Nissan Primera P11 dashboard light switch heats up |
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Ryoko
NPOC Guest Joined: 26 Mar 2017 Online Status: Points: 23 |
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Posted: 08 Jun 2017 at 5:47pm |
Hello All!
The other day I was driving in the evening and when I set the dashboard illumination a bit brighter, I noticed that the upper part of the light adjustment switch is definitely warmer than the other parts of the dashboard. I own my beloved Primera since 2013, but I don't remember that I have ever noticed that the switch heats up. Today I pulled out the switch, turned on the lights and after some minutes the upper part became quite hot. Could you tell me, please, is it normal that the switch heats up? Thank you very much in advance! |
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p11primeragt
NPOC Guest Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Online Status: Points: 18750 |
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Fairly normal for switches to get hot,but keep an eye on it just in case.
That's one called a rheostat. |
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Ryoko
NPOC Guest Joined: 26 Mar 2017 Online Status: Points: 23 |
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Thank you for your reply!
Hmm.. I think, I try to get another switch just to give it a try and compare to my one. |
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**See Admin**
NPOC Guest Joined: 08 Apr 2004 Online Status: Points: 0 |
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Like you said Id try another switch to see if it warms up so much but one question were the lights on for a considerable amounts of time
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Ryoko
NPOC Guest Joined: 26 Mar 2017 Online Status: Points: 23 |
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Thank you for your reply!
It doesn't take too much time to warm up. About 2 or 3 minutes and it's quite hot. Even if the dashboard illumination is set to the minimum. Some weeks ago I changed the dashboard bulbs, but I didn't do any modification, just replaced the old bulbs to new ones, so I don't think this can be the problem. |
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imckay
NPOC Member Joined: 11 Mar 2007 Location: Manchester Online Status: Points: 3374 |
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The switch is a variable resistor.
The lower you set the illumination, the hotter the switch will get. 12 Volts in. If you have it set to dim, not all 12 Volts are applied to the Bulbs The rest are 'used' by the variable resistor and turned into heat. As long as it's not too hot to touch, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Ryoko
NPOC Guest Joined: 26 Mar 2017 Online Status: Points: 23 |
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Thank you very much for the useful information!
I think I turn on the illumination fully and check whether the temperature stays on a level which can be considered "normal" or not. When I pulled out the switch, I noticed that there are "holes" on the sides, which I thought might be for letting the heat go away. If so, that means some heat is normal. Anyway, I'm going to check it tomorrow! Thank you again! |
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Ryoko
NPOC Guest Joined: 26 Mar 2017 Online Status: Points: 23 |
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I checked it. Yes, when the illumination is set to the maximum, the switch doesn't heat up. The lower I set, the hotter it becomes, as you said. Once again, thank you very much for the help! |
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