Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

LEDs Question/Problem

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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 09:25 PM
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Default LEDs Question/Problem

I jsut installed my LEDs about 2 weeks ago. They were fine and dandy for the 30 mins i saw of them before i put the car back in storage.

So i took my car to a speed shop on monday for my cam install. Picked up the car today and you can see that 1 LED is sorta dimming/flashing going dim on its own.... What could that be??? I dont htink that it is a charging issue b/c it did that while drivng and at idle..

Any ideas????? I may need to replace the LED???
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 09:48 PM
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Where is the led?

It could be a number of things. My bet is you have a cold connection. Your soldering may not be a good job and doesn't "stick" the two metals together very well and is thus vibrating the connections causing it to flash/dim. Did you try powering the LED with the car off? i.e. having the car in accessory mode with the car having 0 movement. Or you have the wrong resistor which is very common. If you overpower the led with too small ohm of a resistor it could cause the led to burn up, but in most cases this happens within the instant you connect everything. If you underpower the led with too large of a resistor then the LED it may not be getting enough voltage to supply the maximum output light.

I'd check your soldering before anything.
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Brian2006
Where is the led?

It could be a number of things. My bet is you have a cold connection. Your soldering may not be a good job and doesn't "stick" the two metals together very well and is thus vibrating the connections causing it to flash/dim. Did you try powering the LED with the car off? i.e. having the car in accessory mode with the car having 0 movement. Or you have the wrong resistor which is very common. If you overpower the led with too small ohm of a resistor it could cause the led to burn up, but in most cases this happens within the instant you connect everything. If you underpower the led with too large of a resistor then the LED it may not be getting enough voltage to supply the maximum output light.

I'd check your soldering before anything.

LED is the gauge cluster.. Soldering? I did not solder anything at all.. No i did not power the LEDs with the car off. And i never added any resistors at all. Put them in their housing and twisted them back into position

anymore ideas?
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Brian2006

I'd check your soldering before anything.
I THINK he has one of the pre-made kits?
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 10:11 PM
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Originally Posted by SSINISTR SS
I THINK he has one of the pre-made kits?
ok I didn't understand it was an LED bulb and not a 5mm/3mm led with anode/denode etc etc.

If it's just one of them then you're most likely gonna have to replace it. Unless you wanna take the bulb apart and figure out what's loose or wrong I think it'd be easier to just put another one in.

If it were all 5 doing this then I'd say you have a problem. If it's just 1 then it sounds like you got a bad bulb/led.
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 10:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Brian2006
ok I didn't understand it was an LED bulb and not a 5mm/3mm led with anode/denode etc etc.

If it's just one of them then you're most likely gonna have to replace it. Unless you wanna take the bulb apart and figure out what's loose or wrong I think it'd be easier to just put another one in.

If it were all 5 doing this then I'd say you have a problem. If it's just 1 then it sounds like you got a bad bulb/led.

damn that sucks.. pulling the dash was a PITA too..

it has only been 2 weeks..
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by TORCHD 02 TA
damn that sucks.. pulling the dash was a PITA too..

it has only been 2 weeks..
Either way you're gonna have to pull the cluster bezel. Did you take out the steering wheel tilt handle and hold the steering wheel (wont stay completely all the way down if you let go of it) and pull that plastic bezel out? Or did you have to maneuver it a funny way and hope it didn't break?

Once I took that tilt handle out everything came out smoothly with no problems. Hope that makes it easier.
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Brian2006
If it were all 5 doing this then I'd say you have a problem. If it's just 1 then it sounds like you got a bad bulb/led.

x2 True dat!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 11:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Brian2006
Either way you're gonna have to pull the cluster bezel. Did you take out the steering wheel tilt handle and hold the steering wheel (wont stay completely all the way down if you let go of it) and pull that plastic bezel out? Or did you have to maneuver it a funny way and hope it didn't break?

Once I took that tilt handle out everything came out smoothly with no
problems. Hope that makes it easier.
no i took it all apart.. knee panel and tilt out.. all of it.. it was a PITA.. but i guessi have to do it.. :cry2:

i am going to try a battery first... my battery is now dead after my cam swap
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Old Feb 7, 2007 | 11:17 PM
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Originally Posted by TORCHD 02 TA
no i took it all apart.. knee panel and tilt out.. all of it.. it was a PITA.. but i guessi have to do it.. :cry2:

i am going to try a battery first... my battery is now dead after my cam swap
ummm yeah that'll be your problem. That is definitely unnecessary. Shouldn't take more than an hour for an enexperienced person from start to finish. Feel free to PM if you need some more help with that when you get to it.

You can try your battery but it's not gonna help 1 led work when 4 others in the same place aren't.
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Old Feb 8, 2007 | 07:30 AM
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Sounds like you have a bad ground or the grond and the power line on the led are touching.

you may say, well if they are touching they will blow a fuse. not always true, since the LEDs are still getting some of the power.

Leds are either on or off. if they are dim its because they arent getting the proper voltage.
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Old Feb 8, 2007 | 10:16 AM
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I had the LEDs in my map lights do the same thing. I ordered from a different company and haven't had a problem since.
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Old Feb 8, 2007 | 12:42 PM
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well no matter what today i am replacing my battery. and i will take the dash apart as well
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