Pictorial how to: LED tuner bulbs in SX-x2x (727 used)

Other than Mark the Fixer's comments about the reverse voltage problem and flickering, I WILL have to add 1 correction.

THE CORRECT SIZE FOR THE ALLEN SCREWS is 1.5mm not 1/16" It's a metric size and the 1/16" WILL strip the cap if it's locked in tightly.
 
Thanks Larry, good looking out. I wasn't sure which it was.

And after much time spent looking at the lights (on the 727 used in the tutorial, and on my 828) any flickering that may exist isn't an issue at all to my eyes.
 
Other than Mark the Fixer's comments about the reverse voltage problem and flickering, I WILL have to add 1 correction.

THE CORRECT SIZE FOR THE ALLEN SCREWS is 1.5mm not 1/16" It's a metric size and the 1/16" WILL strip the cap if it's locked in tightly.

Dadgummit! I was dinking around for the last half hour trying to get that thing loose on my SX-828. Nothing seemed to be the right size, standard or metric. Finally, it just came loose..Now that I have it off I can see that the 1.5mm does turn it. Thanks!
 
My SX 727 lost one of the bulbs on the dial face last week. Good excuse to crack it open and give the thing a good cleaning.

Followed Johnny's instructions. Great results. Used blue led's from Parts Express. Looks awesome.
pio.png
 
Guys this is a great thread. But it does not tell one how to get to the lights for the meters. I have a SX-727 with the tuning meter bulb out. How do I get to that bulb? From the rear of the meter?

Hello-
I realize this is an old post but I just completed this job along with changing the bulbs behind the am/fm signal and strength meters. You will need 7 bulbs total (5 for the tuner dial and 1 each for the meters). They are all fuse lights. I purchased mine as the Blue LED from Parts Express. I am guesssing they already have a resistor built in as they do not flicker from the AC voltage. To access the tuner meters bulbs on the sx 727 there are 2 phillips head screws securing for lack of a better term a metal housing. Carefully remove these 2 screws(magnetic screwdriver helps). With the unit unplugged you can reach in a grasp the metal housing behind the meters and scoot it back from the meters. You may have to move a few wires out of the way. As I pulled it back I rotated it clockwise a little and you will see the 2 bulb in the housing. These are not as easy to take out and install as the dial bulbs but it can be done. I used a small long blade screw driver to pop the bulbs out and then retreived them with a little Blue Tac on a screwdriver. To install I stuck the new bulb to the end of a long thin screwdriver again with the Blue Tac and fished it into the fuse holder clips. Once you get it into the clips you can rotate it so the led's are facing straight out of the housing. Repeat same procedure for the other meter. Rotate the housing and afix with the screws. I will try to post a picture. You almost have to change these as well as I found just doing the dial made the meters look really dull.
 
I did eventually get the meter bulbs in. You should reconsider blue LEDs for the meters. Mine were too blue so I put in white LEDs for the meters on the second attempt. Blue is OK for the dial but wipes out the meters so they become hard to read. So it's all white or blue on dial and white on meters.
 
10. When they are all out, find your LEDs and place them in the sockets, centering the LED strip and getting them as close to straight up and down as you can.

IMG_20150816_224417894_HDR.jpg


You can now turn the receiver on to verify everything works and the light is even, sliding the tuner dial back in to double check. Everything looks good on mine!

IMG_20150816_224526218.jpg


IMG_20150817_204952101_HDR.jpg


11. Re-assembly is the reverse, I actually took the above pictures in reverse, simply re-install the pieces one by one until you’re up and running. Take care to clean all the pieces and not get finger grease or dirt on anything as it goes back together.

IMG_20150817_211951934.jpg


And here’s the 727 on top of the 828 I did first. The 10 LEDs in the $7 pack were perfect to replace the 5 bulbs in each receiver. And YES the dimming function of the 828 still works!

IMG_20150817_212827121.jpg


I hope this proves useful to those SX-x2x owners out there who are looking for a cheap and easy way to improve the backlighting with reasonably priced and easily available LEDs.

Cheers,
Ryan


Hey Ryan,

Its been a good while! Nice work!! Hope all is well.

Loving the SNES as well! ;) I have all my SNES/NES games in emulator format. I converted an Original NES controller to USB. So i can use an original NES controller on my PC... Running a projector as my monitor, so having a 100 inch game screen is quite fun. Mario is a few feet tall.. have had some fun game nights!

Oh, and still have my SX-4G's you were spot on about them, they are keepers!

