LED v/s Fuse lamps

[Gowler]

Hello,
Just changed out my 2238 with led's and found found I had uneven lighting across the dial face. It seems to be dim in the space between the lamp clips. Unfortunately I got excited and tossed the old lamps and then noticed the unevenness of the display so I can't do a cross test. Anyone else experienced this???
Thanks,

 

[Steven Tate]

Did you replace the velum with something like 48# velum? If you did, you might go back and try an extra layer or two to diffuse the light better. LED's usually are not as even in lighting as incandescent, but with enough diffusion, it usually is not objectionable.

 

[wurlyman]

I used blue LED fuse types with a double layer of white baking parchment instead of velum. Looks great in person.

 

[sKiZo]

Good trick is to sand the LEDs lightly to dull the surface and help diffuse the light.

 

[wurlyman]

Good trick is to sand the LEDs lightly to dull the surface and help diffuse the light.

I don't think the fuse type have enough surface to sand them.

 

[sKiZo]

My bad ... thought you were talking a homebru setup using standard LEDs ... I'll go to my room now. <G>

PS - I'd think the dead spots are built into the design. Hard for the light to get around those metal end caps, eh. Could you cobble the mounts to set the lamps vertically instead of what you got?

 

[Bert 1100]

I've noticed this too.
What I did on my last rebuild (2325) is this : one layer of vellum closer to the leds (maybe 1/2 inch) and the other layer as the original.
The first layer is sort of rolled into a half-circle with the edges glued at the back of the housing.
This helped quite a bit.
I think the original incandescent bulbs also give a pattern, but not as much.

And with these leds I find the meters at the left are brighter than the tuner scale. What I do is remove one of the led elements from the new lamp (the middle one)

 

[tonebells]

I sometimes turn them to the back and let the light bounce off some fresh gloss white paint.

Tony

 

[CohibaJoe]

Just completed a 2230...New Velum and LED's. Will post a picture.

 

[Steven Tate]

Just completed a 2230...New Velum and LED's. Will post a picture.

In my experience,LED fuse lamps always look like a row of hotspots in photographs. But they don't necessarily look that way to the eye.

 

[sKiZo]

Been toying with the idea of using these for a dial light or two ...

Bias lighting intended for the back of a computer monitor. Peel and stick, and set you back around $10. 5v power, so you'd need to step down from the OEM power supply, but you'd be able to avoid the dead spots inherent in the fuse lamp design?

 

[Bert 1100]

In my experience,LED fuse lamps always look like a row of hotspots in photographs. But they don't necessarily look that way to the eye.

I find this as well, in real Life it looks better than in photos.

 

[orsen]

Been toying with the idea of using these for a dial light or two ...

Bias lighting intended for the back of a computer monitor. Peel and stick, and set you back around $10. 5v power, so you'd need to step down from the OEM power supply, but you'd be able to avoid the dead spots inherent in the fuse lamp design?

i have used those to very good effect, only i used 12v auto strips and the the guts from a wallwart
it also allows to keep the original stuff intact, and i can get them local
brightness can be controlled by voltage, so and 8 or 10v is good. wallwarts are like $1 at the sally ann
i did the same to a sansui 1000x ... its one with no lights unless in receiver mode
but i wired the lights to the switched aux outlet ... now the face stays lit all the time

 

[sKiZo]

Good point is that you don't necessarily have to match the operating voltage all that close - LEDs are a lot more forgiving than you might expect.

These are standard 12v auto interior bulbs modified to replace the dial lamps on a Sansui QRX9001. Those are powered off the original 8v lighting circuit using an AC/DC inverter to eliminate any pulsing. Granted, they're dimmer at that supply level, but that's a good thing as most LED conversions I've seen can be pretty garish come the night. This setup gives me that warm, soft OEM glow all across the face ...

PS ... apologies in advance for posting a pic of a Sui in a Marantz forum ...

 

[CohibaJoe]

In my experience,LED fuse lamps always look like a row of hotspots in photographs. But they don't necessarily look that way to the eye.

As good of picture I can take...There is no Hotspots in the re-build. These LED's are spot on..(Maybe time to get a better camera as Black Friday is soon).

 

[Joshstereo]

Wish the OP would show a pic with the dead spots. Ive put snap in fuse LEDs in every marantz ive ever owned (20+) and ive never seen dead spots unless the vellum is ripped or something. Or maybe hes got one pointing more down or up then the others. Do we know what type of LEDs he used?

 

[Fairlane]

I am a recent concert to LED lamps. Got the light blue from our own dgwojo. Very close to the original color but better. New vellum too.

Two recent restorations with them.

 

[Gowler]

Thanks for all the responses, the vellum replacement worked great. It's back to it's true blue self again!