Climate Control LED conversion, now no lights will go on?

[JunoAF]

Hello all! First I wanted to say thank you for letting me join this form. I just recently picked up a nice 04 1500 SLT 5.7L quad cab and I have to say that so far, I LOVE this truck! I am getting around to fixing some very minor things i.e. Hoot struts, LED headlight and fog lights, ashtray + cup holder lubrication etc.

With that being said, I decided to swap out the 2/3 burnt out climate control light bulbs and install some LED's. I put them in pretty easy, turned on the truck after reconnecting electrical and......no lights. I double checked all connectors and it looks pretty solid ( I mean, it's pretty dang easy so I don't know how you can mess it up...) Pulled the LED lights in and out to make sure that they are contacting and I believe they are. I decided that maybe I got some bad lights so I put the old ones back in and..... no lights. wtf? I put everything back together because it's pretty cold out and I thought i'd re-attack it tomorrow but I wanted to ask you guys what your thoughts are? Bad lights? Is there a fuse that controls the climate control lights? I didn't see anything when I looked really quickly.

 

[Joshwaa]

Some LEDs it matters which way you put them in. I did all the lights on my 05 Ram 1500. You need to take them out turn them 180 and put them back in. Hopefully it didn't short anything.

MY old truck:

 

[kad]

I had a similar issue on my '01 Dakota a few years back. Most of the bulbs were burnt out and after finding out that the dealer wanted $5 each for them I ordered off of eBay. The bulbs that I got appeared to be good and tested good when hooked to a 12V source on the bench, but did not work on the truck. Careful checking revealed that the eBay bulbs were so poorly constructed that the contacts on them were not actually touching the contacts on the HVAC mechanism. After going through a couple of different sets with the same results I ended up going with OEM bulbs as I could not find a cheap set that worked.

As far as the fuse, I think they are on the same fuse as the rest of the dash lights.

-K

 

[JunoAF]

Ok thanks for the advice. I'm going to try it again, I wonder if maybe I did just put them all in wrong so i'll rotate them around. I really hope I didn't fry the circuit board.... 12 dollar LED set might turn in to a 110+ dollar climate control replacement *sigh*

I LOVE how lit up yours look, Joshwaa! That's exactly how I want mine.

I'll double check all my fuses, I didn't notice any other lights out besides the climate control lights.

 

[Joshwaa]

I ordered all mine from superbrightleds.com. I will check later I might have some left.

 

[JunoAF]

ha ha yeah...so....apparently i had them all rotated the wrong way. Even when I put the old bulbs back in, I put them in the wrong way... I did what you said Joshwaa, and rotated them 180 degrees and they worked. I was like "wtf...are you serious? 50/50 shot and I got all three LED's and all three OEM bulbs incorrect?"

Thanks man! Now they look great! Might replace the rest of the dash lights like you have them now.

Some LEDs it matters which way you put them in. I did all the lights on my 05 Ram 1500. You need to take them out turn them 180 and put them back in. Hopefully it didn't short anything.

 

[Joshwaa]

Glad I could help. Post some pics when you done.

 

[Mcclain71]

Have the same issue that @Joshwaa had. I did what he did to remedy it, but no luck unfortunately

 

[RamDiver]

Have the same issue that @Joshwaa had. I did what he did to remedy it, but no luck unfortunately

The thread you have posted in has not seen any activity in more than 7 years, and most of those members are long gone.

If you require assistance, please describe your concerns in detail, providing links to the products that you are attempting to use.
TIA


And, to Ram Forum.

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[Mcclain71]

Thanks @RamDiver…I figured that too when I posted lol

Problem is, that post was the only thing I found anywhere replicating my situation so I figured it might be worthwhile bringing it back from the dead just in case anyone else has similar episodes

The LEDs I have are from Amazon (no link available yet) they fit perfectly but sends I have to figure out the polarity to get them to work, or even the stock bulbs. Worst case scenario, I replace the HVAC control panel and cut my losses lol

 

[RamDiver]

Thanks @RamDiver…I figured that too when I posted lol

Problem is, that post was the only thing I found anywhere replicating my situation so I figured it might be worthwhile bringing it back from the dead just in case anyone else has similar episodes

The LEDs I have are from Amazon (no link available yet) they fit perfectly but sends I have to figure out the polarity to get them to work, or even the stock bulbs. Worst case scenario, I replace the HVAC control panel and cut my losses lol

There are many talented and skilled members at Ram Forum, but no clairvoyants or mind readers, AFAIK.

I still don't see any details about what you're attempting to accomplish or which LED product you are using. Please add details.

If you purchased from Amazon, the Returns & Orders section will have a list of your previous orders.

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[FlyingRAM]

My experience with some aftermarket LEDs is they have a slightly larger base. And has mentioned in previous post the contacts don’t always protrude as far as they should.
LED stands for light emitting diode and a diode is a one-way “valve.” So putting them in backwards should not hurt anything unless they’re poor quality construction, and somehow allowed for a direct short. I have seen some of the newer technology bulbs, which are not polarity sensitive because of internal circuitry, but those tend to cost more. And I’ve also found that those bulbs tend not to last as long because the circuitry burns out before the LED itself.

It is improbable that you would’ve put 100% of them in backwards on the first try. So double check the contacts of the base receptacle. It could be that the new bulbs spread the contacts out so far that the old bulbs no longer make contact.
If it did pop a fuse that should be an easy fix once you find the fuse.

 

[Mcclain71]

I actually took screenshots of HVAC panels on eBay to see how the factory lights are oriented so I can reference that…just in case I did put them in wrong. I’d read posts here, on another forum and even the comments on the lights themselves from Amazon go all have experienced the same things

I’ll report back once I get time to do it again

 

[Mcclain71]

Decided to abandon this as swapping out bulbs and aligning them to pics I have showed nothing. Resorting to either not worrying about it or buying a new hvac control panel

 

[Mcclain71]

So…when I pulled the factory bulbs out of the control panel, there was a spark like I touched something on the control panel with my tweezers. So now none of the bulls on that panel work but everything else (radio, dash etc) still work

 

[RamDiver]

So…when I pulled the factory bulbs out of the control panel, there was a spark like I touched something on the control panel with my tweezers. So now none of the bulls on that panel work but everything else (radio, dash etc) still work

Working on electrical devices with the power on is never a good idea, for safety reasons.
Most electrical codes prohibit working on live circuits if there is any reasonable method to isolate the circuit first.

Working on computer electronics with the power on is always a bad idea because of the likelihood of frying something.

In industrial electronics, any commercial computer repair facilities and knowledgeable DIYers always employ an ESD protocol when working on any of the electronic systems on our trucks.

If you're not familiar with ESD protocols and have the intention of working on any recent model vehicle of the past 30 years, you might want to do more reading.

ESD Protection Guide: Equipment and Methods

ESD Protection Guide: Equipment, Devices, Tools and ESD Protection Methods. Electrostatic Discharge is a Threat to Electronic Components.

www.electronicsandyou.com

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