OBC lightbar to LED conversion

[Reelizmpro]

I searched and found a reference to a write up but the link is now dead. I know I can get the bulbs cheap but figured LED's would last forever and be more durable. As soon as I pulled my good lightbar out one of the bulbs went bad...ain't that a B. Thanks in advance.

[GraemeD]

I have that page saved as a PDF. PM your e-mail & I will send it to you.

[CourtM3]

can I have it also? Want to do this myself

[Lumanikus]

I hate to ask but would you mind sending it here too?

[ColinM]

Barry, what is the URL of the dead link? The page might be cached somewhere.

[Reelizmpro]

I now have the PDF (thanks Graeme). If anyone is interested in it please email me at Reelizmpro@yahoo.com and I will reply with the file.

[Sbailey294]

http://www.savefile.com

Try that, then anyone can DL it at leisure : )

[chivas]

can you email me the file too? chivas228 at gmail.com

thanks!!

[John Arnold]

I don't mean to rain on the parade, but the Radio Shack 6V bulbs I have used last forever. The ones in my M3 have been in there since 1998 (68K miles ago). The original bulbs are 5 volt, wired in series. But when I checked the supply voltage in the OBC, it was over 10 volts. With that in mind, it is not surprising that the original bulbs burn out.
Before I tried the Radio Shack bulbs, I had bought a brand new light bar. It lost a bulb after 2 1/2 months.

[Reelizmpro]

John, I agree with you. However, these bulbs are not as durable and are more susceptible to vibration than LED's. Whenever I mess with the OBC, including removing the plug on the instrument cluster, it seems one of the bulbs goes bad. It's very frustrating. Since I wanted to get my OBC back up and running I just bought two new bulbs from radio shack and all is well again. This time, I moved them closer to the screen so they aren't as dim and I applied silicone between the board and the bulbs so they won't vibrate as much. Looks just as bright as the factory lightbar.

P.S. I found the file and I emailed it to everyone who emailed me about it.

[Magnus]

I found the directions here as well.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2205147

http://newling.no-ip.com/rep/bordcom...led_licht.html

[Lumanikus]

Thanks Graeme

Has anyone used led in the instrument cluster? Mines kind of dim and ill be in there this week doing a bat replace.

[chivas]

my problem is what color LED to use... red, green, rellow... blue...

[UweM3]

but will the LED's work with the dimmer?