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SteveZ
Samba Member
Joined: January 02, 2019
Posts: 136
Location: Nova Scotia
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 Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:38 am Post subject: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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Is it possible to replace the bulb in this heater trim panel? It is part number 535919383 from a 1992 Eurovan CV.
The answer, from Josh on Facebook Eurovan page is, "Yes, just pry apart white part that's glued to black part to get at the bulb."
Thanks, Steve
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postjosh
Samba Member
Joined: November 20, 2017
Posts: 143
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 5:35 am Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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i have this question, too. it's never worked on mine since i bought it. a quick google search brought up this for a vw corraado but it looks like it also applies to our eurovans.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2004600
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Once in a while the heater control backlight lamp dies. VW produced the part in 1 piece. You have to replace the whole unit if only the lamp dies. Unit is expensive and not produced anymore. I replaced the bulp with a white led. The led has a resistor for 12v use, find it on Ebay or at DX. I like to keep my car and loom original so i also post a adapter that can be used to connect de loom connector to the cut lamp connector en keep it in place.
cut the lamp holder from the heater control unit
make the lamp hole a bit wider so the led can go in
(if you don't want to cut the loom) cut the lamp holder so you can solder the led wires to the pins
put the parts toghetter.
ps. no need for glue, the part fits tight to the original
EDIT: i added the right side, using 1 bulb did not light up the whole heater control. Adding a led on the other side does light it up in total. For maximum result grind away a bit of the white plastic so the led can easely shine tru. Again no glue needed part can pushed between plastic heater conntrol parts. |
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'93 EV Wkndr – 5 cylinder – 5 speed - 280k+ miles |
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postjosh
Samba Member
Joined: November 20, 2017
Posts: 143
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:06 am Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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so, i finally fixed this problem. pretty simple, actually. i decided to look for a replacement bulb instead of an led.
first, i tried the HELLA 2721 but they were too small. i ended up using the "Dr.Roc Replacement for Instrument Cluster Gauge Panel Dashboard Back Light Bulb."
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DK5ZBI2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
the bulb can be removed from the back of the panel easily but it is jammed into a plastic holder as you can see in the picture below. i removed the old bulb with needle nose pliers (which broke it). i trimmed the leads on the new bulb, lined them up with the holes in the plastic holder and pushed it in. it took a few bulbs before, i got the technique down but it's not rocket science. i then checked the connection by putting a square 9 volt battery across the terminals.
i then reinstalled the bulb holder into the panel and reassembled the console. there was some light leaking through the panel gap which i blocked with some duct tape on the back of the panel.
overall, i'm happy with the repair. the display is a little dimmer than i would have liked but i can see all the labels on the ac/heaters sliders from end to end and i maintained the oem look of the console.
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'93 EV Wkndr – 5 cylinder – 5 speed - 280k+ miles |
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1961tbird
Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2018
Posts: 333
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 9:09 am Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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Is there a trick to remove the knobs on the heater control sliders in a 95 EVC order to then remove the plastic faceplate? See below.
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Saturn
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2019
Posts: 248
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 6:58 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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| 1961tbird wrote: |
Is there a trick to remove the knobs on the heater control sliders in a 95 EVC order to then remove the plastic faceplate?
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The slider controls just pull off. Gently grab each one and rock/wiggle them while pulling them straight back away from the panel. The controls are metal arms which the plastic sliders mount onto. The panel is held into place by 4 plastic locking tabs and can be easily removed from the dash, just do not force it off.
You will need to unplug the connector to the illumination/light, this may take a little effort because of the heat generated by the bulb may cause some adhesion between the wiring connector and plastic housing. The fan switch can also be removed off of the panel by pulling it upward then off the housing. There are three layers to the control panel, the outward facing black panel, a white plastic backing to hold the illumination bulb and the fan switch then a clear plastic insert to help spread the light across the width of the panel. The white plastic back is glued to the black plastic at the three raised rectangles under the openings for the slider controls. I used two small jewelers screwdrivers to pop each of those rectangles off of the black plastic front piece. Once those 6 spots are opened up the light bulb is accessible.
This is how I approached replacing out the burnt-out bulb in the panel:
The illumination bulb is encased in a tan collar and is not a serviceable part. What makes this bulb difficult to replace is it needing to sit in the collar at the correct position and the male connectors are oriented horizontal (- -) and not vertical ( | | ). Looking through all of the various small bulb and bulb holders in my spare parts collection I could not find any which would drop in.
Pulling out a Dremel cut the collar and was able to extract out the upper portion of the bulb as well as the two male connectors. Soldered the two male connectors on each of the LED wire leads then slipped it into the upper part of the collar. Inserted this into the white plastic housing making sure the male connectors were oriented correctly to go through the back. Found out the hard way one of the LED wires needed be insulated inside its housing. When installing the LED light into the control panel housing for the first time, plugged in the connector, the LED leads had been pushed together and shorted out. This resulted in blowing the 10 amp fuse for the illumination circuit
If replacing with a LED bulb, it is important to figuring out which LED lead is the positive side. Unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs will only function when the positive lead is connected to the positive wire. As I started this fix, I tested the LED and marked the positive lead with a sharpie. As a heads up, when doing this replacement on my 1995 EVC I did notice the white plastic piece was kind of brittle in the area around the light bulb. Assuming the heat generated from the bulb over the last 20 or so years caused this so recommend being gentle as possible. Additionally, I would recommend using a mild adhesive to secure the white plastic backing to the front panel. Will make it easier to put back together when the backing not flopping around.
