OEM HID Valeo LAD5G Ballast Repair

[n7plus1]

IT WORKED! If its ok with Anthony...i may start to offer to fix these for you guys...considering a ballast is 120 from Chrysler...not sure what to charge...and it may not always be the IC if you have water damage, etc....



Yes, how i still own this car is unknown. I havent been on here in what seems like forever. So I have 2 burned out ballasts. 1 is a "spare" (kind've...its dead, but i hadnt thrown it out), the one that just died is still in the car and i have only 1 working one. The only information i could find about these fucking things were on Russian and German forums...IIRC, 3 or 4 of them. So while pages were tanslated, i tried to make sense it all, even though some slang thats used...google translate doesnt know what it is. I certainly seem to be the ONLY person in the states to have at least made a DOCUMENTED attempt to fix one of these overpriced things. There was one other thread but it was left to die. :(

To sum up the findings, theres an IC inside the ballast housing, on the board, that just dies and can be replaced. I guess this is assuming that there isnt any other water damage on the board (top o bottom). Thing is, its not a fun replacement.

Heres the IC in question:


My entire board looks new still, theres no visible water damage, corrosion, etc, nothing.

this is what the LAD5G looks like underneath (not mine):



ive ordered 2 new IC drivers on ebay (theyre about $4 +$4 shipping, each...yeah, way cheaper than $100+) and will most definitely report back my findings. Wish me luck.

I received a notification from the ebay seller late last night that the 2 new IC's have shipped...so itll probably be about 2 weeks before i even get them, but i got things started anyway.

Using a heat gun and aluminum foil, i removed the OE IC from the PCB.



the trick is to wrap aluminum foil over EVERY part of the ballast PCB EXCEPT the IC area to keep the heat minimal everywhere else but the IC.

I used a hobby knife, dentist tools and a small sharp flat head screwdriver to assist in the removal. the flat head worked great at getting the body of the IC up off the board (its soldered there too, thin layer under the entire surface.)

SO i received the new IC's today and immediately go to work...since work was slow..i had some time, heh.



using copper wire solder braid, suck up the remaining solder left on the board from IC removal. I used a nice weller vacuum soldering iron i have at wok for this. This is done to make sure the IC lies flat on the PCB surface.



Line up the pins and use something to hold it in place..i used shitty scotch tape that was on my desk. (mine ended up moving slightly anyway...so its a LITTLE crooked.



First row done



second row



and i think this is where someone had some trouble on one of the russian sites was getting the rear of the IC attached to the board...and it is hard to get solder in there to stick to ALL of the surfaces...i did my best and its tricky...



i just tried to get the corners...as previously the entire bottom of the IC was seated to the board.

I will give it a shot tonight and see what happens..wish me luck.

If nothing happens ill bring it back to work and suck everything up from the 2 corners and try again...like i said, apparently thats the tricky part.

[diagnosticator]

Good Luck!

[a4darkness]

Subscribed

[LEGO]

The way those pins are soldered looks like a PITA to resolder. I guess if you take your time, it shouldn't be too bad

[drjonez]

That fix is certainly possible, provided everything is still intact. The ballast I lost was totally fried- PCB damaged, etc.

[freeloader700]

Subscribed! I may have some of these near by at my warehouse

[rollerton]

I have another 5g ballast you can have if you want it- it has an intermittent flicker.

[freeloader700]

I have another 5g ballast you can have if you want it- it has an intermittent flicker.

Not sure who you were offering it to but I would like it..

[therealet23]

I have 2 ballasts, d1s bulbs, and projectors (all OEM ) sitting around if someone wants to buy them off of me...

[lucaq]

I have one that is just dim in my girlfriend's car. Not sure if it is on the way out or what. I was getting a dipped beam message for that side when I got the car last year and I replaced the bulb. That resolved the error message but the light is still a tad dimmer. I checked voltage and it is okay. If it is something like this I would be interested in doing the repair, my girlfriend is an Electrical Engineer and we have the tools to make a repair to the PCB at home. I was just looking to swap it with a used one and keeping it as a spare at some point. Repairs like this are awesome though, keep on, keeping on...

[n7plus1]

you sure its not the light? i was under the impression that either the ballast works or it doesnt...the voltage output is linear.

[n7plus1]

I received a notification from the ebay seller late last night that the 2 new IC's have shipped...so itll probably be about 2 weeks before i even get them, but i got things started anyway.

Using a heat gun and aluminum foil, i removed the OE IC from the PCB.



the trick is to wrap aluminum foil over EVERY part of the ballast PCB EXCEPT the IC area to keep the heat minimal everywhere else but the IC.

I used a hobby knife, dentist tools and a small sharp flat head screwdriver to assist in the removal. the flat head worked great at getting the body of the IC up off the board (its soldered there too, thin layer under the entire surface.)

[lucaq]

you sure its not the light? i was under the impression that either the ballast works or it doesnt...the voltage output is linear.

Good point. Well I know it isn't the bulb (I replace both sides with new Phillips bulbs at the same time) and I know the ballast gets 14.5 volts. My guess is Projector (reflector or lense) the inside of the light looks great. Maybe I'll get some ecodes and throw these on ebay.

[n7plus1]

still could be the bulb...you never know. swap the bulb from the other side into the side thats giving you a headache.

