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Are the dash switches impossible to convert to LEDs?


BlueKrogan
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I haven't checked the E-AT and Cruise rocker switches yet, but after inspecting the dimmer, defrost, and hazard light switches, there isn't a light socket that screws out, and it seems like you have to disassemble it to get to the light. Yet for some reason, the A/C label and its button underneath on the HVAC controls has a light that screws out so you could swap in a neox LED. Why didn't they do this for the rest of the buttons lol

 

My hazard button's light is out; what did people actually do back in the day, actually replace the whole thing? Seems kind of wasteful, but I digress lol. Anyways, is it possible to swap/solder in LEDs inside the switches themselves? If so, how would I even begin to disassemble this switch? 

Edited by BlueKrogan
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9 hours ago, Bubbles said:

I’ve been wanting to swap in LEDs for any and all dash, signal and curtesy lights in my ‘91 Pathfinder. Any info is appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

So the main lights that illuminate the guage cluster use 194 LEDs, and the rest of them use the smaller 74s: I believe the HVAC controls also uses a 74 bulb. Mine is a 1994 curvy dash, so it uses 5 194 bulbs to illuminate, and uses 194 for the low gas light and the battery light; I'm not sure how many the square dash uses.

 

I just want to do the button switches because of consistency, and they look terrible in comparison to the guage cluster lol. I can't find any info on these switches.

 

 

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You do have to take the switches apart to get to the bulbs. The bulbs themselves are tiny little buggers, about the size you'd find in a model train, with the leads wrapped around a rubber block that sticks onto some metal posts. I have converted all but two of mine (the two I can't reach without pulling the dash) to LED by removing the dead bulbs, and the rubber block, and soldering resistors and LEDs in their place. It's a bit tricky, and the switches are fragile, but it is possible. 

 

Separate the switch in the middle, where it's snapped together. This will take some screwing around to get all the snaps released at the same time. Don't try to remove the rocker on its own, you'll break the tabs it pivots on. Once it's apart, you'll see the incandescent bulb, which has a blue rubber condom over it. Work out the polarity (look at the plug--pink/blue is +, pink/black is -) and mark it so you don't solder stuff backwards. Work out how much of the metal tabs you'll need to cut to make room, so you can get the LED in the same place, with the bulb aimed at the rocker. This may take a little screwing around to get the LED where you want it and not interfering with anything else. I use 1k resistors and 3mm warm white LEDs. Test that the LED works before reassembling the switch, and make sure the rocker engages the sliding part properly when snapping it back together. IIRC there's a little ball and a spring that makes the rocker latch or pop back (depending on the switch), which may fall out when you separate the switch, so keep an eye out for those and make sure it all goes back together how you found it.

 

One of these days I'm going to take my dash out again, and when I do, I'll convert those last two switches, and make a writeup or a short video on how it's done. Naturally this is not that day.

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So you have to solder in a resistor as well? What would happen if you don't, would the LED be dimly lit if you turn off the dashlights?

 

On an unrelated note, which bulb does the A/C toggle switch use if I would want to throw in an LED there? 3mm?

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I think if you don't put the resistor in it will remain on all the time when the truck is off because of how little power LEDs use. The "ghost power" that remains when the system is off is enough to dimly light them sometimes. 

 

@Slartibartfastcan correct me on this.

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It's simpler than that. The dash illumination circuit supplies about 12v, which is what the incandescent bulbs were built for. The component LEDs I'm using in the switches want about 3v. Wiring a resistor in series with the LED limits current, which drops the voltage across the LED. Without the resistor, the LED would burn out as soon as it got power. 

 

I did not install resistors in parallel (like the Canbus bulbs do to simulate incandescent bulbs for fussier applications), and the switches do not illuminate when they shouldn't. There's no bulb monitoring going on in this circuit, and AFAIK there's nothing tricky that relies on them working like standard incandescents. The dash illumination circuit taps into the marker light circuit, so when the headlight switch is off, the dash illumination should be completely dead. AFAIK the only other components that could be supplying power are the alarm (taps into the parking light circuit so it can blink the lights when it does stuff) and the stereo (connects to dash illumination, I assume so it can dim the display at night). I would be surprised and concerned if either was leaking enough current to light up the switches, much less the switches, the cluster, and the marker lights, because, again, they all share a + feed--though at a low voltage, they may not all light up. (The dash lights ground through the dimmer switch.)

 

That said, I have standard incandescents in my marker lights and my cluster illumination, so any stray current would have plenty of available paths to ground. If you swap every bulb on that circuit for LEDs, and end up with a ghost glow on the dash, I'll bet a couple of incandescent or Canbus-friendly LED bulbs in the front corner lights or the tail lights would sort it out.

 

Looks like the aircon switch takes a #74 bulb.

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Man, that sounds like a lot for just a few switches; when you say marker lights, you mean the corner lights next to the headlights? Had my Pathfinder for a year and keep forgetting the signal lights are actually on the bumper lmao

 

The AC switch has those twist off sockets that have the bulb wire that wraps around the socket base:

 

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Anyways, I also noticed that some hazard switches from the later model years of the hardbody actually has an easy access to the neo light like the AC switch here instead of being inacessable; I wonder if it's easier to just swap that in and put an LED inside that.

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It's a little fiddly, but honestly not that bad, apart from the pucker factor of working with 30-year-old plastic that needs to go back together when you're done or something on the truck won't work.

 

And yeah, the marker light circuit lights up the front corner lights and the tail lights.

 

I've got an aircon switch in my spares bin that I might have a poke at later if I remember to. I would be tempted to solder the resistor and LED directly to the contacts on the circuit board rather than try and re-use that little bulb holder. Nice that you can get to it without separating the housing, though.

I forgot about the latching push-style hazard switches in the round dash. Looked one up on eBay and, yeah, looks like they've got the same screw-in bulb housing, so that's nice. Does the switch on your '94 not have that? 

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7 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

It's a little fiddly, but honestly not that bad, apart from the pucker factor of working with 30-year-old plastic that needs to go back together when you're done or something on the truck won't work.

 

And yeah, the marker light circuit lights up the front corner lights and the tail lights.

 

I've got an aircon switch in my spares bin that I might have a poke at later if I remember to. I would be tempted to solder the resistor and LED directly to the contacts on the circuit board rather than try and re-use that little bulb holder. Nice that you can get to it without separating the housing, though.

I forgot about the latching push-style hazard switches in the round dash. Looked one up on eBay and, yeah, looks like they've got the same screw-in bulb housing, so that's nice. Does the switch on your '94 not have that? 

 

Nope, looked everywhere and it's nowhere to be found on the switch. The hardbody was still being made until somewhere around the late 90's/early 00's? I'm wondering if the one I saw is from a '98 or something lol

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I checked the hazard switch from my 6/'95 parts truck, and it has the same quarter-turn light socket as the aircon switch, right there on the top. If your '94 doesn't have that, it must've changed somewhere in between. The D21 was available in the US until 7/'97, so the socketed version should be easy enough to track down--or PM me, I have no use for the one I've got. 

 

That said, these are not that tough to open up, and if you do it right, you'll only have to do it once. Even if you get the socketed one, I would still solder the resistor and LED to the circuit board instead of trying to work around the socket. That could be done without opening up the switch.

 

The bulbs in the sockets appear to be the same ones used in the rocker switches. And, yeah, they're not 74s; reading that link I posted properly this time says it's the HVAC head unit that takes 74s, not the switch.

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