I put resistors on all of my leds. There weren't any shorts that I could see. For example I went to touch one led with the 9v and the whole board lighted up and then went out. Then I test another one and the whole board lighted up except for the previous one I touched. Having run out of leds and resistors to use I popped everything back in and 50% of the leds work. Maybe the leds just burnt out? If half the board is working perfectly it can't be the circuit board right?

 

What accidentally contacting both leads burn out one led but not the rest?

 

Only thing I can think is I wasn't paying close enough attention and accidentally touched pos to neg while testing. I have more leds and resistors coming in (with extras this time) and will do a test. Didn't hear anything go tzzzz while testing or smoke

 

It's kinda hard to say from long distance but you could have burnt a track while soldering the LEDs on and that certainly would affect the "downstream" LEDs...

What Ohm value resistors did you use and for what color LED?

It's good you saw no smoke nor heard the Tzzzzzzt... Frying a power board means buying a new/used HVAC!

Anyway, if you're still having problems send it to me...

Tim

 

This picture, as bad quality as it is, the blur shows you the lights that do work. Fan sweeps beside passenger blue work.
A/C, auto, drivers word, and recirculation work.

Now mind you, tell you the truth lol, I had installed all of them backwards, and they all worked perfect when I tested them until hooked up to the car. So I reinstalled then all pos on top. That's when they stopped working as I tested. Lighted up for a moment then off for the bottom row.

I've ordered warm white leds so I'm going to swap all the white ones and replace the blue sweep. See how it goes soon.

On a positive note...sanding the tips of the leds flat with 220 sandpaper really creates a nice even dispersion. I also fixed the back lcd display so not a complete waste of several hours!


Also I originally got the leds from oznium and did the resistors according to what they had on the website there.

 

Double check all your solder connections and make sure you inspect for burnt/crackedtracks or solder pads!

Tim

 

Figured I'd post this in here since I'd been having trouble getting even light spread throughout my single zone HVAC controls. I originally had some pretty "interesting" LED setups soldered together trying to spread the light but nothing would really do what I wanted and it was all rather fragile. Worst part is it seems like you guys with the dual zone don't have this problem! Worth noting this only affected the top half, the bottom half was painless as everything had it's own LED.

Anyway, it dawned on me a week ago that I'm spending all this time trying to piggyback LEDs onto one another to get them where I want them physically and still having to solder resistors on to get them to accept 12v... Then I realized I had LED strips that you can cut apart into sections of 3 LEDs a piece and they're already built in with resistors to accept 12v so I gave it a shot and had I done this from the beginning I'd have been done SO much faster and with no headache at all!

Here you can see how I laid out each strip and connected them together so I only had to wire each half in. Note that there is a single LED still soldered in at the top and that is the single blue LED!
Single Zone HVAC PCB

Just a closer shot so you can see a little better. I used a single dab of super glue on the right hand side to make sure it stayed in place, otherwise the 3M adhesive held well enough.
Close Up

Here you can see my solution to the red/blue mixing too much. I simply cut up a piece of plastic and glued it in place to keep the extra blue spread from going too far into the red.
Barrier 1
Barrier 2

I will post a shot of the finished product once I get a camera that will actually capture it properly and not wash it out completely.

 

Good job! I can't wait to see the finished product...

Tim

 

After many, many failed attempts with my Galaxy S4 and then my new Galaxy S5 this is the best I could do for a shot of how it looks in person. Fact is the camera doesn't really show it because it's not nearly so uneven and in the pic it appears that the 5 has blue light bleeding into it but it doesn't look that way in person from either seat.

Single Zone HVAC

At any rate, I HIGHLY recommend using the cheap strip LEDs from eBay/Amazon/wherever as it makes it infinitely easier to spread the light for the single zone HVAC controls.

 

Looks really good!! I know that taking pics of the lighting is a major PITA!

Good job and thanks for the tip!

Tim

 

I've gotten as far as soldering in new LED's in place of the stock LED's but when I go to solder in a 3mm bulb with the resistor, I can't do it! This is my first soldering project and it makes me want to throw it all away! Is there a forum member who can help me out? I'd ship you the bulbs and resistors, name your price!

 

PM sent...

Where are you using 3mm LEDs in the HVAC?

Tim

 

I think that was a typo. I'm not at home but I believe I have 5mm bulbs for all incandescent lights except for the two under the rocker switches, those are 10mm. I was successful in installing 3mm bulbs into the existing led spots.

 

Yes the mode indicators are 3mm... I use 5mm everywhere else in the HVAC though.

Tim

 

I'm looking to do a slightly different LED swap on the auto dimming mirror. Does anyone have the pin out diagram for the connector on the auto-dimming mirror for testing voltage and illumination?

thank you

 

Cree LED modification in Auto-Dimming Mirror:





More details here:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...post1586910173

 

That looks good George!

It must be like two little mini suns in the car with the Crees!!!! I know swapping the stock bulbs for strong white 5mm LEDs is like night and day (no pun intended of course! )

Tim

 

I know this is an old thread and maybe somewhere in it is the answer im looking for but I figured id ask anyway to see if anyone can help. I've updated all the lighting in my c5 with the exception of the automatic transmission shifter. I just order 5- 10mm by 26mm bulbs from the website listed on the 1st page. Im wondering if anyone has a write up/pictures on how to take apart the gear shifter. I have the dash taken apart no problem, but I don't want to break anything with the gear shifter. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

-Jason-

 

Just wanted to share the results of my PRNDL mod from this thread. I used blue LEDs. As usual the pics aren't as good as seeing them in person. It's much better than the single 194 blue LED which failed after about a year. The individual LEDs under each letter are crisp, clear and bright. The single LED was crisp under the D but became noticeably darker towards the P and the 1.

 

Hi Guy!!!

Yes the LED strip mod in the PRRNDL is the way to go!!!!

Looks great! How much bleed out around the edges are you getting??

Tim