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Hi All,
Like so many people with a 15 year old Surf I was disturbed that the dash switches had lost their "Glow" and ability to be seen at night.
I have found a way to fix this very simply and cheaply and make them brilliant again.
Firstly you must understand that when the surf was "new" these switches lit up quite well and did their job perfectly!
So what has changed?
Well mostly only the age of course!
If the switch isn't working at all then without a shadow of doubt you have a blown bulb which will need replaced.
However, as a bulb gets older (in most cases 15 years it well past their lifespan!) it will very often get dimmer so LET'S REPLACE AND CLEAN THEM ALL while we are at it shall we?
You can get the replacements here:-
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=1955&doy=20m1
The code is BT43W
N.B. Make sure you get the 12V ones!
OK so far?
Right!
So we have our new bulbs, what do we do with them?
The first thing you will notice is that the new bulbs will be smaller than the old ones, don't worry they are the same power and will do their job very nicely!
When I removed my switches I found that their were 2 types of bulbs, the ones we can replace with the new ones directly and smaller LED types.
Removing the old bulbs and replacing with the new ones is a DODDLE!
Turn the grey bulb holder anti clockwise with a small screwdriver and it will fall out!
The bulb is held in by the 2 wire tails you can see, fiddle around and they will come out no problems!
To put the new ones in just do the reverse, put the two wire tails through the 2 holes, then wrap them around the tabs, no need to trim as the more you wrap around the better contact you make on the elements!
Remember to clean the little elements on the switch as will so as to make good contact with the wire tails, I used a small screwdriver to scratch the surfaces clean and shiney.
Replacing the bulbs is only half the task, we also need to clean the surfaces the bulb illuminates as well.
I found the most of my switches were filthy with dirt and carbon deposits, NO WONDER THE BULB COULDN'T BE SEEN!
Use a cotton Bud and a good cleaner, I used Glass Cleaner!
Clean the switches very throughly and remember to shine them up!
The LED's of which there are 16 can be found in the:-
ECT SWITCH (1 Green LED)
IDLE UP SWITCH (1 Clear LED)
WINDOW/DOOR CONTROLS (5 Green LED's)
HEATER CONTROLS (6 Green & 2 Orange LED's)
Clean these as well and make sure the part of the switch that they shine through is clean and they will come back to life quite nicely!
No need to replace unless they do not work but because they are LED's this is VERY rare!
The hardest ones to do are the console one on the drivers armrest (windows etc.), just pop the flat panel off, undo the 2 multi plugs and lift it out.
Bring it in the house and you can get at the bulbs by popping off the "Door Lock Button" and the "Window Lock Button" with any suitable tool!
The others will come off very easily after you remove the pin that hold them on.
This is done by removing the pin lock and pushing the pin out!
The buttons can then be lifted off easy peasy!
You will probably notice, like me that these LED bulbs and switch surfaces will be filthy!
That is why we couldn't see them!
Clean them well and they will be fine!
While you are at it you can also do the heater controls, the buttons pop off very easily and if you clean the LED's, the little clear plastic reflecting surfaces (the light travels up from the bulbs) and the clear plastic inserts of the button itself the buttons glow will be 10 times better!
Here are the switches and what you will need to do!
REAR WINDOW - Replace 12V Bulb and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulb)
ECT SWITCH - Clean LED (Green) and clean surfaces VERY throughly! (Face of button pops off very easily!)
HEATER CONTROLS - Clean LED's (6 Green & 2 Orange I think!) and clean ALL (you will see clear plastic that light from main bulbs travels up) surfaces VERY throughly! (Face of buttons pop off very easily!)
HEATED REAR WINDOW - Replace 2 12V Bulbs and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulbs)
HAZZARD WARNING - Replace 12V Bulb and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulb)
IDLE UP - Replace 12V Bulb & Clean LED also clean switch surfaces (Face of button pops off very easily to get at bulb and LED)
HARD/SOFT SWITCH - Replace 12V Bulb and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulb)
DRIVERS WINDOW CONTROLS - Explained above!
If you do this you will notice a vast improvement as I did!
A very simple and effective job to do!
No need to buy fancy LED's etc.
Have FUN!
Later!
