Climate Control Backlight, Ive read every forum for the past 2 days no concrete answer. Help. Options

[94celigts]

Just wondering if anyone has figured out the best option for backlighting the climate control, people have modified the base with a new led, people have just bought those neo wedge based led's, and some people have soldered thier own.

Has anyone tried this with a couple different options?

I want a nice looking blue for backlight, i already have blue led's installed for the buttons. How can i accomplish this? im not too worried about light dispersion as long as its semi close to being evenly lit.

Thanks guys.

[SwissFerdi]

Contact pittfirefighter, he does good work as far as converting those lights to an LED of the color of your choosing.

[94celigts]

i know he does them, he uses led's and solders them himself. Like i said ive read for 2 days..... i just wanna know what option might be the best looking or less complicated then others. I know people have tried different routes, maybe some pictures of other people's blue backlight cc and what they used would be better to ask.

[richee3]

You definitely have to solder new LED's into your climate control cluster. You can't just pull the old bulbs out and put new ones in like you can with the gauges.

[94celigts]

Yes you can, members have them its a direct replacement from autolumination.com but what I wanna know is if these single led's will give me a proper light. I have read for hours the past couple of days. No one has really compared different options and this is what im trying to figure out. It will be a big help for people im sure.

[njccmd2002]

leds do not produce light in all directions as bulbs do, so no.

simply replacing them dotn work. i have tried.

I soldered up to 5 leds to get my angles right, and still not happy with it.

[94celigts]

thanks ya i took a look at yours it was my biggest help. does taking the bulb out of the existing peice and replacing it with an led with the legs bent into place work well or it still doesnt fill the whole assembly with colour?

[pittfirefighter]

i've tried this every way imaginable to make them easier to do and quicker... there is no shortcut that can produce the same results as an LED behind every light... it doesn't matter how you angle the LED's.. they just don't produce the same amount of ambient light as a light bulb... if you want it to look good, you can't shortcut it... ive even tried inverted top LED's, flat top LED's, wedge bulbs... the list goes on... the best is 3mm LED's behind every button that you want illuminated... ~30 LED's does the trick total (including on-indicator lights)

[94celigts]

has anyone tried just coloured bulbs (not led) ?

[pittfirefighter]

yep - the color is terrible looking... it looks either like a sky blue or a nasty red... its never a bright deep color... i tried like 8 different colored bulbs companies

[Ruroniarc]

I took 194 base 5 SMD LED lights and cut the base off of them. Then mounted them in the existing holes and soldered the leads directly to the board. This was very easy, and worked well for light dispersion. (Until the LEDs all went out -- don't get the ****ty ones off of ebay.)

[schmooot]

I soldered in 2 individual LED's with resistors for the backlighting, I'm not happy how it illuminates. It lights up really bright where they are and then the rest is dim...and still green....one day I will do more experimenting but I believe it involves removing filters.

Here is what my setup looks like right now



On a side note I did replace all the LED's on the board itself with white ones and am quite happy with that outcome...just have to figure out the backlighting and I'll be set

[pittfirefighter]

i have a stock unit in one of my cars now... after working on my LED lights... i am not happy with the way they are lit up stock as far as dispersion of light goes... theres no replacement for how even one light behind each button

[Aussie_Celica]

ok the way i done it was custom loom 1 3mm led behind each button i still have to do the fan control and temp but my buttons are well lit. its abit of a mess back there and looks dodgy but hey it works

[captb]

ok the way i done it was custom loom 1 3mm led behind each button i still have to do the fan control and temp but my buttons are well lit. its abit of a mess back there and looks dodgy but hey it works

nice work. may i ask how you got the power to it?

also, has anyone successfully modded the backlight of the buttons to be clear white. i noticed they have a creamish color to them. is that the actual color of the button or are mine just dirty or something. if not, i guess the best option would be to use blue back lighting vs white.

[pittfirefighter]

white is nearly impossible... oils from the hands turn the buttons different colors... you would need to get a unit brand new in order for the buttons to be clear enough for white backlighting... those pictures are starting to look like my units




the colors look different but they are very even all the way across - that's just the camera catching the light weird

This post has been edited by pittfirefighter: May 8, 2010 - 7:25 PM

[captb]

white is nearly impossible... oils from the hands turn the buttons different colors... you would need to get a unit brand new in order for the buttons to be clear enough for white backlighting... those pictures are starting to look like my units




the colors look different but they are very even all the way across - that's just the camera catching the light weird

cool. ill try cleaning mines up. how'd you light yours? individual leds as well?

[Aussie_Celica]

ummm i think i tapped into the cig lighter ring light power make sure you use a resistor though

[pittfirefighter]

i ran mine off the stock circuit board... the units are all plug and play just like a stock unit