Dash display brightness

#1 8th January 2010, 08:56 PM

Over the last couple of weeks the dash display has started to appear really faint for the first couple of minutes each morning - rest of the dash illumination is ok, it's just the central information display. It's so faint that in daylight you can't read it for the first couple of minutes.
Can anyone shed any light on the possible cause?

B@fink · #2 9th January 2010, 09:17 AM

sounds like a backlight bulb for the led display has croaked, though how you'd get in there i couldn't say! It's not missing text? just dim...right? if it's missing bits it's done a typical seven series trick and the ribbon cable has gone.

Conan_the_Librarian · #3 9th January 2010, 09:54 AM

If you have it, run vagcom and see if there are any codes. If there are no codes do an output test on the instrument cluster and see how the display reacts. If it is still dim then it's a replacement cluster i'm afraid.

#4 9th January 2010, 10:21 AM

There are no missing bits on the display, just dim for the first couple of minutes, after that it's fine. I'm wondering if it's just got a bit of moisture in there somewhere?

Conan - how do you carry out an output test? I've only got the shareware version of vagcom, is it possible with this?

Conan_the_Librarian · #5 9th January 2010, 04:41 PM

Don't know if it can be done with the shareware version. I'll run one on mine tomorrow and do a how-to.

#6 9th January 2010, 08:32 PM

could it be simply low temperatures? after a couple of mins teh cabin has warmed up?

#7 9th January 2010, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi

could it be simply low temperatures? after a couple of mins teh cabin has warmed up?

I'm beginning to think this might be the case; up until today the 8 has been left for long periods between start-up's and each time, the display has been slow to become visible. I've used it a few times today and it's only been stood for a couple of hours between runs, took a minute or two to become visible this morning but been ok since?

The_Laird · #8 18th January 2010, 12:45 PM

I've had exactly the same problem on my 2002 A8. It's been parked outside in the very cold spell and on some days there was nothing in the central display at all. After a few miles, it came back on, getting brighter as it did so. Now it's milder, everything is fine again.
Did yours get better in the milder weather too?

#9 18th January 2010, 01:45 PM

It seems to be ok now, or at least it's a lot better. It's readable when i first start up in a morning, but still not full brightness until a few minutes later. i think i can live with it as it is though for now!

Waynester2 · #10 20th January 2010, 01:47 PM

the center display is based on florescent technology, a bit like florescent tubes you get in the kitchen or garage, it doesn't like the cold, so will be dim when its cold, and warm up as the cabin warms up as well as warming up itself. This is just a design thing, I used to have an A6 that had an LED based display and never had an issue with it, apart from pixels and lines failing.

The only thing that could be done to stop it, would be put a heater behind it that brought it upto temperature quickly when cold, maybe the new cars have that. Either way as the florescent gets old, it will be more affected by the cold.

W