How To: Replace R33 Climate Control Bulbs To Leds #2

[RANDY]

It's been done before, but i'll share my method of mounting the resistor (neater) and also show you what the A/C unit could/should look like.

01) For reference, this is the lighting in the room.

Camera set to 1/20th second, f2.6.

02) This is what a stock globe with blue silicone cap looks like

The silicone cap takes away the orange of the bulb, and makes it a soft blue/white.

03) This is what the standard globe looks like without the blue cap on.

If you broke the cap, it won't light up white. It lights up a horrid orange.

04) This is a 30,000mcd 5mm LED.

Sweeeeet. Looks like my hazard button!

05a) Firstly, remove the A/C unit. Same as changing your head unit.

Easy done. You can see both of the globe bezels on the back in white. 1/8th turn with a flathead screwdriver will do the job. Turn it upside down and shake a little...

05b) And out pops your globe!

The two wires at the front touch the contacts in the A/C unit... they wrap around from the back.

06) The back is where the wires from the globe poke out, and get wrapped around to the front.

07) Pick at the ends until you have them up, then unwrap the legs till they're straight enough to go through the holes they sit in.

08) Remove your old/dead globe.

09) If you are replacing your globe for another standard "grain of wheat" globe, then this is the tricky bit.

The globe can be bought from Dick Smiths (online too) P8140 is the product number. OK... tricky bit. Use a *really* small flathead screwdriver, or my preferred option, a needle to unbind the silicone cap from the globe.

It doesn't show here, but the blue cap has a darker ring on the inside, about 1/3rd of the way from the tip. This is where the glue was applied to hold the cap onto the globe. Using the pin, hold the tip onto the glass, and slide it inside the silicone cap. Keep the angle of the pin at at least 15 degrees, otherwise you might poke a hole through the end of the cap! Keep sliding it in and out, jabbing the glue-ring until it doesn't look darker anymore. This means the glue has seperated from the globe.

Carefully, try to push the end of the cap towards the tip... the whole thing should slide off. If you pull from the tip, you risk tearing the silicone.

10) For those who want LED-action, here is one of the 5mm LEDs that I used.

It is the brightest 5mm LED you can buy ($5 each), and the extra fat negative leg could be an issue. You could drill out the hole in the globe holder to make it fit in futher, but I did a test-fit first, with the whole of the LED just outside the holder, and it still went in and screwed into the A/C unit... so I just left it like that. Less work you see. ;o)

Specs:

* 5mm

* 30,000mcd

* 3.6 typical volt-drop

* 75mA typical

11) Shove it in, and bend the negative (shorter) leg into its groove to hold the LED in place.

12) Depending on the LED you use, the resistor value will have to be calculated.

This is 120ohms... The last stripe denotes the tolerance in watts. Gold and silver are typical. Knowing that much, you know to read from left to right, with the gold or silver last. This is brown-red-brown, gold. That's 120ohms of resistance, which will heat up a bit. Depending on the LED you choose, the values will change. I could have run this LED at 100mA (milli-amps) if I wanted to.. this particular LED can handle higher, but the "typical" values are probably the best to stick to. Use this calculator with the LED specs: http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz

Resistors don't have a polarity, so you can mount the resistor either way round, on the positive leg of the LED.

13a) Stick the resistor into the groove on the side of the positive leg.

13b) And bend the top to meet the positive leg of the LED.

Other guides have the resistor mounted flush with the holder, but I don't like this idea for two reasons. One, it gets in the way of the screwdriver slot, and secondly, it looks like it could move around. From the screwdriver slot, one side is positive, and one is negative... you don't want one to touch the other. Also, the resistor can/will heat up quite a bit, so I didn't want it to be touching anything.

14) Solder the resistor to the positive leg of the LED.

With the right-angle bend on the resistor, and the rigidity of the LED leg, this rectangular shape is quite hard to bend. It shouldn't touch anything where it is.

15) Trim the legs with a pair of side-cutters after you have bent the leg and resistor into their grooves.

Chop the ends to the right length to end perfectly in the groove.

16) Test-fit your new LED globe!

As you can see, it gets close to the side of the plastic in the hole... but that's not a problem at all. If anything, this mounting method should provide good heat-dissipating properties to the resistor. (they get quite hot to the touch)

If you have a powersupply or even a 9 volt battery and some alligator clips, test your LED before you actually install it. Remember to only use the front of the holder for the contact points. This is before the resistor! Doing it from the back might work, or it might completely blow out the LED. On a 9v battery it may be fine to test an LED without a resistor for a few seconds, but just don't chance it if you're using $5 LED's.

17) Here is your other view of the top of the resistor, it doesn't even poke out the top of the hole, so you can be assured that it won't be touching anything behind the dash.

