DIY- HVAC Display Color Change (Easy)

I've been wanting to do this for a while now, I saw someone do it on the [other forum] a while back, but finally decided to tackle the project on my own. I bought an extra display unit on ebay for super cheap, that way I wouldn't mess up my original display.. It turns out that I didn't need it, but I think the discovery was worth the amount I paid.

Originally I was going to replace the 16 in-line LED's on the HVAC display with new Red LED's. I spent about 2 hours carefully de-soldering the original LED's and trying to replace with the new Red LED's, but they are so tiny and the solder pads on the PCB were coming detached.. and it was really frustrating trying to align and solder everything. Then it hit me, to just apply film across the white LED's.

So that's what I did, and Ill outline below...


Take your HVAC display out by carefully working around the edges of the plastic and foam panel with a flat head, or something to pry with. Gently separate the foam from around the display until there is enough gap to pull it out. It's only mounted by 4 clips.


The back side of the display is held on by 4 screws and mounting tabs on the side. Take those out and you'll see the back side of the PCB. It's held on by 2 screws.





Take the 2 screws out and flip it down. You will see the line of 16 LED's at the bottom. Cut a strip of vinyl (color of your choice-I used left over vinyl from when I tinted my turn signals red) and apply over LED's.





That's it, now screw everything back together and plug it in. You'll probably notice there is a slight drop in brightness, but the color change for brightness is worth it in my opinion. Photos of my completed install below.











Hope this helps out anyone else who was wanting to do this! :thumbsup: