RE: BOSE Head Unit - Backlit display bulb?

[Marc Gallagher <mgallagher@Langan.com>]

Yes it can be fixed and yes it should be easy.  But, that all depends on
getting the head unit out and apart.  I had the same thing happen to a
Pioneer system.  Of course that had a detachable face plate so getting to
the light was easy.  What you have to do in general terms is (from my
Pioneer experience):

1)  Get in touch with Bose and order a replacement bulb.  If should be less
than $10 bucks including shipping)  It will be a very small bulb that needs
to be soldered into the circuit board.  If Bose is unwilling to sell just
the bulb, Pioneer will, and it may work out ok.  (let me know if Bose won't
sell the bulb and I can let you know the Pioneer info).

2)  Get the stereo out and the face off so you can access the 'guts'

3)  If the circuit board can easily be detached from the rest of the unit,
get that out, it will make things a lot easier.  If not you will have to try
and take the cover off and work with the whole unit (pretty tricky I would
imagine).  Mark any and all connections you take apart (I drew a diagram but
I am an engineer and as my wife says, very anal about these things). 

4)  Find the bulb that needs replacing and make sure you have the correct
replacement (or try to determine if the Pioneer bulb will fit).  It may be
inside the display in which case that has to come off.

5)  Heat up a sharp point soldering iron and tin it.

6)  CAREFULLY melt the existing solder on the bulb/board (there should be
two leads from the bulb to the circuit board).  If the bulb is inside the
display, you will have to take off (unsolder) the display first.  Do not put
the iron in contact with the board itself, melted plastic is not the purpose
here.  You may have to use three hands to do this.  One to hold the board,
one to hold the iron on the little glob of solder, and one to hold needle
nose pliers to pull the lead from the board once the solder melts.  Repeat
for each lead.  Use a similar process if the display has to come off first.

7)  Now that the bad bulb is out, insert the new leads into the board.  DO
NOT cut the leads.  On the Pioneer, I bent the leads over to pull the bulb
tight against the board.  Use you judgement based on what the other
connections look like.

8)  Solder the new leads to the board.  Not too much.  It should just seal
the hole that the leads stick through.  A small drop (like the other
connections) should be all you need.  Give a little tug to the leads and the
bulb to make sure they are tight.  Cut the leads down to the solder.
Reattach the display if you had to take that off.

9)  Put the board back into the unit and/or replace the cover, face plate
etc.

10)  Install the radio in the car.

11)  Pray to the electrical engineering gods.

12)  Start the car and enjoy your handiwork (hopefully).

Hope this helps out.  It is really pretty intuitive if you are mechanically
inclined and it may require some modification based on what the unit looks
like.  But as you said, it is annoying, not terminal.  If you can get the
circuit board out the whole job should take less than 10-20 minutes.  If not
I have no idea if you can even get to the bulb to heat the solder.  Let us
know what you find.

Marc
97' Jetta GLX - Red/Black

ps - the writer offers no warranties either written or implied, for the use
of these instructions yadda yadda yadda....


-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Miles [mailto:jasonmiles@home.com]
Sent: 25 January, 2000 10:44 PM
To: jettaglx@igtc.com
Subject: BOSE Head Unit - Backlit display bulb?


I have a 1997 Jetta GLX with the BOSE CD-changer, and I've noticed that just
yesterday the right half of my head unit's green backlit display window
seems to be burnt out? (the window where the radio station call numbers are
displayed).  Is there any way to fix this?  I've never seen a digital
display dim out like this and it appears that the display window is
symmetrical and may consist of two backlighting "bulbs."  It's been
extremely cold in the northeast and my car sits outside which may have
contributed to this though when the car warms up or the radio has been on
for a while, it doesn't light up.  It isn't terminal though it is a bit
"ugly."  Has anyone seen this?  How can it be fixed if at all?