Last One On Leds I Promise!

[FuntimePhil]

im going to attempt to solder my new led's tonight on my stereo. but i dont want to keep re-fitting the stereo everytime to check if it works. is there a way of powering it up just to see the lights while im at my desk?

[TigerFish]

On the GS stereo, there is a feed for the lights on one of the connectors. If you have a multimeter, remove the stereo, stick your sidelights on and see what pins on the plugs have has 12 volts on, then turn the side lights off and double check that the 12 volts goes. You should then be able to earth the stereo chassis and stick 12v on the same pin on the stereo socket to check the bulbs.

Or if you are lucky, someone will have a wiring diagram and be able to tell you the pin.

[FuntimePhil]

im really not good at electrics, if i buy a 12v Battery and put a wire on each end and then put the two ends on the pins would that not do anything? or is that reeeeaaly dumb?

[84Stoney]

im really not good at electrics, if i buy a 12v battery and put a wire on each end and then put the two ends on the pins would that not do anything? or is that reeeeaaly dumb?

Not the best way to go about it, but will probably work! Will it be fused this way?

[Andy-R]

Does the stereo show positive and negative conections on the circut board thingy? if it does get one of those rectangel batteries put the LED connectors on the pos & neg on the Battery if it lights up then you know which is which if it don't turn it round and see if it don't light up either way chances are it's a duff LED.

Thats how I checked mine.

[FuntimePhil]

what im doing is replaceing the 40 odd 0805 leds in the stereo. they are very very small, so once i solder them on i want to be able to light the circuit board up to see if they have all been soldered correctly.

[Andy-R]

what im doing is replaceing the 40 odd 0805 leds in the stereo. they are very very small, so once i solder them on i want to be able to light the circuit board up to see if they have all been soldered correctly.

If the board tells you which is pos & neg then if you check the LED's with a Battery 1st bend the positive conector so you know which one it is then you'll know which way they go onto the board when you come to solder and should get them all right 1st time rather than soldering then switching the ones that don't work, however if the board doesn't tell you pos & neg then it's just solder and see.

[FuntimePhil]

thats waht im gonna do, solder and see, but i dont know how to turn the circuit board on without plugging back into car

[Andy-R]

Can't help on that one matey i'm just suggesting checking which way round the LED's go before soldering to limit the amount that go in wrong.

[FuntimePhil]

this is the reason im a lil nervous!!! there soooo small!!!

[FuntimePhil]

ooookkkkkkk!

So after 6 hrs of nail biting soldering action! i managed 8 cups of coffee (to keep the hand steady), 14 ciggies, and pretty much demolished my spare stereo.

But...........

I did it on the real one!! all i gotta do is order more leds for the display, then over the weekend sort out the AC bulbs and i think jobs a good'n!!

[chrisis200]

ooookkkkkkk!

So after 6 hrs of nail biting soldering action! i managed 8 cups of coffee (to keep the hand steady), 14 ciggies, and pretty much demolished my spare stereo.

But...........

I did it on the real one!! all i gotta do is order more leds for the display, then over the weekend sort out the AC bulbs and i think jobs a good'n!!

Looks brilliant m8 :D

[sparkystav]

Fantastic job, well done mate. Anything is possible when you put your mind to it.

[FuntimePhil]

very poo ya pants time tho when u get the iron onto your real circuit board. especially after the mess i made of the first one!

[DJ Wozza]

Great job mate congratulations, they are tiny !!

[spikes]

great job, looks good

[Rich OB]

Fantastic mate brave for giving it a go but worth it! Looks alot more up to date IMO.

They really are tiny, would love my whole dash blus but would never be brave enough, i really would not know where to begin!!!

[Steviewevie]

Awesome job, well done ! :D

[aztecbandit1]

Fantastic job you've done there matey,

so i'll pop mine round at the weekend then

[FuntimePhil]

Fantastic job you've done there matey,

so i'll pop mine round at the weekend then

ha ha i no problem, i accept no liability tho!

its not as hard as i though but having the practice stereo was a God send cus i really destroyed that one!

[Lexus2D]

Well done u your very brave bet your very happy with yourself :winky:

[TommyH]

Looks great Phil, very well done, your alot braver than me mate.

[Parthiban]

That does look very impressive, but is it not too bright? Not sure if it's just the exposure and don't want to take anything away from it as it looks amazing, but it looks seriously bright..........

[Kazi]

Top job matey!

[sparkystav]

the dimmer still works though Parthiban.