d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

I've been looking for a thread where someone fixed the LED on the taillight but no one has done anything with regard to that so I decided to do some research and come up with some fix.

Where I ordered them from. I got lucky and only had to order 17 since that's all they had.
http://www.futurelightingsolutions.c...sFLS=true&IM=0

Reference from where I found out about the LED's
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...taillight-PICS

Attachment 108969

That was what it looked like. I didn't take a better pic which was up close. Turns out there was a minor loose connection but, I couldn't fix it without moving the heatsink which doubles as the wiring around so I pulled off the LED's.





The biggest issue trying to fix this is that you have to order for the LED's in bulk from the manufacturer. I will be putting up a link to all the LED's I bought so I can get rid of the extra's. It gets expensive buying them but is still cheaper than buying the whole board.





The work to secure the LED in place is difficult. Soldering is almost impossible but can be done if you get creative. They use a special tack welding device that mechanically attaches the LED to the board without using heat.

I however used mechanical pressure to hold the LED's in place by wedging them in.



I thought of another way which would be to drill a hole through the pad and into the heatsink to use a tiny screw to secure it in place or stick some wire in so that the solder has something to hold onto. No amount of sanding the pads helped.



The other issue was that I'm more or less electrically challenged. The guys in the cupholder illumination thread would agree wholeheartedly. That being said I believe there is a polarity and anyone who knows better please chime in so this thread can improve.

The LED light up depending on which way they were placed. Fortunately since 3 were not working it only took me 6 attempts to figure out how the lights are supposed to sit.

Keep in mind these are not the exact same and the lens is a little bigger and fractionally brighter but is the same color and works just fine.

Any additional info helps. Got it done in about 2 hours.

I'll post up the link when I can get it on Amazon.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

This should be posted in the 3G general =)

Nice DIY!

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Thanks. Wasn't aware that's where it goes.

Mods if this has to be somewhere else please assist!

Legend2TL

Nice fix, another approach is to use silver filled epoxy to attach the LED's. That provides a nice conductor both electrically and thermally.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Hmm I didn't know that. Think I'll be opening up the tail light again to do that! Thanks bud!

Houston

Question for the OP.... did you check with a jumper first to see which LED/LED's were out? It looks like you replaced more than one LED. It's usually only one LED that burns out and shuts a few others off becuase they are linked together with the metal shims underneath.

The way I did it...

First, I used a jumper to find the burnt LED. Once I found it, I knocked it off with a hammer and flathead screwdriver. Gotta be careful though cause they break easy. Anyways, I knocked a couple of LED's off of an old LED board and I just taped the bulb on using this...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nashua-Ta...0#.UnpVNYbnYdU

I just cut some small pieces and taped one on each side of the LED legs and I was done. By the way, LED's ARE polarized. The whole process took about 30 mins and it's been working for more than a year now...

350

iTrader: (4)

I had thought about trying to add extra or brighter LEDs in there... I wonder if there's any way to replace them all with CREE chips... either way good job OP.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, that's what I tried initially but I couldn't get them to work. I had been running it that way for a good year so I assumed it may have gotten worse. That's good info about the fastening system soldering is suck a bloody mess!
It was dumb for me to try but I didn't think of anything else to fasten it at the time. Thanks for the link!


You can switch the stock ones out with the ones I listed in the link. Those are marginally brighter. Its only noticeable from a certain angle. Its dicey to power them up a lot since I'd rather someone see the lights rather than be blinded by it.

If there are other options though that would be really valuable info since I do have a few led's that I'm trying to sell but the minimum order from the website i got it from is 1200. Too expensive to justify buying them.

If something else works it would be a great alternative.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

how many leds did you buy?

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

I bought 17. I have 13 new, 1 with some solder and sanding marks but still functional.

ezland00

has anyone else tried this? and where can I buy these leds. Don't feel like spend $250 for 2 new led boards. the once on ebay are mostly at the end of its life spam.

Jackass

Very curious what type of soldering iron you are using? In theory, if you had non-shiny surfaces, solder should have taken just fine if you had enough flux and heat. I am "guessing" your iron wasn't able to overcome the ability of the "heatsink" to absorb the heat quickly enough and the solder never took. This is usually where a big ass hot mofo iron comes in to play since it can drop a crap load of heat quickly before other things start to melt.

Or you just need flux to clean the connection to allow for better bonding.

tlbase04

Was looking to order some of these, but the links in the OP do not work anymore. What style of LED are the ones in the taillights?