Gary
Like so many people with a 15 year old Surf I was disturbed that the dash switches had lost their "Glow" and ability to be seen at night.
I have found a way to fix this very simply and cheaply and make them brilliant again.
Firstly you must understand that when the surf was "new" these switches lit up quite well and did their job perfectly!
So what has changed?
Well mostly only the age of course!
If the switch isn't working at all then without a shadow of doubt you have a blown bulb which will need replaced.
However, as a bulb gets older (in most cases 15 years it well past their lifespan!) it will very often get dimmer so LET'S REPLACE AND CLEAN THEM ALL while we are at it shall we?
You can get the replacements here:-
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=1955&doy=20m1
The code is BT43W
N.B. Make sure you get the 12V ones!
OK so far?
Right!
So we have our new bulbs, what do we do with them?
The first thing you will notice is that the new bulbs will be smaller than the old ones, don't worry they are the same power and will do their job very nicely!
When I removed my switches I found that their were 2 types of bulbs, the ones we can replace with the new ones directly and smaller LED types.
Removing the old bulbs and replacing with the new ones is a DODDLE!
Turn the grey bulb holder anti clockwise with a small screwdriver and it will fall out!
The bulb is held in by the 2 wire tails you can see, fiddle around and they will come out no problems!
To put the new ones in just do the reverse, put the two wire tails through the 2 holes, then wrap them around the tabs, no need to trim as the more you wrap around the better contact you make on the elements!
Remember to clean the little elements on the switch as will so as to make good contact with the wire tails, I used a small screwdriver to scratch the surfaces clean and shiney.
Replacing the bulbs is only half the task, we also need to clean the surfaces the bulb illuminates as well.
I found the most of my switches were filthy with dirt and carbon deposits, NO WONDER THE BULB COULDN'T BE SEEN!
Use a cotton Bud and a good cleaner, I used Glass Cleaner!
Clean the switches very throughly and remember to shine them up!
The LED's of which there are 16 can be found in the:-
ECT SWITCH (1 Green LED)
IDLE UP SWITCH (1 Clear LED)
WINDOW/DOOR CONTROLS (5 Green LED's)
HEATER CONTROLS (6 Green & 2 Orange LED's)
Clean these as well and make sure the part of the switch that they shine through is clean and they will come back to life quite nicely!
No need to replace unless they do not work but because they are LED's this is VERY rare!
The hardest ones to do are the console one on the drivers armrest (windows etc.), just pop the flat panel off, undo the 2 multi plugs and lift it out.
Bring it in the house and you can get at the bulbs by popping off the "Door Lock Button" and the "Window Lock Button" with any suitable tool!
The others will come off very easily after you remove the pin that hold them on.
This is done by removing the pin lock and pushing the pin out!
The buttons can then be lifted off easy peasy!
You will probably notice, like me that these LED bulbs and switch surfaces will be filthy!
That is why we couldn't see them!
Clean them well and they will be fine!
While you are at it you can also do the heater controls, the buttons pop off very easily and if you clean the LED's, the little clear plastic reflecting surfaces (the light travels up from the bulbs) and the clear plastic inserts of the button itself the buttons glow will be 10 times better!
Here are the switches and what you will need to do!
REAR WINDOW - Replace 12V Bulb and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulb)
ECT SWITCH - Clean LED (Green) and clean surfaces VERY throughly! (Face of button pops off very easily!)
HEATER CONTROLS - Clean LED's (6 Green & 2 Orange I think!) and clean ALL (you will see clear plastic that light from main bulbs travels up) surfaces VERY throughly! (Face of buttons pop off very easily!)
HEATED REAR WINDOW - Replace 2 12V Bulbs and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulbs)
HAZZARD WARNING - Replace 12V Bulb and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulb)
IDLE UP - Replace 12V Bulb & Clean LED also clean switch surfaces (Face of button pops off very easily to get at bulb and LED)
HARD/SOFT SWITCH - Replace 12V Bulb and clean switch surfaces (Pop switch out to get at bulb)
DRIVERS WINDOW CONTROLS - Explained above!
If you do this you will notice a vast improvement as I did!
A very simple and effective job to do!
No need to buy fancy LED's etc.
Have FUN!
Later!
Gary
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