Last edited by Saturn on Sat Jul 10, 2021 9:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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1961tbird
Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2018
Posts: 333
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 9:15 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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Many thanks for this write-up. I’ll try again tomorrow and see how it goes. With these plastic parts, it’s best to ask first rather than forcing. I was pulling/wriggling but was afraid to force it (possibly the wrong way)
I did pick up the Dr Roc bulbs referenced above which may help with the installation. |
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1961tbird
Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2018
Posts: 333
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
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| Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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Success. Installed the Dr. Roc bulb. Probably not as bright as a LED but super easy.
Below are the heater control levers for future reference. And yes, simply wiggle and pull straight out.
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[email protected]
Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2010
Posts: 327
Location: Amesbury, MA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:45 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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Looks pretty vanagonny the heater thing does
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2001 eurovn weekender 207k fresh batteries |
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Mikeammo
Samba Member
Joined: June 18, 2021
Posts: 7
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2023 1:02 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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Hi,
I’m looking to replace a bulb for A/C and Heater control
I was able to remove it from the white plastic holder.
It’s for a 1995 EVC , and info / help would be appreciated, thank you |
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postjosh
Samba Member
Joined: November 20, 2017
Posts: 143
Location: NYC
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| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 5:03 am Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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the bulb i listed earlier in the thread is still available on amazon. however, after seeing the pictures on saturn's followup, i would say the led is significantly brighter. what i installed works but it's not very bright.
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'93 EV Wkndr – 5 cylinder – 5 speed - 280k+ miles |
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Saturn
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2019
Posts: 248
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 3:21 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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| postjosh wrote: |
| the bulb i listed earlier in the thread is still available on amazon. however, after seeing the pictures on saturn's followup, i would say the led is significantly brighter. what i installed works but it's not very bright. |
Since this post is active again, I have a couple of follow ups on it. This was going to be something to include in my Space Capsule: 1995 thread at some point and since it is relevant to his particular thread, going to post it here instead.
Edits on 02/20/23 to include further details and fix several typos.
Brightness:
One aspect to know with the LED set up I previously documented on my climate controls, the lighting is not uniform. The left side of the unit is brighter than the right side. When looking at the image post installation, this can bee seen by the glare/dazzle of the fan controls vs. the crispness of the right side of the blend and temperature controls. While noticeable it is not like the right side is completely muted or dark, just not quite as bright. Regardless, glad to have the illumination back.
The panel is backlit from light refracting through a plastic layer, so the relative position of a bulb filament or LED head has an impact on the overall brightness. In retrospect, the LED in the version from last year is projecting more forward so I should have tried to get it positioned a little farther back into the housing. As an FYI, modifying the housing for a larger bulb could be detrimental to the integrity of plastic. This can be seen in the picture down below along with the impact to the plastic from the heat generated by the light source. Additionally evidence of this can be seen where the white plastic has become beige-ish from heat exposure of the stock bulb. An LED should operate at a cooler temperature than a filament one.
Making The Bulb A Serviceable Part v2.0
One of the challenges of this particular fix is the unique bulb and connector combination used in the climate control housing. The stock lamp only partially sticks out of the tan sleeve to better align with the clear plastic layer for a more uniform illumination. A year or so ago I picked up a spare climate control unit from a 1993 Eurovan in the junkyard partially to figure out how to make a replaceable bulb set up and to have a spare as well. Scoured Amazon for suitable bulb holder, but came up skunked. There is probably a suitable solution available through a vendor, but got tired of searching through pages of items which did not match my search query. The dimensions of light’s tan surround is approximately 8mm outer diameter, 5mm inner diameter and 20mm in length. Reaching out to a friend with a 3-D printer, discussed constructing a basic sleeve which with those specs. Looking through the various bulb holders in my spares collection, one from Volvo 240 (and 700 series) instrument cluster looked promising, though a tiny bit wide. Using some nippers and a sharp knife, remove the outer collar and trim down the corners to get it to fit into the hole.
With this holder fitting into to place, my idea is to modify two male 2.6mm male connectors and insert them into the back of the holder to be able to engage the female connector. Now realizing I neglected to capture a picture of what they looked like after modifications from the side/back. First was trimming off one half of the rear section where they would be crimped around a wire. This left an ear sticking up at 90 degrees from the long part of the connector. The ear is trimmed down to the height of and pressed inside of the exposed metal strips of the internal contacts (a mechanical, not soldered connection.) After creating the first one, realized is should be a bit longer and why there is a length difference between the two of them. These improvised connectors are the same width as the ones in the burnt-out stock unit and fit fine through the rectangle openings in the white plastic piece. These take a while to get mounted as I need to gingerly shave down some of the plastic and do extensive trimming the the brass pieces to get them to press fit between the plastic housing and the metal strips on the side/back.
