some good info.. THANKS

 

ok, let me get this out first , im a newbie at the led stuff for corvettes. I'm used to the low tech f bodies. My first question, I wanted to use the twist ins from oznium for th dic, hud, and wherever else applicable. I dont know how to soder. But, i read the reviews on oznium's sight from guys who bought them for corvettes and said they didnt fit right. Has anyone tried these? are there any other vendors that sell the twist ins? Also, I read in the beginning about lights not comin on when people open their doors. my footwell lights and map lights dont come on when i unlock/open the doors, but the maplights work when i turn them on. Fuse? I looked and they looked ok but maybe i looked at the wrong ones? Help?!?

 

The neowedge's will work in the door switches,and the DIC and HuD. The neo's in the hud side are smaller, Type A, the ones used in the door switched and DIC side are type B. If you use the neo's in the HuD and DIC you may have to take a small file and take a couple swipes at the hole to enlargen it just a taste. They are a little tight in the door switches but I have not broken any or had any troubles there. Just make sure you get a screwdriver that fits just right. Autolumination sells some that are 30% brighter but they are $3.49 each.
They are indeed brighter. Be aware that they are also a little taller so they wont fit in a couple places in the door switches. YOu can de-base them and put them in the factory socket to get around that. I use the neo's type B for the radio and hvacs I do. More costly but saves time.
I dont see where oznium sells the type A's for the HUD side. I know autolumination does. Not sure why your interior lights are malfunctioning.

 

I did the neowedges for door switches. 2 of them won't fit... I took a dremel and sanded the bulb down pretty far down before they would fit.

I tried the switch housing thing but I couldn't even pull it off and not sure how it works.

 

Check Fuse 29 in the footwell fuse panel...

I've heard that the NEOs (Plug and Play "Twist ins") from Oznium were problematic. I used autolumination.com's many moons ago without any problems... well they fit but will not light up all the buttons correctly, more below.

Like Tom said the Dimmer and HUD uses a much smaller NEO then the rest of the switches. It's a Type A from autolumination.com and even with those you have to enlarge the hole a bit... Tom's suggestion of taking the NEOs out of their base and installing them in the stock bases is a very good one! The aftermarket bases use a softer plastic and get messed up pretty quickly;



Remove the stock bulb, this simply entails unwrapping if from the base and install the NEO LED the same way, if it doesn't light the first time remove the LED/Baseand turn it 180 degrees and reinstall... Always buy a few extra NEOs/LEDs.

OK here's the catch and what started this whole thing off for me almost three years ago... The NEOs will NOT adequatly light up several of the switches/buttons. The Traction Button, HUD Page button for starters. You'll also get bright and dark spots, Here's my first experience with the NEO Wedges;



This pic exaggerates the hot and cold spots but it was still obvious that they were not doing a very good job. Now here's a more recent pic of some custom Bases I did for a customer... these are very wide angle 3mm LEDs that I sanded down and installed in the stock bases;





The results were much better (White LEDs on the left);

 

tstar you do this as a business???

How much do you charge?

 

I do all the Interior Components and Switches for JW Motoring... I was kinda doing it on the side for several years but the word was getting out and then Jhonathan contacted me and asked if I would contract through him... We worked out pricing that I felt was low enough to avoid the Corvette Tax and signed up! For instance the whole interior is $300... I'm sure that seems like a big number but believe me, for the work involved it's a bargain!

Tim

PS what kind of trouble are you having with the NEO bases????

 

Well some of the lighting on door switches are a bit uneven.
What is causing this? The bulb's shape or the intensity?

Also, I'm confused on how to switch the housing.. the bulb seems stuck on the housing (I undid the wires already).

I see. Well, I wouldn't imagine a whole interior for ANY car would be cheaper since it's like a lot of labor plus lots of bright LEDs

 

It's more a Function of how LEDs work, they have a very small light pattern;



Sanding the tops down helps;



But the fact remains that you're replacing a light source the eminates light in a full 360 degree sweep with basically a flashlight... Alot of the switches use a wave guide to direct light to the target buttons also and the LED just can not compete with an incandescent bulb in applications like this.

