keyring light to led

[redgtd]

the globe in the golf key had blown and as it is a weird globe (didnt want to pay a million dollars for a genuine vw one) converted it to a led will hopfully last longer and just as bright


went to jacar 1.00 for a 3mm white led (think i could of used a 5mm one but didnt realise until i put this in

had to buy a new battrey the original is a 1.5 v alcaline and the leds run on 3v
i got a cr1616 lithium coin battery which has the same diameter as the old one it is just a little thinner
trimed the legs of the led and bent the positive leg at 90 degrees and sloted it into the coper contact part
i trimmed the negative leg a bit shorter and put that between the spring and a small pice of plastic and it wedged in there nicley
put it back together and it worked perfectly
and no soldering :)

[dc10]

sweet but :pics:

[Mrk_Mickey]

Mmm once I see pics I'll do this myself! :D

[VeeDubs]

im already on my way to jaycar! :bowdown:

[V®6]

Mmm once I see pics I'll do this myself! :D

Ditto Mickey.

[The_Hawk]

I want to see the pics of this one... I tried but got stuck at the battery voltage issue....

Although to be fair, the alternative just looked that much better and I needed a good excuse to spend some money.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/IMG_1138-1.jpg


Although I suspect at only a few bucks for parts there is going to be lots of people VERY interested in getting that light working :)

[redgtd]

in strggle town cant work out how to add pics read the faq but there id no button to add attachemnts from my comp i have put the pic in my gallery if anyone wants to see

[Mrk_Mickey]

if you go onto photobucket.com (and sign up if you're not a member already, it's free) you can upload your photo's onto the internet, and then select the 'IMG' link to post as text into here. The picture comes up automatically :)

[redgtd]

http://s952.photobucket.com/albums/ae5/redgtd/?newest=1

you can see the led the positive leg is bent at 90 deg and fits into the slot in the copper contact
the negative leg is between the spring and a small plastic tab

the new battery will fit perfectly in the vw button so no need to modify anything :)http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/08/key-1.jpg

[Mrk_Mickey]

Nice work :) what battery did you use, if there's a number on it?

[redgtd]

it is a 3v litihium coin battery same diameter the part number is cr1616 think it was 2$ at jaycar

[nico]

the globe in the golf key had blown and as it is a weird globe (didnt want to pay a million dollars for a genuine vw one) converted it to a led will hopfully last longer and just as bright


went to jacar 1.00 for a 3mm white led (think i could of used a 5mm one but didnt realise until i put this in

had to buy a new battrey the original is a 1.5 v alcaline and the leds run on 3v
i got a cr1616 lithium coin battery which has the same diameter as the old one it is just a little thinner
trimed the legs of the led and bent the positive leg at 90 degrees and sloted it into the coper contact part
i trimmed the negative leg a bit shorter and put that between the spring and a small pice of plastic and it wedged in there nicley
put it back together and it worked perfectly
and no soldering :)

Gave this a shot with a 5mm LED. Had to file the LED down because it didn't really fit.:rolleyes: Still I think the bigger 5mm is worth it cause it does light the room like a Christmas tree. Also placed a cover over the negative wire to ensure it doesn't contact anything it isn't meant to.

The copper negative contact to positive spring arrangement is not the best design so I added some electrical tape to the edges (not shown below) to hold the battery in the correct position and provided consistent contact on hold. Otherwise it moves around to much and doesn't connect perfectly every time.

See photo's below. Thanks to redgtd for the great idea!!! :bowdown:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DbVMyUiwIrI/SoY3xxxFOFI/AAAAAAAAB08/wyyY9wi9dLs/s1600-h/P8150010.JPG
Image 1 (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DbVMyUiwIrI/SoY3xxxFOFI/AAAAAAAAB08/wyyY9wi9dLs/s1600-h/P8150010.JPG)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DbVMyUiwIrI/SoY3yicbkjI/AAAAAAAAB1E/eKeenh0AWtU/s1600-h/P8150002.JPG
Image 2 (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DbVMyUiwIrI/SoY3yicbkjI/AAAAAAAAB1E/eKeenh0AWtU/s1600-h/P8150002.JPG)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DbVMyUiwIrI/SoY3y3BTfQI/AAAAAAAAB1M/LRIn090AG3w/s1600-h/P8150012.JPG
Image 3 (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DbVMyUiwIrI/SoY3y3BTfQI/AAAAAAAAB1M/LRIn090AG3w/s1600-h/P8150012.JPG)
I choose blue because that makes this blue tooth enabled right? :wink:

[redgtd]

that looks awesome may buy a 5mm led and put it in. it does look better and brighter :)

[trauts]

Bump, just done mine, can i reccommend getting the 3mm LED, as i spent ages filing down the 5mm one to fit, and even then it does not fit well.

i would not get the clear white colour, as i don't think it provides as much light as a Blue or other colour.

and the cost of a new one was $70 according to VW australia
or i found one on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290316172589&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

[pommy_golfer]

I love this thread, this to me is what forums like this is all about, that is ingenious, so much gain for very little money and effort! and a big F U to the Stealers!

Goldstar for Redgtd!!!

[craig_the_german]

Hi all,

This is certainly a great thread. I think this repair/mod would also apply to the MK4s as well, I know that key looks a lot like mine and my light isn't working either.

Thanks guys

Pete

[The_Hawk]

and the cost of a new one was $70 according to VW australia

$70 is the cost of a whole new key, not just the bulb. (Of course it's then lots more to have then thing coded to work with your car (if you need it)).

[trauts]

$70 is the cost of a whole new key, not just the bulb. (Of course it's then lots more to have then thing coded to work with your car (if you need it)).

thats why i said or you can get one on ebay, and it was a link to a whole key not just a bulb...:rolleyes:

[Dubdubdubdot]

Just cannot get it to work. 3mm LED just moves around too much!!!!
Will try again w/ 5mm led.
Any hints and/or tips?

[Ben J]

Just cannot get it to work. 3mm LED just moves around too much!!!!
Will try again w/ 5mm led.
Any hints and/or tips?

could try a little hot glue or something

[The_Hawk]

Yep, hot glue fixes everything :)

[black_bull]

Mad props .. thats a brilliant idea ...

When i first got my golf i spent weeks wondering why the light never did anything when you press the button .. infact i originally wondered why the doors didnt unlock too .. silly old me was unaware they dont come with remote central .. thats not a problem anymore though