MTopper

i blew a bulb behind my cluster when messing around with the electrical and i figured if i have to fix it, upgrade it. so i'm replacing all the bulbs with leds. only problem, how the heck do you pull the bulb from the plastic housing without breaking it into a thousand pieces and putting them into your palm?

we all learn the hard way and i have 2 busted and embedded in my hand now.

HotSauce6226

Well I know that I can do this. Are these replacement bulbs or are you soldering?
It would be really nice to know what car you are working on so he have some kind of clue to what you are working with.

rruelas

The bulbs in the instrument cluster are soldered on, to remove, just put the tip of the soldering iron on one of the little bare wires that come from the bulb and heat it up for about 5 seconds and gently push the bulb to the right or left with your other finger and it will come off easily.

If you need replacement bulbs, part 272-1092 from radio shack will work just fine. I have used these on A/C panels, steering wheel controls, and instrument panels for chevrolets and GMC's for years and they all still work. They are 12 volts, 60 mA. They are a little smaller than the old ones but they are same voltage and amperage. it does not matter how you connect them.

when you get it off, put a little solder on both the existing pads on the circuit board so you can you can easily replace it with a new bulb.

kind of bend the little metal wires of the new bulb around the white bases that the bulbs sit on but make the little wires a hair longer than the old ones. Heat the pad on the circuit board and just solder them in place.

You can probably solder LEDs in place of the Bulbs, but you also have the solder resistors to every led you replace and find the positive pad or connection on the circuit board. Not impossible but much more time consuming. hope this helps.

HotSauce6226

^^^ exactly. I do the LEDs but you got the idea now. Thanks RR

MTopper

sorry, about that. i thought i said it. 2004 chevy blazer. there were 6 bulbs in the cluster. i soldered the leds into the bulb socket after using a small flat head to break the bulb's wiring from the holder. it took 2 hours, a lot of patience, solder and about 4 bandaids to finish this. i'm still pulling glass from my hand. thanks guys

HotSauce6226

Plyers would of done it

MTopper

pliers is what broke the first two bulbs that went right into me. but, its all done, i'll take pictures later.