So there are alot of work arounds myself and a few other guys have come up with that I've attempted to highlight in here. The best way to do the Door Switches, Dimmer/HUD and DIC is to solder a LED/resistor directly unto the PCBs after you've determined the best angle and depth, I light one with a battery and play with it till I find the best spot, then solder it in. Trial and error and time consuming...

I think most things are covered in here... I know this Thread is getting pretty long and confusing like the last one did though...

Tim

 

It seems pretty straight forward, until you start pulling hvacs and radios apart and soldering, for those of us who arent familiar with soldering. I think what the biggest challenge is what bulb and base combination works best for where, and where to get both. The size is critical, and here I am taking notes lol.

 

Sooooooo, much good info here!!

One key is to take your time. Don't hurry because you have an; appointment, date, car show, etc...

 

i was looking at www.superbrightleds.com and www.superlumination.com, and they both have the neo wedges, could you guys tell me what ones i would order from either of those sites? im just confused as to what size I would be ordering from those sites, and what one would be best and would not form those "hot spots", and has anyone tried the bulbs from either of those places? I'd do it the right way and have you guys rewire it all, but i dont have that kind of money to throw down right now.

 

superlumination is the same guys as autolumination...

You want the Type A NEO for the Dimmer/HUD switchpack, you'll need one if you don't have HUD and four if you do...

You'll need the following Type B NEOs;
Door swithces = 7
DIC = 3
Trunk Release/Fog Lights = 1
Traction Control Plate = 2

13 Total

For the Radio and HVAC you can use de-based NEO which will eliminate the need to solder resistors unto regular (discreet) LEDs but you'll still have to unsolder the stock bulbs and solder the NEOs in;

Radio = 9
HVAC = 10 then two Red and two Blue for under the Temp Sweeps

Go back through the THread and get some pointers on some of the problematic areas and solutions for them...

Tim
PS Buy a few extras...

 

But I've got nothing on you!

Tim

 

Thanks Tim. I like superlumination because i dont have pay pal :/

 

I finally got around to yanking my HVAC and soldering in LEDs yesterday. Seemed easy enough, right? Just solder a few bulbs and resistors and *viola*, right? Well, I did not follow tstar's rules on ohming out and checking for bad connections before I hooked the unit back up and as a result I got a nice puff of smoke from the power board . My fault -- I am a dumbass.

tstar -- you have any spare power boards for a 10345293 HVAC controller?? If not, I will try to locate a replacement controller and just ship the darn thing to you for upgrade. BTW, you interested in a "slightly" used HVAC controller for spare parts?

 

I'll check but I don't think I have any spare power boards for a newer HVAC...I think I am close to pinpointing what is blowing on the power boards when an LED is shorted though.

I do have a 5293 in stock for a Core swap however, We can get with JW and see about me sending you this Core as a spare to use while I attempt to fix yours... That would be the cheapest way to go I'd imagine...

If you do get another HVAC... YES I can mostly certainly use yours for spare parts!!!!!

Matter of fact if ANYONE has an HVAC laying around, working or not PM me, I need spare parts!!! I usually replace bad buttons for customers at no charge if I have the parts available... and now I'm pretty much out of spare parts.

Tim

 

tstar, it's your fan (me) again!

Alright, I got a question for you...
How does the LED replacement for the automatic transmission indictator work?

I see that the recommended one is the matrix super star.. basically just a 1-LED 194-bulb light, 10mm x 26mm. I suppose any other bulb (maybe with more than 1 led?) should fit as long as it's within 10mm x 26mm, right?

I didn't see anyone mention about this specifically so I thought I'd ask before I pull my console again and order bulbs from auction site.

BTW I might try to sand down the neo wedge bulbs for my door switches and maybe it'll even out the light a little better, as you said, it takes "trial and error"

 

Note: the A4 shift indicator has a blue tint on it similar to the HVAC. If you use a white LED bulb, it will come out a ghey powder blue tint.

IMO an LED strip will work MUCH better than a single 194 bulb. I might change mine in the future if i can summon the need.

 

Ouch Do you have any photos of LED bulb or strip replaced indictator?

Thanks for coming in.. King of C5 lighting.

How would an LED strip work?