[lucaq]

They're both brand new and that light was dim even before I changed both bulbs. I don't mean to hijack your thread. I'll let you know what I find out when I fix it. Thanks for sharing your insights on my issue and your IC repair.

[n7plus1]

updating thread.

[freeloader700]

That back part, that is just a heatsink. There is no circuity for that. What I would do is put a little solder blob on the bottom of the heatsink in the two upper corners, then add flux to the board and then heat up the heatsink with your iron again and it will reflow into place. Be sure the leads though are inline with the pads to the board. (This is if you need to redo it)

Also...use some rubbing alcohol and a tooth brush or something gentle to remove the remaining flux from the solder. Wipe away with cotton swab, towel, rag, etc. The flux is corrosive. Looking forward to the results.

[n7plus1]

so...it works...holy shit. lol

[freeloader700]

pics/vid or is didn't happen

[n7plus1]

That back part, that is just a heatsink. There is no circuity for that. What I would do is put a little solder blob on the bottom of the heatsink in the two upper corners, then add flux to the board and then heat up the heatsink with your iron again and it will reflow into place. Be sure the leads though are inline with the pads to the board. (This is if you need to redo it)

Also...use some rubbing alcohol and a tooth brush or something gentle to remove the remaining flux from the solder. Wipe away with cotton swab, towel, rag, etc. The flux is corrosive. Looking forward to the results.

yeah will do...this was just a test run.

could i get just flux from radioshack?

[n7plus1]

pics/vid or is didn't happen

lmao...im in shock...first person to fix these things in the country that i know of. lolol...hold on...ill get a vid up. power steering rack is blown, so the cars not going anywhere, hahaha.

[freeloader700]

Yeah as long as it is for electronics (of course that is what is going to be at RS) reason I say is because some people use plumbing flux and that is a no no with electronics.

[n7plus1]

video in first post.

[freeloader700]

That's awesome man! I'm going to tear into mine tonight. How did you pull the cover off did you just pry it with a screwdriver or something?


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[Emilgevor]

Great job man! Love seeing mods like these that save us ton of money :)

[n7plus1]

thanks fellas.

freeloader, use a knife on the corners and pry up on them, it should pop the cover of fully without damaging the housing.

[freeloader700]

Yeah after I made that post and gave it a shot, it was much easier to remove than I thought it was going to be. I may be able to get quite a few of these chips if anyone would be interested in not having to deal with intl shipping

[n7plus1]

lol, turning profits on my thread? damn son. shits hard in teh streets.

[freeloader700]

haha no profits..I just have connections and if it can be beneficial to us all let it be. Know what I am saying?


You get that flux yet? It makes is SO much easier to solder and they are nice clean and shiny welds

[n7plus1]

nah, i havent made it to RS yet...ill check with another department to see if they have them first.

lol, just fucking with you...were are you sourcing them?

[freeloader700]

I am a warehouse manager for a components dist. We don't have any in our warehouse here but I am checking with a few partners. I am going to find out tomorrow about getting 10 of them. I will see whats going on. I ordered more flux from a guy I have been getting it from. Best stuff I have ever used. Also I was thinking about it last night, I might have a better method for removing the part off of the board without worrying about heating up the other components too much. I will let you guys know if I am able to get these chips.

[n7plus1]

alright cool. let me know.

[freeloader700]

Alright I talked to my guy overseas and I will be getting 10pcs in. I will give an update when they arrive.

n7, they still working good?

[n7plus1]

honestly, i JUST finished switching out my PS rack and havent really gotten any time on my lights. I rarely drive the car at night to begin with so i cant say how long this is good for. Sorry i hadnt checked this thread...did you get your pieces in yet?

[freeloader700]

I received my pieces but they were garbage. Not new and the were pulls. I wanted nothing to do with them so I sent them back. I will need to order from somewhere else now. How are they holding up?

[n7plus1]

update: its been about 2 weeks now and that ballast is dead again. I never refluxed the area....so i dont know if the IC overheated and fried itself again or what... :\

[OutdoorLifer]

So I realize this is an old thread, but I found it to be very helpful. I gotta ask though, how was it you got the chip off the circuit board since you cant get heat under the chip?

[OutdoorLifer]

Oh, and as a suggestion to the heat dissipation problem, instead of sautering the back of the ic to make full contact with the circuit board, try using processor heatsink paste, like is used under the microprocessor of a personal computer. Then just sauter the corners to anchor the chip, or just leave it. I plan to try that IF (BIG IF) I am successful in removing the ic.

[DiertyEuroSpec]

He put tin-foil over everything other than the IC and heated it up with a heat gun. Tin foil reflects the heat away from other components since your just going for that IC.

[OutdoorLifer]

Thanks DiertEuroSpec. Yes, I saw the procedure that you referenced, but I should have been more clear in my question (sorry). I wanted to know specifics: for example whether I am to heat the whole chip from the top, enough to melt the sauter holding the underside to the board.

I was trying to go in from the side with a blade attachment on a sautering iron but couldn't transfer enough heat, and it appears that the circuit board was not agreeing with that method, so I quit till I could get more info.

n7plus1, I would sure like to know exactly how you went about this.

Thanks again for your input