Another note on putting these back in. An LED is a Light Emitting Diode. The keyword is diode... represented on circuit diagrams as:

->|-

Diodes allow current to travel one way, but not the other. The direction of the ">" symbol denotes the direction of flow. Anyway, the important thing about this is that if you put the LED setup in your A/C unit the wrong way round, it won't blow up or anything. You just unscrew it, rotate it 180 degrees, and screw it in again. This time, it should work.

Well anyway, step 18 will come with another photo once I get round to pulling it all apart again and putting these into my actual (working) A/C unit. The unit I have used for this guide is just a dead one I have sitting around.

Edited November 3, 2006 by RANDY

[dezz]

is there supposed to be some photos in that post?

[RANDY]

Yeah, they're coming. I submitted the post first, incase it timed out while I was tidying and uploading... but I didn't realise that the mods have to approve it before it shows up. The whole thing disappeared on me.

There is a sticky which doesn't sound helpful, but has helpful information within it about how the process works.

[RANDY]

Alrighty. Pics are up, post is tidied. =-]

[midnight]

cough*

A tip Id recommend that I wrote in my original article on LED climate control lights, is to lightly scruff up the LED to mist it up, it will help dissipate light more evenly.

the original article has been relocated here:

http://www.dorished.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=451

Edited September 30, 2006 by midnight

[govich]

Thanks for this guys. I did it today with 16000mcd LEDs (3.2v/20mA/1W) and 560ohm resistors (fit smugly) from dick smith and it's perfect for me.

[BobyYoo]

for those with R32, this will not work. I believe it is the same for the s13.

as our bulb are smaller.

so you'll need 3mm leds.

5mm is a bit too big and it will not go through the hole.

[jantolis]

Yeah for 32's you need the 3mm ones. I'm doing mine today. The back looks funny with all the resistors hanging out the back.

[RANDY]

Regarding the scruffing of the LED, the pictures I have attached are with no scruffing at all.

I have only used one bulb/LED for the example pics, so only half the panel lights up. Either way, the panels buttons all light up the same brightness... so... experiment if you feel like it, as midnight suggests.

=-]

Additional: sorry, Midnight, if it looks like i've just redone your guide. I started documenting it and taking pictures before I found your guide. (while searching for mine after it didn't appear immediately after posting).

I then changed the title a bit so it's clear that mine is a secondary to yours. =-]

[Primordial]

http://www.ledshoponline.com/automotive_dashboard_bulb.htm

Is it possible to use these LED globes here^ instead of using a separate LED/Resistor combo? It seems that these are an all in one 'drop in' solution. They are more expensive, but much easier to install by the looks of it.

What size globes does the AC unit take? T5?

[swanny180]

Followed this guide and the result is brilliant

Very nice white colour to the light, and just the right amount of brightness.

Not hard to do, took about an hour all up (pulling apart dash, taking out aircon unit, swapping globes, putting unit back in, putting dash back in).

For $10 bucks all up Im very impressed with the result Cheers!!

[hvm]

anyone got a before and after pic they could post to check out the difference?

[RANDY]

http://www.ledshoponline.com/automotive_dashboard_bulb.htm

Is it possible to use these LED globes here^ instead of using a separate LED/Resistor combo? It seems that these are an all in one 'drop in' solution. They are more expensive, but much easier to install by the looks of it.

What size globes does the AC unit take? T5?

None of those will work. They're not a "drop-in" kind of globe. You can buy them from DSE though, and they're called "Grain of wheat". You have to wrap the wires in the same manner as this LED guide... no T5 or anything like that. The unit comes with its own globe-holders that you need to re-use.

[RANDY]

Followed this guide and the result is brilliant

Very nice white colour to the light, and just the right amount of brightness.

Not hard to do, took about an hour all up (pulling apart dash, taking out aircon unit, swapping globes, putting unit back in, putting dash back in).

For $10 bucks all up Im very impressed with the result Cheers!!

Cheers! Glad you liked it!

I should really post up my "after" results, hey?

[LiQuid IcE]

can this same process be used to change the colour of the digital clock in the r33?

I've seen a blue clock once. I want clear white

[RANDY]

I don't know... but I doubt it? The clock uses a liquid crystal display.... I don't know much about how they illuminate a particular colour, but I don't think it will be an LED shining through the display.

A quick wiki search shows this:

So I guess it might be possible if you were somehow able to unbind the colour filter from the LCD. Highly unlikely, I'd guess.

[LiQuid IcE]

oh okay, thanks!

if i come across the picture ill post it up

[deformed]

cool

[RANDY]

Indeed! While you've triggered my email notification, i'll take the time to say: My LED's are still working just fine, and haven't blown. zing! =-D

[zonbie]

An excellent easy to follow guide. Well done !