Diodes are normally fitted to protect electrical circuits from the "back voltage" effect of inductive loads like lamps and relay coils.

The canbus system usually looks for specific current parameters to sense the circuit is working. Small or no current means the lamp has blown and a larger than expected current means a circuit or wiring problem. Both will produce error messages.

For example for the DRL lamps it would look for approximately 1 Amp of current from the normal P13w lamp. As the LED lamps from Benzinfabrik consume much less current (approximately 0.3 Amps)then an additional resistor is used in parallel to pass the other 0.7 Amps so the Canbus still sees the total circuit load as the original 1 Amp thus no error is reported.

That is my understanding of the Canbus monitor for lamps anyway but it is probably more complex than this so I am sure others will correct me.

Del

Works for me. If it's more complex I don't want to know.

Fred

Well I ordered and got the LEDs for the map reading lights in the front, rear seat and boot.

No problem fitting the W5Ws in the front,

A bit of a tussle with the ones in the rear. You really have to push that metal spring clip further than you think...

And beware!

I used a wide blade screwdriver for a bit of extra oomph and if it slips it will go right into the light unit and short it out.

Pull the fuse before you start!

I didn't blow the fuse doing this but read on...

Which brings me to another problem..

The fuse diagram is not correct!

The fuse for the interior lights is also for the rear fog light and is the lower of the two red 10amp fuses on the row furthest from the door shut.

I know because it went pop as I was trying, without success, to fit a W5W in the boot light.

That's problem no 2!

A W5W with the 5 LEDs (4 around the sides and 1 on top) DO NOT FIT :(

The head of these units is too big and bends the contact points out of touch with the bulb. No amount of fettling solved this, and this is when I popped the fuse, so I gave up. (for now)

Another cost cutting measure? But there are no spares supplied. :(

A W5W with the 5 LEDs (4 around the sides and 1 on top) DO NOT FIT :(

The head of these units is too big and bends the contact points out of touch with the bulb. No amount of fettling solved this, and this is when I popped the fuse, so I gave up. (for now)

Another cost cutting measure? But there are no spares supplied. :(

Well, these W5W with 5 LEDs definitely fit very nicely with room to spare, as I fitted them just yesterday: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200582009873&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:3160

Well, these W5W with 5 LEDs definitely fit very nicely with room to spare, as I fitted them just yesterday: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200582009873&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:3160

Well I got these...

http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/xtec-auto-bulbs/xtec-led-bulbs/xtec-501-t10-5w-high-power-leds-sidelight-bulbs-white-p-435.html

And they don't.

Oh well, live and learn :(

Does your version make a big difference to the amount of light in the boot?

Having tried a couple of different LED bulbs in the boot lamp and being a little disappointed by the marginal increase in light output, I eventually bought the SuperSkoda one and..... flippin' 'ek! Why have I been messing around? I know it is twice the price (or even more) but the difference is astounding. I should have taken the advice of others who have fitted the SuperSkoda one... it really is excellent.

Lights all changed and blown a fuse. CAN-BUS warns rear fog light not working, same circuit, so swapped the fuse. CAN-BUS warning has gone but the interior lights don't work. Is there a secondary fuse? I gave up when it got dark.

Having tried a couple of different LED bulbs in the boot lamp and being a little disappointed by the marginal increase in light output, I eventually bought the SuperSkoda one and..... flippin' 'ek! Why have I been messing around? I know it is twice the price (or even more) but the difference is astounding. I should have taken the advice of others who have fitted the SuperSkoda one... it really is excellent.

The boot light is brilliant , but I'm disappointed with the front interior leds.

Two came earlier this week from the seller in this thread, one was unfortunately faulty. One of the panels was defunct, and then the light started to flicker. The seller kindly sent another couple FOC. Again, one was faulty, and the other one has a blue tinge

I'm going to live with it for the moment, as I'm fed up with fiddling with the plastic bits of trim and I might go back to the filament bulbs.

Lights all changed and blown a fuse. CAN-BUS warns rear fog light not working, same circuit, so swapped the fuse. CAN-BUS warning has gone but the interior lights don't work. Is there a secondary fuse? I gave up when it got dark.

