What size LEDs do you use for upgrades?

captrockstar

captrockstar

Active Member
Just curious what size LEDs have people used on Yamaha, Nikko & Onkyo receivers & tuners when doing the bulb conversions? I have a source for the leds but I see 3mm, 5mm, 8mm, and 10mm sizes. Is there one that is prefered, if so why? I plan on keeping the colors the same as the originals, yamaha with green, and soft white for the Nikko & Onkyos so as not to ruffle any feathers, but obviously they will be brighter!
 
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The size varies with each unit. How they will be installed. What purpose they have. On a Pioneer or Sansui, I have used 3mm for the tuner pointer. 4 mm for indication such as the stereo light or aux or phono indicators. 5 mm for general illumination. For fuselamps, I use 5mm if there is room. I used a different style for my BA, CA 3000 fuse lamps. 5mm LED's usually are 7 mm's long which means there too long to fit. I found 5 mm's that were only 3 mm's long but they are only available in white. So, I found an array with two led's in it that were only 1.2 mm's tall and 1.2 mm's deep and 9.2 mm's long. They come in blue and green and fit perfectly in the Sansui's. They are even small enough that they could be stuffed in the glass tube of a fuse if someone desired to do that. So, you see, your question is not simple to answer.

Regards,

Ron.
 
The 5mm LED's are friendly for dial face illumination. You may have to diffuse the LED case or install multiples to get a correct spread of lght across the dial face. The color spectrum of LED's is not the same as the original incandescent bulb with shade or cover, also.
 
Thanks for the input!

I read a few threads about led installs but I didnt see anyone mention the size they used so I wanted to make sure I knew the correct ones to get before I purchased them.
 
I've used white 5mm for Yamaha conversions also with the help of online calculators to figure the wattage and resistance. I also use an inexpensive rectifier from Radio Shack. Using Radio Shack's leds, however, result in a display that, while readable in daylight, is far less bright than the original incandescent. In the future, I'll be looking for leds elswhere.
 
If your bulb power supply is ac, and if you buy leds where the allowed reverse voltage is higher than the forward voltage, you can use this simple schema without rectifier:

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Each led will light up half of the time.
I sand down the led lens to get diffuse light.

This is how it looks on a Kenwood KR-4400 receiver:
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Here are the details.
 
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