- Feb 24, 2013
- 13,083
- 101,448
- Funster No
- 24,833
- MH
- Hymer S800
- Exp
- not long enough
Some time ago a thread talked about changing bulbs on base vehicle to LED
Great idea I decided, my DRL's are early spec and are still using standard bulbs 12V 21W, which also makes them very hot, so much so that the bulb holders are scorching and going brittle
Couple that with the known issue with Hymer lights shattering it seemed a no brainer
Two months ago I bought the LED bulbs from our local factors, with their assurance that they wouldn't cause bulb failure warning lights, as some LEDs apparently can, today I eventually get round to fitting them
The bulbs are not easy to get to, but compared to some other components (turbo) a relative doddle, provided you can do it by touch and guesswork. But I did find them and swapped the bulbs, turned the ignition on to check bulbs worked before I refitted them, then went to refit, as the bulb approached the holder (I was looking from the outside) I noticed the light flicker, had a combined thought of maybe it's not quite in securely and wouldn't it be a bugger if it fell off inside the light, then .....................
now that photo might not be obvious to all of you, but it is as bad as others of you might think, that is the bulb not connected to its holder sat in a sealed light unit, the bulb only just fitted through the hole so although I could get a finger in and rotate it that was never going to sort it
I have a magnetised screwdriver, more by incorrect use than design I think, tried that, nothing
Went round to neighbour who couldn't find his long magnet tool, but we decided double sided tape wrapped round a screwdriver would get it, it doesn't
So drove down to a mate who has one of everything ever sold to work on cars, long magnet first, bulb would appear not to be made of metal, checked with another on his bench, they aren't !! or at least not enough
He then found a grab thingy, I tried that but nothing to really get hold of
So now looks like we need to remove light unit and shake it out
Mark now takes control, comes out with the longest snipe pliers I have ever seen and gets it first try
He then offers to fit bulbs for me having watched me struggle to even relocate the loose cable, gesture gratefully accepted by me, all sorted 3 minutes after he gets involved, nearly 2 hours of my attempts just to get it back out, they look good too, brighter blue / white light, but less intense than 21W and no warning lights
Ours is an 06/07 Mercedes chassis
It really should only have taken me 5 minutes as well, I am constantly unimpressed by my own inadequacies
Great idea I decided, my DRL's are early spec and are still using standard bulbs 12V 21W, which also makes them very hot, so much so that the bulb holders are scorching and going brittle
Couple that with the known issue with Hymer lights shattering it seemed a no brainer
Two months ago I bought the LED bulbs from our local factors, with their assurance that they wouldn't cause bulb failure warning lights, as some LEDs apparently can, today I eventually get round to fitting them
The bulbs are not easy to get to, but compared to some other components (turbo) a relative doddle, provided you can do it by touch and guesswork. But I did find them and swapped the bulbs, turned the ignition on to check bulbs worked before I refitted them, then went to refit, as the bulb approached the holder (I was looking from the outside) I noticed the light flicker, had a combined thought of maybe it's not quite in securely and wouldn't it be a bugger if it fell off inside the light, then .....................
now that photo might not be obvious to all of you, but it is as bad as others of you might think, that is the bulb not connected to its holder sat in a sealed light unit, the bulb only just fitted through the hole so although I could get a finger in and rotate it that was never going to sort it
I have a magnetised screwdriver, more by incorrect use than design I think, tried that, nothing
Went round to neighbour who couldn't find his long magnet tool, but we decided double sided tape wrapped round a screwdriver would get it, it doesn't
So drove down to a mate who has one of everything ever sold to work on cars, long magnet first, bulb would appear not to be made of metal, checked with another on his bench, they aren't !! or at least not enough
He then found a grab thingy, I tried that but nothing to really get hold of
So now looks like we need to remove light unit and shake it out
Mark now takes control, comes out with the longest snipe pliers I have ever seen and gets it first try
He then offers to fit bulbs for me having watched me struggle to even relocate the loose cable, gesture gratefully accepted by me, all sorted 3 minutes after he gets involved, nearly 2 hours of my attempts just to get it back out, they look good too, brighter blue / white light, but less intense than 21W and no warning lights
Ours is an 06/07 Mercedes chassis
It really should only have taken me 5 minutes as well, I am constantly unimpressed by my own inadequacies
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