Kind Regards,
John
 
Hello-
I realize this is an old post but I just completed this job along with changing the bulbs behind the am/fm signal and strength meters. You will need 7 bulbs total (5 for the tuner dial and 1 each for the meters). They are all fuse lights. I purchased mine as the Blue LED from Parts Express. I am guesssing they already have a resistor built in as they do not flicker from the AC voltage. To access the tuner meters bulbs on the sx 727 there are 2 phillips head screws securing for lack of a better term a metal housing. Carefully remove these 2 screws(magnetic screwdriver helps). With the unit unplugged you can reach in a grasp the metal housing behind the meters and scoot it back from the meters. You may have to move a few wires out of the way. As I pulled it back I rotated it clockwise a little and you will see the 2 bulb in the housing. These are not as easy to take out and install as the dial bulbs but it can be done. I used a small long blade screw driver to pop the bulbs out and then retreived them with a little Blue Tac on a screwdriver. To install I stuck the new bulb to the end of a long thin screwdriver again with the Blue Tac and fished it into the fuse holder clips. Once you get it into the clips you can rotate it so the led's are facing straight out of the housing. Repeat same procedure for the other meter. Rotate the housing and afix with the screws. I will try to post a picture. You almost have to change these as well as I found just doing the dial made the meters look really dull.

Welcome to AK Lugosi1931!
 
Hey this thread is pretty old but thanks to OP as well as all who posted. I recently replaced my realistic with an sx 727. Wanted to upgrade to leds, never worked on gear myself, found this thread, now I have a great looking receiver and I didn’t F anything up. Came out great, thank you.
 
I am girding my loins to do the needle lamp.... any recommendations would be appreciated --
it looks like the lamp enclosure is a small metal box - do I just gently pry back the flaps with a small blade to open it up?
Thanks for this great thread --
 
I am girding my loins to do the needle lamp.... any recommendations would be appreciated --
it looks like the lamp enclosure is a small metal box - do I just gently pry back the flaps with a small blade to open it up?
Thanks for this great thread --
Hello- If you look at my previous post above you will see I outlined the meter replacement as well. Be mindful of what the original author of this thread said concerning my post. They will be very blue(I happen to like it) if you use the blue led's for the meters. He suggested warm white.
 
Hello-
I realize this is an old post but I just completed this job along with changing the bulbs behind the am/fm signal and strength meters. You will need 7 bulbs total (5 for the tuner dial and 1 each for the meters). They are all fuse lights. I purchased mine as the Blue LED from Parts Express. I am guesssing they already have a resistor built in as they do not flicker from the AC voltage. To access the tuner meters bulbs on the sx 727 there are 2 phillips head screws securing for lack of a better term a metal housing. Carefully remove these 2 screws(magnetic screwdriver helps). With the unit unplugged you can reach in a grasp the metal housing behind the meters and scoot it back from the meters. You may have to move a few wires out of the way. As I pulled it back I rotated it clockwise a little and you will see the 2 bulb in the housing. These are not as easy to take out and install as the dial bulbs but it can be done. I used a small long blade screw driver to pop the bulbs out and then retreived them with a little Blue Tac on a screwdriver. To install I stuck the new bulb to the end of a long thin screwdriver again with the Blue Tac and fished it into the fuse holder clips. Once you get it into the clips you can rotate it so the led's are facing straight out of the housing. Repeat same procedure for the other meter. Rotate the housing and afix with the screws. I will try to post a picture. You almost have to change these as well as I found just doing the dial made the meters look really dull.

Hello, I'm brand new to this forum and haven't ever posted anything. I don't know if you can help me with my issue. I own a Pioneer SX-727. I'm the original owner and have owned the unit since 1974. I think that was 44 years ago. The unit and wood case looks like new and seems to be in perfect condition. I also have the original sales receipt and owner's manual. My main issues are (1 the radio dial lights won't go on. I have checked all 5 of the fuse-type bulbs (look similar to the older car fuses) and they all pass the continuity check with my volt meter (being placed on each end of the bulb with the power OFF). After reading a post on this forum, I have also removed the bottom panel on the unit and I see the 3 fuses all mounted on a small printed circuit board with a thick plastic protector on each fuse. All 3 of these fuses also pass the continuity check and none appear to be burned out. I haven't checked for voltage with the power on because I don't want to cause a short or blow something by touching the wrong contacts. I read on this Pioneer forum that the bottom 3 fuses, the one closest to the case is the fuse for the radio dial lights. Again, this fuse appears to be good with a continuity check across the fuse with the power OFF. 2) All the indicator lights work (AM/FM/Phono/Stereo) except the Aux light appears burned out. My continuity check showed all the indicator bulbs had continuity except the Aux light (I read that some people had problems removing the indicator light bulbs due to the foam they are cased in had deteriorated. My indicator bulb foam casing is in perfect condition and all I did was gently pull on the bulb from the rear where the wires attach and the bulb came out with a little coaxing but not that really a problem. So, I'm ready to get a bulb for the Aux and solder that in place. 3) I squirted a tiny amount of electric contact spray cleaner into each push button from the front of the buttons with the front metal cover removed but I was reluctant to try and locate the switch pots from behind or inside the unit because I felt it would be better not to tamper with anything if I didn't really need to. I did notice a tiny bit of scratch noise through the speakers when pressing one or two of the front panel buttons and the tiny amount of spray inserted from the front seemed to help, but all buttons seem to be functioning well as do the selector switches, volume, tone, etc. Those are my issues. The main one is the radio dial lights not going on as described above. I can live with the radio dial lights not going on but it would be nice to have them working to see the radio stations. Any assistance is appreciated.
 
