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Kenwood KR 3130

MJ1951

MJ1951

Member
I have recently acquired a nice Kenwood KR 3130. I did thorough cleaning and deoxed all of the pots and switches. Everything seems to be working except the tuning meter, in stereo mode (works fine in AM) and the stereo indicator light is toast. Any ideas on where to get a replacement light and what might be the issue with the meter in stereo mode would be greatly appreciated. I am a novice but have a more knowledgeable friend is assisting me in the project. Thank you!
 
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Looks like the stereo bulb would be 24 volt, 30 mA. Have no idea what it physically looks like, but perhaps a #2176.
As for the meter not working on FM, my first suspect would be the mode switch (S2-3f). Try a little more cleaning.
 
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Thank Ylli! My friend looked at the bulb and it is a 8V 30mA 4.5mm diameter bulb the specs on the #2176 are not in that range.
 
AK member dgwojo can help you with the bulb.

Here's his website: www.dgwojo.com (I think that's ok w/ the mods to post. If not, find him on here and send him an email.)
 
Stereo meter not working. Stereo light not working.
Are you sure you're getting stereo?
 
MJ1951 said:
Thank Ylli! My friend looked at the bulb and it is a 8V 30mA 4.5mm diameter bulb the specs on the #2176 are not in that range.
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Then the HFE schematic must be in error. Shows one end of the bulb at +22 volts, and the other end at +0.12 volts. That would burn out an 8 volts bulb in short order.
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50 Green said:
AK member dgwojo can help you with the bulb.

Here's his website: www.dgwojo.com (I think that's ok w/ the mods to post. If not, find him on here and send him an email.)
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Thank you for that address, I have sent him an email on the subject. With my limited abilities in this area I find it best to defer to others expertise. Thank you again!
 
Ylli said:
Then the HFE schematic must be in error. Shows one end of the bulb at +22 volts, and the other end at +0.12 volts. That would burn out an 8 volts bulb in short order.
View attachment 1550998
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No knowing the history of the unit, it may be that a previous owner made a incorrect replacement and using that line I would just be repeating the error. I am going with 50 Green's suggestion.
 
teal'c said:
Stereo meter not working. Stereo light not working.
Are you sure you're getting stereo?
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Well that's also a question. The tuner is working and I can pull in FM channels, there is separation between the speakers when I use the balance, left to right, but not sure if that is a an accurate way to test.
 
Can you hear a difference when you switch between stereo and mono? If not try cleaning it again, press it 80 or 90 times with a second squirt of cleaner half way through.
 
I did hear back from Dave and not having a parts number his suggestion is a 8v/50ma lamp, either with bare wire leads or with wire leads, which is consistent with units from this era.
 
teal'c said:
Can you hear a difference when you switch between stereo and mono? If not try cleaning it again, press it 80 or 90 times with a second squirt of cleaner half way through.
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I will have my friend check that. I think that I did it and there was a difference but memory might be playing tricks. I will reclean the switches and give them an extra squirt of cleaner.
 
Could also replace it with an LED. You would need to change the value of R306 to about 10K.
 
I just ordered two from Dave. I did give the LED option a thought but would like to try and stay as close to original as I can. I will keep you all in the loop as the story unfolds.
 
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