LED Number Plate Lights

[SW_VRS_2012]

I know this topic has been covered somewhat before but reading the posts I can find did not really help me.

I have LED's for the number plate lights on a 58 plate vRS CR 170. They were already fitted when I bought the car 6 months ago. I assume they are canbus compatible and they have a seatsink on the back of them.

Until now they have been fine, never had any error message and they always worked. However the last month they have been playing up. When I turn the ignition on I get the bulb failure warning light which says its the number plate lights. On turning the lights on and checking, sometimes they are both on and sometimes neither of them are (warning light in both instances). By turning the lights on and off again usually clears the warning, and makes both lights work (if it was one of the times they wernt). Or sometimes if I turn the lights on and leave them on it clears itself othertimes it doesnt not.

I don't see why they would work perfectly for the last 6 months then just start being funny for no apparent reason. I have removed them a few times and cleaned the contacts, reseated them, swapped them around etc/ Nothing has worked so far.

I know other people have experienced this so was wondering if anyone had any up to date news or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Edited 3 February, 2013 by SW_VRS_2012

[ryan-re]

are any of the led's faulty?

These bulbs can break and become faulty. It might be that they are just broken.

Also, is the heatsink touching anything?

I had similar design ones in the boot and blew fuses as the heatsink touched the metal surround on the boot light holder

[ambrosevonpose]

see this post

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/253599-finally-found-led-number-plate-lights-that-work/

as i bought load resistors

[SW_VRS_2012]

The ebay links in that post no longer work. Why would they be ok for 6 months then start playing up intermittently is what I can't understand. As far as I know the heatsink is not touching anything. Theres little room for manouver with them, they just sits in the factory clips.

[nickguzzi]

Good old fashioned electrical fault? Have you tried an ordinary bulb?

SMD leds are usually quite reliable, unless they are overheated or supplied with an over voltage.

Some of the cheaper clusters have the leds wired in series, so that if one goes faulty it will cause the rest to no longer work. It could be an intermittent fault on the pcb.