Hello, I'm brand new to this forum and haven't ever posted anything. I don't know if you can help me with my issue. I own a Pioneer SX-727. I'm the original owner and have owned the unit since 1974. I think that was 44 years ago. The unit and wood case looks like new and seems to be in perfect condition. I also have the original sales receipt and owner's manual. My main issues are (1 the radio dial lights won't go on. I have checked all 5 of the fuse-type bulbs (look similar to the older car fuses) and they all pass the continuity check with my volt meter (being placed on each end of the bulb with the power OFF). After reading a post on this forum, I have also removed the bottom panel on the unit and I see the 3 fuses all mounted on a small printed circuit board with a thick plastic protector on each fuse. All 3 of these fuses also pass the continuity check and none appear to be burned out. I haven't checked for voltage with the power on because I don't want to cause a short or blow something by touching the wrong contacts. I read on this Pioneer forum that the bottom 3 fuses, the one closest to the case is the fuse for the radio dial lights. Again, this fuse appears to be good with a continuity check across the fuse with the power OFF. 2) All the indicator lights work (AM/FM/Phono/Stereo) except the Aux light appears burned out. My continuity check showed all the indicator bulbs had continuity except the Aux light (I read that some people had problems removing the indicator light bulbs due to the foam they are cased in had deteriorated. My indicator bulb foam casing is in perfect condition and all I did was gently pull on the bulb from the rear where the wires attach and the bulb came out with a little coaxing but not that really a problem. So, I'm ready to get a bulb for the Aux and solder that in place. 3) I squirted a tiny amount of electric contact spray cleaner into each push button from the front of the buttons with the front metal cover removed but I was reluctant to try and locate the switch pots from behind or inside the unit because I felt it would be better not to tamper with anything if I didn't really need to. I did notice a tiny bit of scratch noise through the speakers when pressing one or two of the front panel buttons and the tiny amount of spray inserted from the front seemed to help, but all buttons seem to be functioning well as do the selector switches, volume, tone, etc. Those are my issues. The main one is the radio dial lights not going on as described above. I can live with the radio dial lights not going on but it would be nice to have them working to see the radio stations. Any assistance is appreciated.
Really should start a new thread and not post twice....
Take off the bottom and DeOxit everything, going through the front really won't do much. The meter lights are switched by the function knob, so that could be your issue.
 
Really should start a new thread and not post twice....
Take off the bottom and DeOxit everything, going through the front really won't do much. The meter lights are switched by the function knob, so that could be your issue.

Thanks for your help. Sorry about adding to this thread. This is my first post to a forum and I am still figuring it out. I posted twice by mistake. I see what you are saying about the function knob that also turns on the dial lights. I'll try and spray all the switches if I can get to them with the bottom panel removed. I think you're saying that the function switch may not be turning on the lights due to some oxidation or such on the circuit that turns the dial lights on, even though none of the bulbs or fuses appear bad. Can I use electrical contact cleaner as I don't have any DeOxit?
 
Thanks for your help. Sorry about adding to this thread. This is my first post to a forum and I am still figuring it out. I posted twice by mistake. I see what you are saying about the function knob that also turns on the dial lights. I'll try and spray all the switches if I can get to them with the bottom panel removed. I think you're saying that the function switch may not be turning on the lights due to some oxidation or such on the circuit that turns the dial lights on, even though none of the bulbs or fuses appear bad. Can I use electrical contact cleaner as I don't have any DeOxit?
Yup exactly. As long as the contact clean removes oxidation, I'm sure it'll work fine. Good luck!
 
Yup exactly. As long as the contact clean removes oxidation, I'm sure it'll work fine. Good luck!

Pioneer SX-727 - Original owner since 1974. Hello, I went in and deleted the previous duplicate posting. I'm not sure if I posted a new message regarding this or not. This is a very excellent forum with great helpers. I did go in to the function switches on either end of the receiver, and the the other switches and push buttons I could reach and sprayed CRC Contact Cleaner all around the switch contacts. I used a paper towel below where I sprayed to soak up the excess and tried not to get it into anything but the switch contact points. Unfortunately, the bank of 5 radio dial lights still didn't go on. The switches seemed to operate smoother so that was probably worth doing. While I was in the case, I double checked all the fuses and the dial light bulbs for continuity using my ohm meter and they all appeared to have the filament intact and there was continuity at each end of the fuse-style bulbs and the 3 actual fuses on the bottom of the unit. The main fuse that screws in the back of the unit is also good. Any other ideas are appreciated. Thanks.
 
Check the wiring and the transformer wiring for them. It's directly connected, there's not a lot that could have gone wrong.Screen Shot 2018-06-13 at 6.00.14 PM.png
 
Back
Top Bottom