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NBS LED A/C Control help?

I tried to attempt the LED switch a long time ago and had a problem with my A/C. It would never light up. Today I took it apart and moved the top rightmost led and boom, two of them lit. I re-soldered it and now it works normally, but the rest of the LED lights will not light up. It seems that the way this circuit board is built that they are chained together. Does anyone know which bulb I should try and fix next to make the chain continue or have any tips on how to figure it out?

Attachment 151560

Quote:

Originally Posted by thing1 (Post 5439658)

I don't know the answer but if you moved one and it started working it sounds like a bad connection so you probably have other bad connections. Try playing with others. Also try taking a bulb if you have a spare and straightening the pins out and touching them to the solder joints of each of the other bulbs. If they light up this would tell you one of them is bad and the bulb you just tried fixed an open circuit issue.

Also check your solder joints close, if you moved one and it worked then sounds like you didn't solder it well enough, either that or the bulb itself is bad and if that's the case others may be bad.

Just a tip for someone doing this upgrade, I’ve found using a strip of smaller leds to come out much cleaner and have better light spread for darker colors.https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.per...1a1e0b135.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.per...769d9d247.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.per...638215ae0.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.per...4c3914b93.jpeg

Can you post any pics of the smaller LED strip you used. It looks good BTW

Just in case anyone searches and finds this. The OPs problem was probably the bulbs were in backwards. Those little LED bulbs are directional.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrHorsepowerLSx (Post 5445065)

Can you post any pics of the smaller LED strip you used. It looks good BTW

The best way to do it is to have one set color you want and stick to it. I couldn’t decide, so I went with RGB leds that are hooked to a Bluetooth controller. When you go RGB like I did, you’ll end up with the bigger 5050 smd led which are harder to make fit in the module. 3528’s are better for making a half moon shape behind the numbers of the controls, so if you can pick one color, find that color in a 3528 strip.

While the 5050 chip can be used in single color applications, i have found the 5050 LEDs to be better for the RGB and the 3528 SMD LEDs in high density better for single color applications.

So basically just take the strip and cut out 5-6 leds and make a half moon circle the best you can, and find a way to attach them so they stay as tight to the board as you can get them, it’ll make the light disperse better and avoid having hotspots. For the center sliders, I used white 3528’s and just fit them inside the slider and made shields out of black hard plastic so I didn’t have the white bleeding into the other sides.

IIRC I tapped into my trucks parking light relay and ran a fused line directly out of the module and cluster. So I didn’t have to worry about burning up power to the leds. I forget how I made my dimmer switch still function though. I still have my full range of dimming for all the interior lights. I’ll have to check out how i did that again

Quote:

Originally Posted by adriver (Post 5445076)

Just in case anyone searches and finds this. The OPs problem was probably the bulbs were in backwards. Those little LED bulbs are directional.

x2. If you go the manual soldering route, make sure you plug in the unit while it’s still apart, and use a multimeter to find which posts are +/- and clearly mark them. Then use a 12v source to see which orientation your led needs to be and bend the postive leg on the led (or flag it somehow). It’ll save you a lot of time