with blue perspex, or even purple?

Probably won't have time to play with mine until the weekend now, house DIY first unfortuantely.

Cheers mate

Marc

My dash isn't a spare one but its coming apart ,so i can try and change the green on the dials
they have a dimmer but not a colour change for some reason?

if the other guy doesnt want that window switch then i will, as mine only lights up two of the three buttons and i cant figure out why?

[craig]

Good work on the heater control panel trev

[marcnoonan]

Hi Trev,

Sorry mate, he does want it and it's going in the post tomorrow.

Please let me know about the dash perspex when you start playing with it, still decorating at the mo so mines just sitting there.

Cheers

Marc

[BLZ-8027]

Hi Trev,

Sorry mate, he does want it and it's going in the post tomorrow.

Please let me know about the dash perspex when you start playing with it, still decorating at the mo so mines just sitting there.

Cheers

Marc

Never mind marc theres one for sale so ill try and buy that one
wont be looking at the dials until Sunday as ive got to work Saturday

Good work on the heater control panel trev

Cheers mate bit more playing and it will be there

[BLZ-8027]

Hi Trev,

Sorry mate, he does want it and it's going in the post tomorrow.

Please let me know about the dash perspex when you start playing with it, still decorating at the mo so mines just sitting there.

Cheers

Marc

Stripped the dash today and im not sure which bits you mean ,but the warning lights are one piece, painted all different colors






Had another play with leds as well and i think ive found the best ones to use?
got to buy some more now in the right colour
(mind you i like the two tone look)

[marcnoonan]

Thanks Mate,

Yep, those are the ones.

If they are just painted then may have a go at removing the paint, but if it's coloured plastics then not sure whether to have a go at replacing them all with blue perspex. Do you think it's possible?

Prefer the all blue look really, especially with all the extra's you've put in the car. Done all the 3mm buttons on the heater so far, but thinking about trying the 286 3 way SMD to replace the 5mm bulbs as the direction of the 3 SMD fits perfectly with the clear perspex and they are soooo bright that it should light everything up. Should be having a play with it tonight.

Cheers

Marc

[BLZ-8027]

Keep at it mate ,if you replace the warnings perspex with blue you will lose the little icons though try some different colour sweet wrappers from left over Christmas quality street first before cutting up plastic to fit

I replaced the green from the indicator arrows with blue ,they look good when fitted but they still showed as green when lit ,i think it must be the green plastic from the circuit board showing through so im waiting for some blue bulbs to arrive


Ps whats the 3 way smds?

[marcnoonan]

Hi Trev,

Thanks for the pics, I'll split it apart and have a play.

Weird your indicators still flash green, I just put the blue led in and got this effect with the original green perspex in



The blue when it's off looks mint though, leaving mine as is as they look black when they are off and I got a thing for black.

Took a bit of searching as google didn't bring anything up and I've had them sat around for 6 months but here are the 3 way 286 SMD. One on the top and 2 on opposite sides, should line up with the perspex that fits around the 5mm led, just gotta get it wired in somehow. I used these for the ignition ring and but it still doesn't give a perfect spread on the ring and on the ashtray where they are perfect as you can twist to adjust the amount of light.

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/ultimate-wid ... 20e64d5e6d

Cheers

Marc

[JohnnyC]

I replaced the green from the indicator arrows with blue ,they look good when fitted but they still showed as green when lit

I used a blue filter too - and they still lit green

Then I put the original green filter back in, but with a blue led...