Do all of the lights behind the buttons on the head unit light up? The A/C button and the fan speed buttons dont light up. Didnt know if that was normal. If they are supposed to then is there an easy fix to replace the bulbs?

Thanks

 

There are a bunch of threads on this, I did a search on HVAC lights. Here's a thread I had read before that has a procedure to fix the lights

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...lights+on+hvac

 

That procedure will fix your digital display, not the individual bulbs behind each button. Those are all tied together on the PCB. You'll have to take the unit apart and replace the burned out lights...



You might be able to find replacement bulbs locally at Radio Shack( Copied from a prior post);

http://www.radioshack.com/search/ind...ulb&kwCatId=&p g=4

I replaced mine with ones from radioshack.. I think they had 2 that were close.. use the lowest amperage ones (12 volt). They have to be soldered in. I tried to replace just one or two, but I ended up having to replace them all because the old ones burned out after I installed the new ones.. not sure what was up with that.

I believe I went with the 272-1092. They seemed a little warmer to the touch and slightly brighter than the originals. I remember trying to decide between the 272-1092 and the 272-1141. I don't recall the plastic wrapping on the 272-1141 though. If I was to do it again, I would try the 272-1141.

As far as the soldering goes.. I'm fairly experienced at soldering, so it wasn't that big of a deal. If you take your time and be careful, you should do ok.

 

So sill i have to replace them all like it states above? Which ones should i get?

 

To be honest I copied that portion from a previous post. The picture is one I took of my HVAC board while I was changing the lights to Red. I can't honestly understand why that gentlemen's other bulbs went bad UNLESS the new ones he put in were a different spec bulb then the originals and that caused the others to fail.

Is this your daily driver or a toy? If it's your DD and you need the HVAC this time of year where you're at, you might want to check into a repair service that is offered on the great auctions site. If not, take the HVAC out and tear it apart and replace the bulbs. I would personally replace all of them while you're in there. My luck some other's would go and right after I would get it back in!

 

You do have the dual climate control right? Helluva time to be asking now!

 

Thanks Tim. Yes it is the dual and the car is a toy. So i guess i will just tear into it. Ive had it all apart before. The one question is which bulb the 272-1092 or the 272-1141 i dont want to fry the whole board. what are the specs on the origional bulbs?

 

I haven't found any info on the stock bulbs at all, if you can wait a day I'll ask my buddy he MIGHT have taken actual voltage measurements of the bulbs while powered up in the car. That should at least get us very close to the specs on the stock bulbs. He replaced his with LEDs...

You have three burned out right? Of what? 14 or so I believe... If you decided to replace all of them it wouldn't really matter which of the two you got, my reference indicated that one was brighter then the stock bulbs and ended frying the remaining stock bulbs, so I would buy the ones that guy did NOT use, the 272-1141 ones if you deciced to just replace the three.

 

If I recall correctly (help me out here) the HVAC was brighter then the Radio right? If so and if I were in your position I would swap all the bulbs out with the 272-1141 bulbs, they might help even out the intensity levels between the two.

 

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...TOKEN=70197199
This is a bulb that runs at 70ma. You must trim off the plastic and unsolder the lead wires, but it is the proper wattage bulb and will work just fine in both the radio and hvac units. The illumination will match all the other indicators.

 

You are the man!!!!!!

BTW the Radio Shack 272-1092 are 60mA wouldn't that be close enough?

 

Not familiar with milliamps, my guess is that the lower the ma the dimmer the bulb???? I think it is 2 bulbs out. The A/C button and the fan up an down.

Thank you for all the help!

 

Keep us posted on the outcome!

 

Wattage = Volts times Amps. At the time I was replacing mine, Radio Shack didn't have anything even close. 60ma would be close although a hair dimmer. the 70ma bulbs turned out real nice for mine. I have not seen the Radio Shack bulbs at this time, therefore they might be easier to use rather than unsolder lead wires and etc. that I had to do. The brightness difference would be .828 watts vs .996 watts at 13.8 vdc. That isn't a lot. Try them and let me know us know.

 

I was gonna do this procedure as well. Would the 276-307 led's work as well? They are 5mm 1.7V 20mA 3000mcd?

Also I have some experience in soldering and stuff but what are my chances in destroying the board if im careful?

 

You'd have to solder resistors in-line with each LED. Which is the standard on the LED Mod... typically a 2.6 volt LED will use a 560 Ohm resistor while a 4 volt LED needs a 470 Ohm resistor. You subtract the LED dropping voltage of 1.7 from the source voltage, assuming 13.8 = 12.1 volts that needs to be knocked down. Then divide the voltage by the amp rating of the LED 12.1 divided by .020 = 605. So a 1.7 volt, 20 mA LED would need a resistor value of 605 Ohms. Tht’s assuming 13.8 volts actual inside the HVAC unit… Alot of us get our LEDs and resistors from Oznium;

http://www.oznium.com/led

Also for all the buttons i.e. door, DIC, Trunk release and Traction you can get pre=made Neo Wedge LEDs that go right in. They do NOT fit the Dimmer/HUD buttons though. About halfway down this page;

NEO WEDGE bulbs, Red. 10mm (3/8”) diameter x 13mm (1/2”) high. $2.99 ea.
http://autolumination.com/74.htm

There are several threads on this, including one that I'm knee deep into, however it's extremely lengthy as we're trying to work out several problem areas, including hot spots, dim areas and the IPC (my job).

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1588861

Let me know if you want to proceed and I can help you out with the LED switch over…. FWIW I wanted Red and found a company that made Red T1 bulb covers, my total conversion to Red cost me less then $15.00 and no soldering.

 

Hey Tim,
You said you used the neo wedge at a cost of $15, did that include the radio and a/c? Can you get covers for those bulbs?

 

Nope, the Neo Wedge I was referring to is an LED with a built in resistor mounted into the bases that fit all of the buttons in the car except the Dimmer/HUD. here's a shot showing the Dimmer/HUD on the Left and a regular T1 Neo Wedge base on the right. These have the Red bulb covers on versus the blue factory ones... FWIW all that the factory blue covers do is knock out the yellow/orange that incandescent bulbs have, much like those GE Reveal bulbs...



Here's how the Red bulb covers look installed



Here's a pic of the LED Neo Wedge...



Hope that clarifies things...

 

How's your repair or upgrade progressing?

 

I ordered the bulbs and should be here this week. I will keep you posted. I dont have HUD on my 97, so I could use the wedge bulbs in everything else including th eradio and a/c?
Thanks again