Mk4 Celis repair DIY

[actng]

LOL we should all have a CELIS gtg to celebrate functional CELIS rings!

[stripethree]

Quote, originally posted by yum »

stripethree did you email TM Tuning to let them know the issue and the fix? they gave you quite the run around didn't they?

I emailed them showing them the fix thread and never got a reply. I'm tempting to email them and ask for the $ back that I fronted to ship the light back to Germany, since I was told I'd have that refunded once it was proven that the lights where the problem, not the car. In fact, I think I will... we'll see what they say.

Edit: email sent.


Modified by stripethree at 3:25 PM 7-19-2006

[yum]

Quote, originally posted by stripethree »

I emailed them showing them the fix thread and never got a reply. I'm tempting to email them and ask for the $ back that I fronted to ship the light back to Germany, since I was told I'd have that refunded once it was proven that the lights where the problem, not the car. In fact, I think I will... we'll see what they say. Edit: email sent. Modified by stripethree at 3:25 PM 7-19-2006

good luck with that.

got my regulator shipped today. wow, almost 9 bucks to ship that lil sucker. i hope it's worth it. btw, am i the last one here to fix theirs?

Say did everyone that did this fix attach a heat sink to the regulator?


Modified by yum at 6:17 PM 7-19-2006

[stripethree]

Quote, originally posted by yum »

good luck with that.

Got a reply: long story short - no refund of any kind, "I can tell you quite honestly that there will be no such refund or even consideration of one... what is described in that link (this thread) has proved nothing but even strengthen my point that it is the car and not the lights. All you guys are doing is putting a fairly complicated band-aid on the light which is suffering under a fault in the car... These were isolated incidents and even more isolated to the individual cars."

[R32BOB]

Big Surprise!!!
Bandaids make things better don't they? I'm still puzzled how a plug and play installation of these lights which work on the same 12v DC circuit as all VWs do(AFAIK), would cause this failure. Any body have forced induction on their alternators?
"We" wouldn't want to admit to any liability as this could cause all kinds of problems. Think of all the refunds and/or repairs not to mention the shipping expenses.

In any event a solution was found and it still works!

Bob


Modified by R32BOB at 9:02 AM 7-20-2006

[R32BOB]

Quote, originally posted by yum »

Say did everyone that did this fix attach a heat sink to the regulator?

I think a heatsink is your insurance that you won't have to do this in the future. I've been repairing medical equipment for almost 20 years and heat IS what kills electronics. Heat management is of the utmost importance in designing any electronic device. Since the Hella VR was set in poured rubber, there was no heat relief. It might have been water tight, but it obviously didn't last. Aside from a defective component in the VR, that caused "out of box" failures, this is most likely a heat issue. (Since most of these did not fail immediately upon first use, "out of box" does not seem to be the issue) They worked just long enough to overheat and fail.

Heatsink=cheap insurance

Bob

[stripethree]

Quote, originally posted by R32BOB »

In any event a solution was found and it still works!

Exactly.

[jmikola]

quick question...

assuming i'm using the voltage regulator stripethree suggested, which eliminates then need for the wiring harness, will i still need the Luxeon LED board?

for the record, both of my celis lights are out, both have the tmtuning blue xion hid kit installed, and i'm not sure if the led's are bad, or just the VR. is the Luxeon board only for fixing burnt out LED's - I can't quite make that out from the original instructions. thanks.

[R32BOB]

Most likely you just need the VRs. The luxeon LED board is only if the LEDs are bad. My LEDs failed when I tried a different method of repair and I burned them out with an overcurrent. Learning from my mistake, I only did this in one headlight. What is more interesting is that I did this in the headlight that was still working. The headlight in which the voltage regulator had failed, had no LED damage. This should assure most of you that a failed Hella VR will not damage your LEDs.
The new VR is a constant current power supply that is designed to work with these specific LEDs, so using it will not cook the LEDs either.

So unless you got creative and juiced your LEDs like I did, they are probably fine.

Bob

[stripethree]

Just so you know I did not have to replace any LEDs, and before the fix, bench testing the lights got no illumination of the LEDs on the passenger side light. The driver's side showed up dim before the fix, so I was confident the LEDs were okay, the passenger side I wasn't sure, but it turned out they were fine.

[yum]

finally got my regulator in the mail. stripethree, what did you do with the extra wiring off the regulator? did you just wrap it up in elec tape and tuck it aside?

[jmikola]

ok, i'm heading to radioshack to pick up parts to do this at the long island r32 gtg tomorrow.

i have the new VR's that stripethree suggested, so i'm just getting the following:

* heat sinks
* crimp connectors
* heat paste

and the supplies listed... the only thing i skipped is the wiring assemblies. i take it the rivets from the celis lights are reusable after i take them out and need to reseal the holes?

[R32BOB]

You shouldn't need the heat paste unless your have to replace the LEDs. You will need new rivets or screws as the old ones are destroyed when you drill them out. Use the new rivets or screws to seal the two holes.
Have fun!

[jmikola]

Quote, originally posted by R32BOB »

You shouldn't need the heat paste unless your have to replace the LEDs. You will need new rivets or screws as the old ones are destroyed when you drill them out. Use the new rivets or screws to seal the two holes. Have fun!

well i don't have a rivet gun so new rivets are out of the question. i hope i have screws that fit - otherwise i'll be using copius tape to seal it up from both sides.

also, radioshack didn't even have the heat sink, so all i'm taking to the gtg tomm is the 2 crimp types listed in the OP and the VR's themselves. hope this works out

[yum]

thanks R32Bob. i've finally gotten around to fixing mine. i wish i gave it more thought before i started drilling cuz i got dust/particles in the lens now.

how hot do you think the heatsink will get? i used a plastic nut to hold it in place and i'm hoping it won't get hot enough to melt it. i'm guessing not very hot at all since you mentioned it was running at 3/4 capacity.

for you, cheers.

