How To: Rear Dome Light LED Replacement

[MiaMaui]

Haven’t done that one. But the metal pieces left after braking the led off must be removed. I tried to solder to them. Could not. You need to heat up till they turn loose. They will come loose. Then it will be easy to solder. Had me worried too, but it worked out ok. Good luck.

So like use a Heat gun or hair dryer?

 

[MiaMaui]

Haven’t done that one. But the metal pieces left after braking the led off must be removed. I tried to solder to them. Could not. You need to heat up till they turn loose. They will come loose. Then it will be easy to solder. Had me worried too, but it worked out ok. Good luck.

I managed to get the metal square off. But when I took the circuit board back to the car to plug it in and touch the wires so the LED would turn on it didn't work. No matter which way I touched the wires. I think I messed the two metal contacts up when soldering. Is there a fix?

 

[drudis]

LED have a polarity (certain way to install the +positive and -negative). Try swapping the bulb wires to opposite?

 

[MiaMaui]

LED have a polarity (certain way to install the +positive and -negative). Try swapping the bulb wires to opposite?

Anyway I flipped the LED there was still nothing.

 

[Dprestidge]

Anyway I flipped the LED there was still nothing.

I am sorry. Try testing the led. If you didn’t melt a big whole in circuit board, it should work. Are the other lights on? Let us know.

 

[Dprestidge]

So like use a Heat gun or hair dryer?

No no, soldering iron.

 

[MiaMaui]

I am sorry. Try testing the led. If you didn’t melt a big whole in circuit board, it should work. Are the other lights on? Let us know.

Laugh if you need to but it all works.... I just had the circuit board plugged into the harness backwards.... . Thanks for the help though.

 

[Dprestidge]

Laugh if you need to but it all works.... I just had the circuit board plugged into the harness backwards.... . Thanks for the help though.

That’s great glad it worked out for you!

 

[RhinoQuartz]

Laugh if you need to but it all works.... I just had the circuit board plugged into the harness backwards.... . Thanks for the help though.

My old shop teacher was a former Rolls Royce engineer. The most important thing he taught me was - "it's always the other way".

 

[Dprestidge]

Would anyone here be willing to do mine for a small fee? I can provide the bulbs and pay for shipping. Pm on here or Facebook Ediberto Reyes. TIA

If you are interested drivebright.com can fix you up.

 

[DoubleD603]

If you are interested drivebright.com can fix you up.

Website is not reachable for some reason, appears to be down?

 

[peterk9]

Website is not reachable for some reason, appears to be down?

Welcome to the Forum.
Worked for me. Drive Bright | Home

Peter

 

[Joe Stewart]

I pulled the cargo overhead lamp to do the led upgrade. removing the fixture and the circuit board was a piece of cake. Getting the led light off the circuit board was a whole nother story. That thing broke in many pieces and would not come of to save my life. I ended up using the soldering iron on the metal, after tearing off all the white plastic pieces, to finally get to the bare board. I used the paddle type led and it was a breeze soldering the new bulb on. The bulbs i got have the chip that will work either way you install it, so i did not have to worry about pos-neg posts. Plugged it in and worked perfect. Big difference. Makes the yellow light over the 2nd-3rd row seats look really dim. That one has 2 led lights in it and each is switched. That one looks a little more difficult to upgrade. There is not enough room for the paddle type bulbs to fit in that one. That will be a project for next time.

 

[mmorey79]

FWIW I did this mod today. Few things I did that might help/interest others, I used a linear 16 LED COB panel, specifically: US $0.4 29% OFF|High Quality COB LED Panel Light White Car Reading Map Lamp Auto Dome Interior Bulb Ba9s T10 C5W COB Adapter Festoon Base 12V DC|Signal Lamp| - AliExpress

I tried removing the LED cleanly but ended up breaking it apart like everyone else. I was able to desolder the negative side (the thinner of the two metal pieces) but the positive was just not holding enough heat for the larger solder pad/metal piece and I was concerned about damaging the pads. I tried filing it down to flatten it to get more heat into it as there was some damage to the surface, to find out that it was a copper piece that was plated, with the plating filed off I was able to just solder directly to the copper and not worry about tearing the metal off, I'd imagine the other side is the same so if you break up the LED down to two contact bars you can just scuff the plating off and solder directly to them, at least with some flux etc.

I popped the little silver reflector out by prying up against the two small tabs at the top, trimmed it to fit around the panel, and pressed it back in to hold the panel down (rather than trying to glue in the LED panel). You can score it with an Xacto or similar and then use pliers to twist and break it along the lines. One benefit of the panel is you get a lot of light directly on the back seat without spreading a lot to the driver and other passengers.

 

[peterk9]

^^ Welcome to the Forum and Happy New Year!
Thank you for your input.

Peter

 

[Kram1030]

Also, I have the light with two buttons and 2 LED's. Does anyone know how to do that one?

I am going to remove the OEM LED chips and solder in these.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DBZIDK4/?tag=serious-20

 

[peterk9]

^^ Welcome to the Forum.
Please let us know how it went.

Peter

 

[ecoboost_xsport]

I am going to remove the OEM LED chips and solder in these.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DBZIDK4/?tag=serious-20

Or...you can spend another $30 and get you one that is already done up, has a great warranty policy and well-made. I know this was posted already, but it's worth mentioning again.

Drive Bright | Products

 

[josueh411]

So does anybody knows how to do the dome lights that has 2 buttons i took it apart and instead of 1 big led i have 2 small leds

 

[Kram1030]

So does anybody knows how to do the dome lights that has 2 buttons i took it apart and instead of 1 big led i have 2 small leds

I just replaced the OEM LED chips.