Meter lights for TU-9900 and AU-20000

Tinnkindling

Tinnkindling

OLD SCHOOL
Some of the bulbs that illuminate the meters in my TU-9900 and my AU-20K are no longer working. I've sent out an inquiry to Dgwojo, whose supplied lamps for me in the past.

What I'm hoping to learn from the group is what's involved in actually replacing the bulbs. The TU-9900 does not look too complex but the AU-20K looks really crowded in the area behind the faceplate. Is it necessary to remove the faceplate to replace the bulbs in either or both of these units? And if so, how difficult is this? What pitfalls can I expect?

Anyone whose done this already? IF so, I'd really like to hear from you.

Thanks in advance.
 
Tu 9900 is pretty much straight forward. you have to unscrew 3 or 4 screws that hold the lamp assy. On Au 20k if it's the same with CA3K, I don't recall , you have to unscrew 2 screws on each instrument that hold the lamp assy.
So no you don't have to remove face plate.
 
Thanks JOMARK. Dgwojo got back to me, and said that others replacing the TU-9900 meter lamps have ordered 3mm 6.3 volt lamps with a 65 ma draw. I'm going to order them, and see if my soldering/de-soldering skills are up to the task. Might just be able to use a solder wick in this simple situation.

While I had the top and bottom off the TU-9900, I got a good look at this unit--really nicely built, hefty transformer (for a tuner), and a fairly big flywheel on the tuning knob shaft. I took the opportunity to clean the push-button switches, and the rotary mode switch, and put it back together for now.

There's another question in my mind, and that is how much difference in performance would I realize by having a professional tech do an alignment on this thing?
 
Tinnkindling said:
Thanks JOMARK. Dgwojo got back to me, and said that others replacing the TU-9900 meter lamps have ordered 3mm 6.3 volt lamps with a 65 ma draw. I'm going to order them, and see if my soldering/de-soldering skills are up to the task. Might just be able to use a solder wick in this simple situation.

While I had the top and bottom off the TU-9900, I got a good look at this unit--really nicely built, hefty transformer (for a tuner), and a fairly big flywheel on the tuning knob shaft. I took the opportunity to clean the push-button switches, and the rotary mode switch, and put it back together for now.

There's another question in my mind, and that is how much difference in performance would I realize by having a professional tech do an alignment on this thing?
Click to expand...

The alignment question really depends on how far out of adjustment it is now.
Might be OK as is. Best damn tuner on the planet IMHO.
 
Au-20K is done.

Just wondering if I want to get into the rather delicate looking meter illumination boards with my clumsy hands, a soldering iron, etc. Afraid of breaking a near 40 year old wire or something.
 
That tu9900 deserves to be upgrade with the components that the gent from FMTUNERINFO has plus the additional components in the rebuild- it will turn it into an even better tuner.

IIRC aren't the meter lamps in the 9900 in a rubber base holder, they slide over the posts, you pull the old bulbs out and clip one lead of the new lamp (to make it longer) and shove the leads through the holes in the rubber? No solder needed??
 
Mike, the LEDs, in my opinion, look great. Much more light, and of course, not as much heat. Of course, if originality is very important to you, you may not like the shade of green, which is not the same as "Sansui Greenie"

It's got a bit more of the yellow spectrum light in it now. But when you enter the room, it grabs your attention. Sorry, but I do not notice any difference in sound quality with the new bulbs. ;-)
 
LOL ( No sonic change.. well OBVIOUSLY you have the WRONG BULBS ) The bulbs ( LED's ) I'm using are a deeper green ( that will not photograph worth a damn ) then the stock ones, and WAY more light… but the BONUS is there are VERY SENSITIVE to current variances.. In the 5K as I approach FULL POWER the light start to flicker ( similar to a reverse peak meter ) so if there is ANYTHING going a bit wonky.. it will tell you.. I noticed this " effect" on my 20K rebuild and considering it's only tied the the 5.8 volt AC rail.. if it dims something is amiss with the 110 primary side of life OR it's just pulling a PILE of current out of the wall.. In the 20K it let me know my AC mains switch was on the way out.. I think on the 5K it's just telling me a LOT of current is being used…..
 
Btheking: Yes, there are small round rubber holders, sort of a fawn or buckskin colour. I did not try to pull the bulbs out of the holders, as I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that the bulbs were not socketed, but hard-wired through the holders, and thence to the board on the back of the meters.

The holders seem to fit into small round holes in a sheet metal board. I did pull one of the holders out, then, realizing I could go no further without replacement bulbs, put it back. When I did this, one of the black wires, from the bulb to the board, separated from the board. So, I now have two operating lamps, instead of the three that I had when I began.

Oh well...

By the way, I use this tuner almost daily, and I've read about the mods, but I think it sounds pretty good as it is, so will probably leave it alone, as I'm not technically skilled enough to play around with it.
 
Mike, when do you run your 5K at full power????

You must live on acreage out in the country, or else have the most inefficient speakers on the planet.
 
My friend from X work, who is another retired mousekateer( Chief engineer who originally installed the Westlakes ) wanted to hear em post restore... we had MUCHO SPL playing a series of audio files we had ratholed over time to test our dubbing stages, post room tune.... A VERY eclectic collection intermixed with traditional cuts off different albums... Post " ear warm up " post , yeah all the drivers are there and there are no holes in the response curve...we started to " listen "... Then as in all things we wanted to get LOUD.... well I couldn't stay in the room ( even with 40 db earplugs ) but we were JUST kicking ~ 200 watt mark.. so that's as WOT as I could get the 5K ( SO Far ).
The problem is the 2 cabs are stacked in a 10X10 bedroom.. and there is only so much room....
 
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