Stereo & Electronics - Ya think I'm gonna buy a head unit when I did this?

Almost a year ago, about 4 light bulbs in the monsoon head unit went out, the 2 and 5 buttons, the AUTO TONE button, the FADE, BAL, BASS, TREB knob tray lights, and the SEEK button light went out.

I didn't know the FADE, BAL, BASS,TREB lights was supposed to be lit up. It was like this when I got the car from the dealer new in '99.

So I posted a thread on LS1.com on how to replace the lights, they just basically said it's built into the circuit and can't be changed, and they all told me to get a used head unit, that being around $100 for a CD player monsoon head unit, F that! :wave-fing

A week before now, I ordered the parts
10 3000mcd LED lights from an online store
10 560ohms resistors
a socket to remove the radio unit and the volume control knob nut
a screwdriver to depress the connections for the fog lights and the ASR trac control switch and to take the plastic face panel off the unit
a 1/8th inch hex socket from whia tools (local hobby shop, about $7 for it) to remove the circuit board from the plastic face plate.
a soldering tool, some solder
+ this webpage printout http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/leds.html

a hour and 15 mins later... (Note: the AUTO TONE button in far right of the radio unit is actually a factory bulb, I put a LED there and when testing the bulbs before reassembly, it went out in 5 seconds, must be a defective one. So I put one good factory bulb back in it for now)
The radio looks rich cool blue color, much nicer, just like the VW GTI radio light colors. :)
Now no more bulbs to go out, no more heat coming from the faceplate and no more than $15 bucks!

Looks Great!
Here is a big thumbs up :thumb: for you.

--VIP1

Very nice man, very clean.

The reason that the Auto Tone LED blew so quickly is because bulbs are already current limiting. An LED pretty much acts like a short circuit, so it needs a resistor in series with the LED to limit the current. You can try different resistors until you get the correct brightness out of the LED.

The reason that the Auto Tone LED blew so quickly is because bulbs are already current limiting. An LED pretty much acts like a short circuit, so it needs a resistor in series with the LED to limit the current. You can try different resistors until you get the correct brightness out of the LED.

LEDs require a specific voltage which is almost always lower than 12volts. LEDs typically require 1.5V, 3.3V, or 5V (depending on the LED). So if you put 12V through it, it will blow quickly. You need a resistor to lower the voltage from 12V to the voltage that the LED requires. You can mathematically calculate it. The supplied voltage, the number of LEDS, and the LED's voltage requirement are all factors in this calculation. Another factor is whether you connect the LEDs in series or parallel. I don't remember the exact formula off hand, but you can find the formula and "LED Calculators" online. Checkout computer modding sites for more info. Computers have a 12V rail in them (the yellow wire in the 4-pin molex connector). An old computer power supply is a good test platform. Old computer power supplies have a hard switch to turn them on/off, newer power supplies use a soft-switch off the motherboard. You can buy a power supply tester to turn them on or short the correct pins on the power supply's motherboard connector (I forget which ones, but you can find it online).

10 560ohms resistors I originally used 560 ohm resistors (to get 20mA at 13.8V) but I had a lot of LEDs burn out (I like to drive with my headlights on in the daytime) so I switched to 680 ohm (16mA) and updated this page back in May of 2004:
http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/leds.html They're still plenty bright at the lower current.

Looks good!
Do you want to do that to the one I just took out of my car tonight? :D

what about the sreen...