Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - View Single Post

sharpsicle · 10-30-2018, 10:09 PM

(My gut told me this was an electronics issue, but after stepping back I probably should have put this in Cosmetic Mods)

Hey all-

I recently put in switchbacks in my boomerangs, along with blacking out the chrome inside the headlamp, and while the process was straight forward I came across an interesting issue with the boards.

At first, it appeared that just the passenger side turn (yellow) LEDs had a problem. They were significantly darker than the driver's side. Switching controllers didn't change the issue, pointing to a problem with the boards, and @Diode Dynamics agreed and were kind enough to send a replacement kit.

I've got time set aside this weekend to take the headlights back off, crack them open, and replace the boards, but I noticed today that now the driver side turn LEDs had the same problem all of a sudden! I could understand something happening to one board, maybe during the resealing process in the oven, but two? And the second taking over a week to show?

I have no problem opening them up and swapping boards, but at this point I'm now concerned that some other issue might be contributing to this and that the same thing will happen again with the replacements. Has anyone else ever experienced something like this on their switchbacks? Is there maybe something I overlooked in the process? Maybe it is the boards, and the pair were bound to fail due to something beyond my control, but I really don't want to open these headlights a 3rd time if I don't have to.

The only things I can think to do right now to try and prevent this happening again is to be even more meticulous with the wire routing inside the headlight, and to possibly cover the solder points on the boards with an electrical sealant to keep their integrity.

To answer the obvious, yes they were bench tested before install and I confirmed that both yellow LEDs on both boards for each side did in fact work before install. I tested just before and just after sealing each headlight back up, and everything appeared fine (although inside away from direct sunlight may have made it look better than it was). Both sides have the white DRLs working just fine, both in high power and dimmed mode. It seems isolated to the yellow LEDs only.

Here's a video showing the difference:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNW4euUcA4Q"]Switchback Turn Brightness Discrepancy[/ame]

10-30-2018, 10:09 PM	#1
sharpsicle Certs You Dont Care About Join Date: Mar 2017 Drives: 2013 Galaxy Blue BRZ Location: Milwaukee, WI / Tampa, FL Posts: 230 Thanks: 34 Thanked 131 Times in 80 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Switchback LED Issue (Front Headlights) (My gut told me this was an electronics issue, but after stepping back I probably should have put this in Cosmetic Mods) Hey all- I recently put in switchbacks in my boomerangs, along with blacking out the chrome inside the headlamp, and while the process was straight forward I came across an interesting issue with the boards. At first, it appeared that just the passenger side turn (yellow) LEDs had a problem. They were significantly darker than the driver's side. Switching controllers didn't change the issue, pointing to a problem with the boards, and @Diode Dynamics agreed and were kind enough to send a replacement kit. I've got time set aside this weekend to take the headlights back off, crack them open, and replace the boards, but I noticed today that now the driver side turn LEDs had the same problem all of a sudden! I could understand something happening to one board, maybe during the resealing process in the oven, but two? And the second taking over a week to show? I have no problem opening them up and swapping boards, but at this point I'm now concerned that some other issue might be contributing to this and that the same thing will happen again with the replacements. Has anyone else ever experienced something like this on their switchbacks? Is there maybe something I overlooked in the process? Maybe it is the boards, and the pair were bound to fail due to something beyond my control, but I really don't want to open these headlights a 3rd time if I don't have to. The only things I can think to do right now to try and prevent this happening again is to be even more meticulous with the wire routing inside the headlight, and to possibly cover the solder points on the boards with an electrical sealant to keep their integrity. To answer the obvious, yes they were bench tested before install and I confirmed that both yellow LEDs on both boards for each side did in fact work before install. I tested just before and just after sealing each headlight back up, and everything appeared fine (although inside away from direct sunlight may have made it look better than it was). Both sides have the white DRLs working just fine, both in high power and dimmed mode. It seems isolated to the yellow LEDs only. Here's a video showing the difference: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNW4euUcA4Q"]Switchback Turn Brightness Discrepancy[/ame] Last edited by sharpsicle; 10-30-2018 at 11:01 PM.