AFAIK there is just the ne fuse. When mine blew I changed the one in the dash fuse box and all was well.

There may be a secondary in the engine bay fuse box but I'm not sure?

Lights all changed and blown a fuse. CAN-BUS warns rear fog light not working, same circuit, so swapped the fuse. CAN-BUS warning has gone but the interior lights don't work. Is there a secondary fuse? I gave up when it got dark.

The fuse in the dashboard fuse box is the last in the circuit before the boot/fog lights themselves. Have you managed to sort your interior lights yet? If you can't get the LED to work, have you tried putting the original bulb back in? This should show whether it's the LED bulb that's dead, or the supply to it.

Found the problem

I'd ordered the CAN-BUS free bulbs from the net. However what arrived was this;

As you van see there is an aluminium (?) base round the lamp and this was presumeably causing the short.

Now working OK with the original bulb and the seller contacted.

BTW, there seems to be a fitting for a much larger festoon bulb between the two spots. It doesn't seem that much light would get through the plastic though.

Found the problem

I'd ordered the CAN-BUS free bulbs from the net. However what arrived was this;

As you van see there is an aluminium (?) base round the lamp and this was presumeably causing the short.

Now working OK with the original bulb and the seller contacted.

BTW, there seems to be a fitting for a much larger festoon bulb between the two spots. It doesn't seem that much light would get through the plastic though.

Those are the same ones as in my post above - not happy. One pair supplied FOC, but I've ended up with two duff bulbs, and one white, one with a bluish tinge in my front interior lights.

I've given up for now - tempted to put the OEM dim bulbs back in.

I either use this company:

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/home.php

or

http://www.ultraleds.com/

to buy LED's (mostly the latter)

Just to clarify things. These are the bulbs I ordered. There is no metal round them to short things out

If I have no luck with the original vendor I'll try Ultraleds. I've bought from them in the past for model railway stuff.

Well, these W5W with 5 LEDs definitely fit very nicely with room to spare, as I fitted them just yesterday: http://cgi.ebay.co.u...ME:L:OC:GB:3160

i ordered these but, when they arrived, it seems they are not the same as the picture, which shows a plastic casing on the LEDs.

they came with a metal casing which will not work in the boot light as the bulb is held in place by the metal bulb connectors.

the bulb holder will short on the connectors, blowing the fuse.

i have contacted the seller to see what he's going to do about it ??

CFB it seems we have the same problem. I've ust received an e-mail from the seller advising me that the only ones they now stock are the wrong ones and offering a refund.

Should have gone to Ultraleds

CFB it seems we have the same problem. I've ust received an e-mail from the seller advising me that the only ones they now stock are the wrong ones and offering a refund.

Should have gone to Ultraleds

i just had a look at ultraleds site and the only unit that might fit the connector, would be too long to get into the lamp housing

snap!

i'm going for the refund and ordering the bootlight from superskoda.

i should have done that in the first place i suppose? :think:

snap!

i'm going for the refund and ordering the bootlight from superskoda.

i should have done that in the first place i suppose? :think:

So, we're back to my comment in post #31. Sometimes, a bargain isn't actually the best buy!

Edited 20 March, 201214 yr by speedsport

Well at least you didn't say "I told you so"

:(

It's an ugly thing--smugness

Two new leds came today from Ultraleds http://www.ultraleds...ite-p-2436.html, six element lights and very short so they don't poke out into view from the reflector.

Both the same colour - sorted

Those look very suitable!

Well at least you didn't say "I told you so"

:(

It's an ugly thing--smugness

I was also hoping for a cheaper way than Superskoda's offering, and I wasn't willing to believe that theirs could be so much brighter than going down the "DIY replace the bulb with an LED in the same fitting" route. I wish I'd followed the advice on here & bought the Superskoda boot light at the outset! Sometimes you learn the hard way!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

As a result, I am expecting a delivery from superskoda any day now.

Superskoda now hae the dome lights in stock and the map lights are also coming soon.