OBC Backlight bulbs

[A1BMW325iSport]

Hi, powered up my obc today to test it and the backlight is dead, you can see the display if you look very closely you can see numbers on there, anyway i pulled the white holder out of the side and unclipped the little circuit board it has 2 bulbs on it, the board is rated at max 10v, what bulbs do i need and where do i get them?
or do i buy the little circuit board from bmw? i couldn`t find it on the ETK i only saw the white plastic holder on there.

any advice greatly appreciated, need to sort this asap so i can finish off putting the dash back together

[A1BMW325iSport]

just had another look on ETK and the white housing is about 16quid so that must be complete with the circuit board right? p/n: 65 81 1 375 461

[Dan318-is]

i bought a new bulb from hellfrauds for mine but i still cant see jack shit at nite on it

let me know mate cos i wont mine to light up too

[A1BMW325iSport]

the 1.2w bulb in the back is for the buttons, there is a white plastic housing that pulls out from the side, in that is a circuit board with 2 bulbs on

[Dan318-is]

doh

so replacing these would mean it would light up in the dark then?

[A1BMW325iSport]

i think i`m correct here... it should light up with ignition its only the buttons which come on with the lights

[gazza]

MATT I BOUGHT A BAG OF THE BULBS FOR Ԛ£3 FROM RS COMPONENTS THEY ARE WIRED IN SERIES SO WHEN ONE BLOWS THE OTHER GOES AS WELL ....I THINK THEY ARE 6V ...BUT I WILL CHECK THE BAG IF YOU WANT A COUPLE ILL SEND THEM TO YOU ....ITS REALLY EASY TO DO TAKES 2 MINUTES
GAZZA

[Brianmoooore]

The bulbs should be 5V, but 6V isn't going to make much difference.
Ones I use are 5V 60mA 0.63 lumens from CPC, order code SC00337.

[Stealth]

I had the same problem, so i put a couple of wires across the white bulb holder and they worked, but didn't when i slid it back into the OBC.. no idea what's up..??

[Brianmoooore]

I had the same problem, so i put a couple of wires across the white bulb holder and they worked, but didn't when i slid it back into the OBC.. no idea what's up..??

The lamps are 5V and series connected, giving a total voltage of 10V, so somewhere in the OBC is something that drops the extra couple of volts. Probably a diode or two, but that's just a guess.
Whatever's in there, is probably your problem

[smithy318i]

LED's last longer, and have a brighter output.
They are probably also cheaper.

check this out...
http://s00r.van.wessem.net:81/vehicles/ ... index.html

[Brianmoooore]

LED's last longer, and have a brighter output.
They are probably also cheaper.

check this out...
http://s00r.van.wessem.net:81/vehicles/ ... index.html

Interesting link. I commented on the possibility of using LEDs in a thread on the same subject a while ago, but I didn't know it had already been done and documented.
Consumption is about 20mA by the figures given in the link, so that should just about be OK to leave them continuously lit.

[Richy325iTouring]

MATT I BOUGHT A BAG OF THE BULBS FOR Ԛ£3 FROM RS COMPONENTS THEY ARE WIRED IN SERIES SO WHEN ONE BLOWS THE OTHER GOES AS WELL ....I THINK THEY ARE 6V ...BUT I WILL CHECK THE BAG IF YOU WANT A COUPLE ILL SEND THEM TO YOU ....ITS REALLY EASY TO DO TAKES 2 MINUTES
GAZZA

wrong
my buttons dont light up but my display does

what bulb is for the buttons is it soldered to the bored or is it a normal dash bulb

[smithy318i]

what bulb is for the buttons is it soldered to the bored or is it a normal dash bulb

Exactly the same as any other dash bulb. 12V

[smithy318i]

LED's last longer, and have a brighter output.
They are probably also cheaper.

check this out...
http://s00r.van.wessem.net:81/vehicles/ ... index.html

Interesting link. I commented on the possibility of using LEDs in a thread on the same subject a while ago, but I didn't know it had already been done and documented.
Consumption is about 20mA by the figures given in the link, so that should just about be OK to leave them continuously lit.

Yeah. I quoted this link when i first joined the zone (way back) and was amazed to find that nobody even thought about LEDs. or new about the page.

[A1BMW325iSport]

thanks to all for the advice,

looking at the little circuit board only one bulb is blown so as you guys say thats all i takes as they are wired in series

i`ll get this fixed during the week

[Brianmoooore]

Important you change both - they must be matched.

[A1BMW325iSport]

yes mate i will thanks

what would we all do without e30zone

thanks again to all

[Baur323]

Just done this using link on changing bulbs to led's.
Cost me Ԛ£1.16 for two super bright orange led's and a couple of pence for the resistors, Maplins electronics stock them, cheaper than Ԛ£16.00 quid from the stealers and hopefully will last longer than the bulbs do.

[A1BMW325iSport]

i`ve just done mine with 2x 5v bulbs from RS for 49p each

[t11mfn]

Hey, this is a good post am going to try the LED thing soon, but first can anyone tell me how to get the OBC out first before i can change the bulbs?

Thanks

[Baur323]

Have a look in the Technical section under retro fitting OBC, 11th paragraph down under fitting tells you what to remove to access the OBC.
Good luck, its reletively easy to change over to led's

[t11mfn]

People that link to the website to show how to replace the lights in your OBC with LED's is not working anyone got another link so i can try and do the work tonight?

[t11mfn]

no worries after a bit of routing around i found the other article

http://newling.no-ip.com/rep/bordcomput ... licht.html

[Andy_magic]

My OBC backlight bulbs blew a few weeks ago, I didn't check the voltage of them and stuck a couple of 12v 1.2 watt bulbs in. It doesn't look any different day or night from when it worked before, perfectly readable. Maybe the bulbs had been changed already.

[A1BMW325iSport]

they are prob running slightly dimmer being 12v

[TheDutch]

Do the LED replacements still dim/brighten with the rest of the dashboard lighting or are they fixed?

N

[A1BMW325iSport]

led`s will only be one brightness, as they don`t work like bulbs do

[steedymorgan]

just had another look on ETK and the white housing is about 16quid so that must be complete with the circuit board right? p/n: 65 81 1 375 461

where can i get this ETK thing mate?

[A1BMW325iSport]

from me mate, drop me a PM

[JJbRacing]

Just done this using link on changing bulbs to led's.
Cost me Ԛ£1.16 for two super bright orange led's and a couple of pence for the resistors, Maplins electronics stock them, cheaper than Ԛ£16.00 quid from the stealers and hopefully will last longer than the bulbs do.

Any chance of the maplins product numbers? 420 pages of LED related products returned on my search

[t11mfn]

I did mine the weekend looks well bright.

I spoke to the guys in Maplin and got 2 12v LED's there the smallest ones that they did apparently and a 350ohms resistor wired it all up and hey presto its bright enough to see now!!!!!

[Andy_magic]

Is the display lit evenly as LEDs tend to have very directional light output where normal filament bulbs give a more even light.

A photo would be good...

[t11mfn]

If someone gets a few pics before the weekend i can get some then!!

As for directional light my display looks evenly lit from what i could see when i plugged it in!!!!

[Baur323]

Just done this using link on changing bulbs to led's.
Cost me Ԛ£1.16 for two super bright orange led's and a couple of pence for the resistors, Maplins electronics stock them, cheaper than Ԛ£16.00 quid from the stealers and hopefully will last longer than the bulbs do.

Any chance of the maplins product numbers? 420 pages of LED related products returned on my search

Try this JJb, sorry for delay in reply

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... &doy=26m10