The blue holder is inserted down into the mounting hole as far as possible so the LED sits almost flush along the clear plastic layer. The male connectors emerging out the back should have no issue plugging into the existing Eurovan wiring harness. If the illumination bulb is too far forward, there will be interference with the front black plastic housing. Trying out this LED bulb to see if it helps with a more even light distribution. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082XBJWJX). After a test fit of the blue housing into place, realize it will not come out without a fair bit of work. Push that in as far as it will go so it is recessed in the opening. Insert the LED bulb and while it fits in place, it sticks out forward more than I would like it to. A final adjustment is trimming off the very end of the plastic of the bulb holder in order to get it to sit as far back as it can. Hook up a 12V power supply and everything works and looks good.
Adding To A Previous Approach
As mentioned previously, the illumination connectors for the lighting in the climate control are pretty unique. When replacing out the speakers in my 1995 EVC, I realized the tweeter & door speaker connectors are the exact same type as used in the climate control unit. Reference: the last paragraph in this post. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9924103#9924103 The male connectors are available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PD7TB4J and other places.) If taking the path with Dr. Roc bulbs postjosh originally posted or with a regular LED or filament-based bulb (the leads will most likely need to be lengthened a bit to clear the back of the white housing.) One could secure the two wires into the speaker harness and this would be potentially quick, minimal fabrication plug and play solution.
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Saturn
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2019
Posts: 248
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 7:51 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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But wait, there is more!
One of the things which surprised me about the 1993 Weekender I picked in Aug 2022 was the climate control illumination worked. After retrofitting an LED into the spare unit, took it out to the van in order to test the bulb and compare the relative brightness between a stock and LED set up. Plugging the spare unit into the Weekender’s wiring the LED shines bright, so the + lead is in the correct position. When comparing this to the stock filament bulb, the difference is dramatic. The LED one is much brighter and seems to be more uniform across the whole face while the filament one seems, well weak. Pictures capturing these two do not give the difference justice.
OEM Bulb
LED Bulb
LED Bulb in Front Unit
A 3rd Bulb Replacement Option:
After upgrading the spare unit, I kept the burnt out bulb/holder from the spare unit. After updating the one from the Weekender decided to cut it open. Happened to get very lucky in my incision (4mm from the base) as that exactly the end of the male connectors are embedded into the tan holder. As I looked at it I realized with a little bit modification, the holder could be retained intact and make the bulb replaceable. The only OEM bulb holder I have left is the working one from the Euroban, so decide to sacrifice it to test another method. This procedure I believe is easier and simpler than my previous versions and what I would do if I had to this again in the future.
Retrofitting a replaceable LED bulb v3.0
1) Extract bulb holder out of the white housing.
2) At the base of the tan plastic, drill along/above each male connector into the housing 4 -5mm in depth, this is where the leads for the bulb are. I used a 1/16” drill bit, the smallest I had available. When breaking into the cavity of the housing, it will be pretty obvious. Note: My aim was not totally accurate on the one side.
3) Remove bulb from housing. One lead was cut while drilling. For the second one I could grab the end of the bulb with pliers and twisted until the wire gave way. May have to use a drill bit or other tool if it is stubborn.)
4) Straighten LED leads and trim plastic body if needed (the LED I used are 9 mm long after being trimmed, cut just after the second tier.)
5) Determine/Mark the + lead on the LED - this can be done with a 9V battery.
6) Insert LED and guide leads through the holes through the base. Note: A filament bulb may need some sort of collar around it to keep it centered in the tan housing.
7) Secure to male connectors (solder, drill a small hole or notch on the side to wrap lead around.)
8) Insert bulb holder into white housing, making sure the + lead is on the right side.
9) Reconnect fan switch and illumination wiring then reinstall into the dashboard.
Exploration: Making the cut at 4mm
Exploration: After cutting the holder in two
Exploration: Testing the drilling concept on the bottom part
V3.0: Filament Bulb Removed, holes drilled in base
V3.0: The inside of the tan piece
Testing to locate the + lead on the LED
V3.0: The end product
V3.0: The end product
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volkybus
Samba Member
Joined: November 03, 2013
Posts: 486
Location: CASTLETON VT USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 3:09 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing Light Bulb in Heater Panel |
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Wow very impressive...Ive been
N using a flashlight to see my dash for years..I ended up w a whole new instrument panel from a 93 mv & low & behold I now have interior lites..In our VW club Everybody else has a bay or a vanagan..so I'm that guy now...So nice to see I'm not the only one with a 30 year old van that's too new for everybody.. I keep trying to keep it running..and looks like it'll help.. .Keep them on the road I say...I have to say this Van is growing on me..Some previous owner lowered it..so maybe I'll tackle that next..Bill...VT & PR. |
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