Marantz 20B panel lights

[Midwestjimmy]

Good morning. I have a Marantz 20B with case. A few years ago, I attempted to ship it to a buyer via UPS. That was a mistake. They dropped it, bent the faceplate, but everything still functioned. I was so disgusted with them and me that I didn't deal with it until recently. I took it to a local guy who does electronics repair, but certainly not a vintage hi-fi guy, and certainly not an analog tuner guy. He was able to straighten the faceplate. The tuner works great, including the scope. However, I'm baffled by the dial lights. In the attached pic, they are bright and beautiful. But to the naked eye, the numerals are barely visible. I suppose this is just the difference in the way a camera and an eyeball process light, although I don't really know. So my question is - is it possible for the dial lights to be functioning but be dim? Is there some other part of the dial light circuit that is failing? Or is this just the way it will be for a 55 year old tuner?

 

[ancien]

No, all 20Bs have this problem. I had multiple on them in the past. It is how the dial plastic is constructed it cannot transfuse enough light. I tried installing other dial lamps (original is GE20) but to no avail. Behind the dial plastic is a plastic sheet, it is very brittle and yellow after such a long time. I replace it with vellum paper. Not a perfect solution but it was ok on 1 unit. n.b. the Model 20 does not have this problem as the dial is made out of another material.
Ancien

 

[Midwestjimmy]

That makes perfect sense, thank you. Do you think a vellum paper is the best choice? How about replacing the entire window with a piece of glass or smoked glass, glued to the black bezel?

 

[ancien]

You can do that, the vellum paper I had on hand because the later receiver use that too. Maybe smoked or milk glass, but it might be to thick for the dial.
Ancien