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LED light problem
smart51 - 16/7/12 at 06:10 PM

I bought some LED lights a few years ago for my build. I'm doing the final assembly now and I've found that 3 of of 12 LEDs are not working on one of the indicators. Now they're not cheap at £53 a pair so I don't want to replace them. As I've had them a couple of years, I can't ally send them back and they don't open so I can't fix them. Given that 9 of the 12 work, Will they fail MSVA?


Westy1994 - 18/7/12 at 03:21 AM

They will open, but you will need to glue them back together again, since they will have been heat sealed, if they are plastic. Anything will open given the will.....

Before all these off the shelf units appeared, I was making these for folks years ago, I would attempt to open it carefully and find out what size led is fitted (3mm, 5mm 8mm or 10mm - usually 3mm in most indicators) and also see if you can spot the resistor inside it. There are many ways of configuring leds in a cluster, so I cant tell you what the resistor value may be , if you can see the resistor and have a suitable meter try and get its ohm reading, this could be anything from 120 to 600 ohm ( depending on the config). Leds and resistors are very cheap , so repairing it is no problem.

I have my own homemade ones in the rear of my tintop and last MOT I noticed a few of them on a brake light had failed, the MOT chap was not bothered by this as the unit still gave the illumination required and as the brake light did light he passed the car, I have since replaced the offending 4 Leds and all is working again.

No one else has bothered to post, so there is my 2p's worth....

Rich


loggyboy - 18/7/12 at 07:22 AM

Contact the vendor first, with an explanation that they have never been used they may be willing to help.


smart51 - 18/7/12 at 07:25 AM

The problem with contacting the vendor is that I don't recall who I got them from. So I took it apart with the help of the dremmel. A diode hadn't been soldered properly at one end. It works now, but needs to be put back together in a way that is water tight. In the words of Jeremy Clarkson "how hard can it be..."