AtomicLP
New Member
I am nearing completion on recapping my 7070. It has been fun and long process. I went against my original intentions and decided to swap out the power meter bulbs to LED's. I would like to share what I found in detail.
The bulbs I used were 5mm "Cool White" pre-wired LED's, with a voltage rating of 7-9V (yeah that's right). My goal was to get a nice white background. The original bulbs are 6.3V with a resistor, so according to other threads they run at 5V. I have no complaints about using the 7-9V LED's, they are plenty bright without being bothersome. The original bulbs are 3mm with a rubber grommet. The original grommet will likely be very brittle and not reusable. A 5mm LED fits into the meter perfectly.
I also read that the "cool white" LED's produced a blueish hue. On further investigation I opened up the meters by slicing the tape holding the glass housing to the body and discovered that there is a blue cap housing around the bulbs. This explains the blue hue. Below are pictures of all this...
Please note this isn't the final installation, just experimenting ...the final product will have all the wires cut properly to length...
1) This a shot of what the original bulb + grommet looks like
2) This is a shot of a 5mm pre-wired LED fitting in the meter housing.
3) Showing the Original bulbs w/ blue cap (left) ..and the new cool-white LED's with no cap (right)
4) This is a picture of original on left, and the new cool white LEDs with no cap on the right. This produces really nice pure white light, really clean look that fits with the looks of the Sansui (this is what I will be doing for the final product)
5) This picture shows what the cool-white LED's + original blue caps look like. I had to modify this pic to show what it kinda looks like in person. It's not a great look trust me!
So in conclusion. If you are replacing the meter bulbs:
-5mm LED's fit perfect
-7-9V rated pre wired (pre-wired means the resistor already installed) LED's worked for me
-You have to open up the meter housing (by simply slicing the tape holding it together) and remove the blue caps otherwise your cool-white LED's will look blueish.
-It's a PITA to do overall but the results are worth it in my opinion.
-Also if you only want that original look but want to use LED's then just buy warm white LED's and pop them in place.
Hope this helps some people out and clear up any mystery.
The bulbs I used were 5mm "Cool White" pre-wired LED's, with a voltage rating of 7-9V (yeah that's right). My goal was to get a nice white background. The original bulbs are 6.3V with a resistor, so according to other threads they run at 5V. I have no complaints about using the 7-9V LED's, they are plenty bright without being bothersome. The original bulbs are 3mm with a rubber grommet. The original grommet will likely be very brittle and not reusable. A 5mm LED fits into the meter perfectly.
I also read that the "cool white" LED's produced a blueish hue. On further investigation I opened up the meters by slicing the tape holding the glass housing to the body and discovered that there is a blue cap housing around the bulbs. This explains the blue hue. Below are pictures of all this...
Please note this isn't the final installation, just experimenting ...the final product will have all the wires cut properly to length...
1) This a shot of what the original bulb + grommet looks like
2) This is a shot of a 5mm pre-wired LED fitting in the meter housing.
3) Showing the Original bulbs w/ blue cap (left) ..and the new cool-white LED's with no cap (right)
4) This is a picture of original on left, and the new cool white LEDs with no cap on the right. This produces really nice pure white light, really clean look that fits with the looks of the Sansui (this is what I will be doing for the final product)
5) This picture shows what the cool-white LED's + original blue caps look like. I had to modify this pic to show what it kinda looks like in person. It's not a great look trust me!
So in conclusion. If you are replacing the meter bulbs:
-5mm LED's fit perfect
-7-9V rated pre wired (pre-wired means the resistor already installed) LED's worked for me
-You have to open up the meter housing (by simply slicing the tape holding it together) and remove the blue caps otherwise your cool-white LED's will look blueish.
-It's a PITA to do overall but the results are worth it in my opinion.
-Also if you only want that original look but want to use LED's then just buy warm white LED's and pop them in place.
Hope this helps some people out and clear up any mystery.
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