[R32BOB]

You should be fine. It shouldn't get but just warm at most. Try using a can of "dust off" to get rid of the particles in the lens. It is kind of trick to blowing air into the back of the light while holding it with the lens up. I'm glad I could help.

[jmikola]

bob, thanks a ton for the pm help. i was actually able to find a radio shack that carried the heat sinks while i was visiting PA today for a gtg. the VR swap was easy as pie - just took my time

feels good to have them working again

[R32BOB]

Glad I could help!

[yum]

Quote, originally posted by jmikola »

bob, thanks a ton for the pm help. i was actually able to find a radio shack that carried the heat sinks while i was visiting PA today for a gtg. the VR swap was easy as pie - just took my time feels good to have them working again

yeah, good thing that radio shack had 2 small heatsinks that didn't require any cutting and was the perfect size.

nice front end. i've got a boser hood coming this week and i was worried about how it would block the celis but this looks great.

[jmikola]

Quote, originally posted by yum »

yeah, good thing that radio shack had 2 small heatsinks that didn't require any cutting and was the perfect size.

did you get a different product than what bob referred to? of all the radio shacks i found, only one even had his kit.... and on that note...

Quote, originally posted by R32BOB »

The finned heat sink is longer than the VR. Trim the heat sink to the length of the VR with a hack saw or dremel tool(it cuts easily).

utter poppycock! i don't what you used but we had two guys on one heat sink keeping it in a vise and going at it with a 4" diameter dremel and the thing put up a huge fight.

Quote, originally posted by yum »

nice front end. i've got a boser hood coming this week and i was worried about how it would block the celis but this looks great.

thanks, my other option that i'm still pondering is a sleepy notchless (so no boser around the grille), although i suppose those might block the top of the rings more.

[yum]

Quote, originally posted by jmikola »

did you get a different product than what bob referred to? of all the radio shacks i found, only one even had his kit.

yes. the radio shack i went to had a heat sink that were the exact width of the reg and half the length. i bought 2 and it fit perfectly, no cutting and they were something like $2 each.

[dubdoor]

a week after the drop-in kit...bzzzt...driver dimmed to 50%...so bob and the others who've performed this fix....hows the short term success...??

[yum]

Quote, originally posted by dubdoor »

a week after the drop-in kit...bzzzt...driver dimmed to 50%...so bob and the others who've performed this fix....hows the short term success...??

what drop in kit? HID set up?

mine is still perfect after a month

[actng]

hahha this means no way am i putting HID in these lights!!

[dubdoor]

some cheap korean stuff....race something or other....

h7 5000k....hids work great...white beams of photon madness...

trying to track down the voltage regs...looks like futureelectronics is out of stock and lead time is 2-4 weeks...

good to hear you're still rockin the night....

[R32BOB]

I'm still burning bright on all rings!!
Its been about three months and I've driven 50 miles a day in heavy traffic every weekday commuting to work in everything from 100 plus degrees to heavy rains. I keep the rings and my HID's on for better visibility on the Washington beltway. It pays to be seen in the traffic around here.

I really don't think drop in HID's have anything to do with the problem. The stock VR's just suck.

[dubdoor]

good stuff then gents...!!

now to find the i2system vrs...or is there other manufacturers with compatible units???

anyone come across anything else or are these lil devils too specialized for any/all microelectronics makers to produce???

must find...i can't stand the ghetto look of one side poochin' out

[yum]

yeah, having "pirate eye" is not very cool. pull the ground and save yourself the heartache until you can source a VR. good luck i know the pain.

[dubdoor]

IM w/ question...

[yum]

So, it was fun while it lasted but now I'm back to being slightly depressed. The driver's side set of celis (the ones that didn't go out originally) has gone dim. The passenger side that I swapped a new regulator are still burning bright, but just noticed tonite that the driver's side is at least half as bright. They did seem to get slightly brighter after letting them run for a bit but still no where near the level of the fixed side.

R32BOB, can a failing volt reg cause the dimming? Gotta ask before I blow another $60 on volt regs and heat sinks.

Thanks in advance.

[R32BOB]

Sure can. That's why I replaced both of mine, even though only one side had failed.

Cheer up, once you've done both sides, life will be good and bright. Mine still is even after all this time, so far(fingers comfortably not crossed).


Modified by R32BOB at 10:04 PM 10-14-2006

[yum]

well, part is ordered. is it possible that by running my HIDs through the wiring harness and not directly to the battery with a relay is causing electrical distortion? ack!

thanks again.

[R32BOB]

I doubt it would cause a problem. In any event it is a good idea to isolate any additional equipment through a fused and relayed circuit. Helps keep everything under warranty.

[yum]

the sadness continues...

got my new volt regulator in on saturday... hooked it up sunday and no lights at all now.

sigh.

luckily i have my gf's car to drive since i left the front end in pieces in the garage.

R32Bob, can you think of anything else I can do to test if it's a dud volt regulator? i swapped the first one i replaced from the passenger side into the now dead driver's side and it worked fine.

luckily bright ideas lighting doesn't seem to have a problem with sending me a new one. i just gotta pay to ship it back to them.

i seriously regret doing my headlights more than my loud azz GHL exhaust. ahhhhh... i want my stock car reliability back! oh wait... i drive a 1.8T.

to drown my sorrows.

[R32BOB]

check to see if you have 12 volts going in to the VR. You should have a more than 6 volts but less than 12 volts coming out going to the LED's. If you don't, the VR could be bad. If you do, try switching the polarity going to the LED's. If that doesn't work or if you have more questions, let me know.

Bob