Sansui G lamp bulb wizards

Brudha

Shania before Mark Twain
Picked up a G-5000 off of Craiglist yesterday for $35. Seller said he had received like 10 emails in just a couple hours time on this since he first listed it. He said the FM tuner wasn't working at all and it had been sitting for a couple years. When I went to go look at it he had an antenna hooked up and he was surprised that it was now in fact working. After I got it home, I noticed the only thing wrong with it was the dial light was out.

Opened up the case and it looks like there's just one bulb that lights up the display from the left-hand side. There's one more similar bulb along the top that lights the meters which is working. Pulled the bulb on the left and it is clearly blown since it looked somewhat black and the filament inside is broke.

My question is how do I go about finding a replacement bulb of this type or perform some kind of mod to use more standard screw-in types? Also, how would I actually replace it - looks like I'd have to solder on a new bulb holder?

Measured it with the voltmeter and it showed about 7.7 volts. Does that seem about right?

Thanks for any 'light' you could shed on this..........
 

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I had a G2000 that had the same lamp setup. I couldn't find the odd bulbs, and I didn't know where to look. I ended up gettting some 8 volt bulbs from rat shack with a screw base. I had to roughen up the side to get the solder so sitck to the bulb. The other wire soldered to the bottom of the bulb fine.

However, If you want to do it the way it originally looked, I'm sure someone with info as to where to get the bulbs will chime in
 
I'd be leary of using the 7.5V bulbs from RatShack...their rated life is low to begin with, and the voltage applied can vary from unit to unit, with many of them overvolting the 7.5V bulb and shortening its already short life.

dgwojo has 8V 250mA wedge lamps that work great...just a little tricky to solder to. The leads are nichrome or something and solder doesn't want to stick...I strip the wires and wrap them a few times around the bulb leads and then solder, which usually makes a good connection.
 
He also has 8v 150mv bulbs with leads that work just fine. They are a lot easier to install and as long as you change all at the same time they look great.

- Pete
 
TU-717 replacement bulbs are available on E-Bay serach for "Dial Bulb TU-717". If your G5000 uses the same bulb, these should work.

Edit: I just looked at your picture more closely and they don't look the same as the TU-717 bulbs. E-mail me and I may be able to help you work something up that fits. - Denis
 
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These are the same lamps used on the larger G-series units, and

(A) They are 8V and either 250 or 300mA, and
(B) You will not find an exact replacement...8V lamps are very scarce.

The best you can do (and it is hardly a compromise) is to use a couple of 8V 250mA wedge lamps from dgwojo.
 
EchoWars said:
These are the same lamps used on the larger G-series units, and

(A) They are 8V and either 250 or 300mA, and
(B) You will not find an exact replacement...8V lamps are very scarce.

The best you can do (and it is hardly a compromise) is to use a couple of 8V 250mA wedge lamps from dgwojo.

Thanks a lot for the info. There is only one bulb and lead inside. There does look like there is a duplicate mounting location on the right-hand side where I could install an additional bulb? Is this what you recommend? If so, where would I tap into setting that up?

Is this the proper bulb? I assume I should be getting the mount with wires?
 
Brudha said:
Thanks a lot for the info. There is only one bulb and lead inside.
Huh? Two leads for each bulb...hot and return.
There does look like there is a duplicate mounting location on the right-hand side where I could install an additional bulb?
Most of the 'G' receivers have a bulb at each end of the clear plastic tuner dial. I've never looked at a G-5000, but I have no reason to believe it is any different.
Is this what you recommend? If so, where would I tap into setting that up?
Sounds like you are simply missing the bulb on one side. Maybe someone who has a 5000 or a manual can clue us in as to whether it is supposed to have only one bulb for the tuner display, but that seems like it would lead to funky lighting of the display.
Is this the proper bulb? I assume I should be getting the mount with wires?
That's the bulb, and you use the stock rubber mount, as nothing else is gonna fit.
 
I have a g-5000 and it only has one lamp for the display - left side I think. There's a bracket on the other side but no wire, no lamp, no nuthin.

Murray
 
Thanks for all the info, received the proper bulb.

So.....I replace the burned out dial lamp bulb, turn it on to see how it looks...it looks nice and decently bright. I put the cover back on and a few minutes later the other bulb (meters) burns out. :thumbsdn: Nice. Is this fairly common? Always recommended to swap out all the same bulb types at once?
 
I just changed the bulbs in a G-4500. It is similar in that it uses one bulb for the display and one for the meters. I used the 8V 150mA bubs with wire leads attached from AKer dgwojo. 50 cents each I believe? And he won't ding you you with a $15 shipping and handling bill either. :)

The attached leads were long enough that I didn't need to splice anything, just soldered directly to the supply board. On this amp they are run in series off the supply, so changing one bulb could cause the other to fail. Not sure how the G-5000 works. I searched for bulbs for this and several Akai amps and tuners I have which use the same bulb, and found nothing. I believe some of the lower end Kenwood x600 series recievers use these bulbs as well.

The closest thing sub I found was to use a 14V 500mA bulb, but they were special order and $1.50 each. There are also some auto bulbs that might work, but they might not be good for more than a few hundred hours. In the end these 8V 150mA are bright enough. Yes, one bulb actually lights up the dial glass evenly! Looks fine in a normally lit room. I've changed out the G-4500, two of the Akai amps and one tuner (an AT-2600) and they all look really good now.

I'm beginning to wonder if the OEM bulbs in this vintage gear were selected for showroom brightness (WoW factor in a well lit showroom) and are all a little brighter than really needed in the home.
 

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Brand new replacemant dial bulbs on Ebay

For those whose interested in replacement dial bulbs for the G-series, (the 8v, 300ma that sits in blue rubber housing) , dhenryp has just put these on Ebay :http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Dial-Bulb-f...oryZ3282QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Last week i discovered that the left dial bulb in my G-8700 had gone bye-bye, funny 'cause i can't even tell by looking at the display, the right dial bulb actually lights up the whole display, so maybe you also could have a dead dial bulb in your receiver without even knowing it? I first discovered it, cleaning the inside of the display.
I ordered some bulbs 3 days ago, and i'll keep you posted on how it works out :thmbsp:
More to follow.....
 
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Sean,

I saw those bulbs on the Bay a few days ago. Looks like they're hand made bulbs. I guess they should be for the price being charged. However, it's great to see another source for these things. 1,000 hours per bulb.
 
Replacemant dial bulb review

As promised, here's my review on those new replacement dial bulbs from dhenryp , for my Sansui G-8700DB.
They just arrived today, including solderless splice connecters, and installation guide. :tresbon:
The bulbs shines nice and brightly, the rubber housing fits perfectly in the brackets, and installation was a breeze, using the enclosed splice connectors.
I don't know if $20, incl postage to Denmark is cheap, or expensive for two replacement bulbs? but i'll tell you, this is the best 20 bucks i've spent for some time, considering the result. :thmbsp:
 
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