Heater light

[flyingjase]

The down arrow light on my heater has gone (2000 Chim 4.0), and the dealer has told me that they would need to buy the 'whole loom' which is £250 just for the part.

I've always maintained my cars on a 'do whatever needs doing basis' but £250 to rpelace one LED seems a bit steep.

Has anyone got any ideas?

[mongoose]

the leds cost pennies,well no more han a couple of pound,i had this happen on mine,and can be bought from tms.id be inclined to just swap with a new one before going further as it quite a common problem.

[stegefal]

Sounds like a complete rip off to me. A little skill with a soldering iron and patience removing the dash should save you a large wedge of cash.

[parrot of doom]

Agreed, have a look at www.rswww.co.uk and order yourself a new one.

You'll need a soldering iron as well, but honestly if you don't have one just go to your local car radio installer and get him to solder it in place. Piss simple job.

Also gives you the opportunity to see if you can find a nice blue one instead of green (well it makes more sense to me!)

[parrot of doom]

Actually, scratch RS, try here:

www.optomanfcorp.co.uk/pinned-leds-ShowDetails.asp?id=135

[flyingjase]

Thanks for the advice

PoD - like the idea of blue - it does make sense

So you're not all doom & gloom then?

Do you know how easy the bulb is to access? I assume that you have to take the dash out, which for a non techie like me sounds dangerous!

[everitj]

Be interested if someone could shead some light on the problem I had with this issue. Broke the red heater led when I was changing the dash, got a couple from the dealer when I was in there and soldered a new one in.... However the led belw as soon as I turned on the ignition. They were def 12V led's and I tried both ways round, one way round no light, the other way round the led blew. Measured voltage with meter and it was 12V. Any ideas as I would really like to get this sorted....

[parrot of doom]

Chances are you bought the wrong value of LED, or there was a fault with the car's electrical system. Make sure you get it connected the wrong way round, the led has an anode and a cathode. Connecting it the wrong way won't harm it, it just won't work and will appear open-circuit to the car's wiring.

An LED is basically a diode (light emitting diode) - a diode is an electronic one-way valve (only lets current flow in one direction). They're most commonly used in power supplies to convert mains AC to DC in the form of a bridge diode rectifier.

LEDs are diodes, its just that the energy they absorb is released as visible light.

>> Edited by parrot of doom on Saturday 9th April 15:43

[parrot of doom]

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/led.htm

[parrot of doom]

Actually, I've just been out in mine and the heater LED is circular, flattop. The triangular bit is the heater direction.

Doh!

[stegefal]

Did your 12v LEDs have a built in resistor?

You may also want to check the current across the terminals. That is probably why they are blowing.

There are lots of specs of LED, its easy to get the wrong one.