Late interior heater control illumination

[corradophil 3]

Does anyone elses heater controls illuminate fine on the centre knob (fan speed) and very dim on the outer two?

 

Any ideas how to solve this?

 

There is only one bulb which is behind the central knob, the light is supposed to be carried by perspex light prisms to illuminate the controls.

[JT 0]

yeah my old vr was exactly the same.. i'm sure there was a how to on this... could be in the search some where :!:

[Phil K 0]

The problem is due to having only one bulb to illuminate all of them - the brains at VW thought that their extremely naff light conducting pipes were up to the job :roll:

 

I put an up rated bulb in mine which kinda helps but they're still fairly poop :lol:

[corradophil 3]

yeah my old vr was exactly the same.. i'm sure there was a how to on this... could be in the search some where

 

I've had a bit of a rummage around on the search. but couldn't find anything.

 

I put an up rated bulb in mine which kinda helps but they're still fairly poop

 

Yep I got a 2 watt bulb instead of 1.2 watts, but it doesn't solve it.

[Phil K 0]

Yeah... you know where I'm coming from with the poop reference then ;)

 

Spose the only way to really sort them is to rip 'em apart and get some LED's in there - I have a funny feeling that A20Lee did this with his when he changed to red... might be worth having a look through his members gallery to see if there's any info in there?

[corradophil 3]

I'll have a look in A20Lee's gallery.

 

My dad was suggesting LEDs too, mainly because they don't produce heat.

[gradeAfailure 0]

Didn't someone on here try using light pipes or something...?

 

 

Yup, twas Andy Brookes - check out this thread, especially page 2...

 

hth!

[corradophil 3]

gradeAfailure,

 

Cheers mate, very useful, looks like I may be purchasing some LEDs soon then...

[GIXXERUK 0]

EL sheets work well iirc ,pretty sure this is what zarmann used

[fla 9]

What's the best way to remove the control panel completely from the car - I've removed the four mounting screws and the panel is loose but its how to remove the cables from the panel to get it out. How hard is it then to refit the cables?

[Claret Badger 0]

my VR has the optional "touch light" facility

 

I just have to brush the central dial and all lights on the heater panel turn off - and just repeat to make them turn on again.

 

 

VW genius!!!

[GIXXERUK 0]

fla, this might help mate

 

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... ght=heater

[fla 9]

Whats the feasibilty of using EL tape or wire - there are various kits on ebay for about a tenner which seem cheap and dont look too difficult to wire up. How big is the inverter for one of those - need to hide it away nicely?

[corradophil 3]

You can get EL sheets from RS for around £5, and an inverter for £25 according to their CD catalogue.

 

I'm looking into a series of LEDs for mine.

 

I'll keep you updated.

[gradeAfailure 0]

My 'rat has the same plastic sheet as the Seat Toledos of the same year - only theirs are red...

 

Not too sure if it'll fit the Corrado heater panel, as i think that the front panel is different even though the actual control unit behind it is almost identical...

 

Might be worth a peek next time you're at a scrappy though!

[fla 9]

gradeAfailure, good idea mate. Worth picking up the whole lot and fitting - the green "spider" in mine has broken a leg hence my optics are less than pathetic.

[fla 9]

Just been playing around with some leds to try and get the Andy Brookes effect but it looks crap. The red leds look slightly purple rather than a mild orange/red. Looks like EL tape or wire is the way to go - plus i dont have the time at present to go to the scrappy and pick up a heater panel, unless someone wouldnt mind obliging.....