Stereo Indicator Lights Drivin’ Me Crazy

Jereostereo

Active Member
I have several receivers - all of them look and sound great, are clean and seem in perfect working order but, the stereo indicator light is dead.

Sony STR-V5
Technics SA-5560
Harman Kardon HK930
Craig 5503
Marantz 2220

These are all nice receivers. FM reception is strong and they all play in stereo. I dig into them and get all the other dead bulbs replaced. I snip out the dead stereo bulb and splice in a new one. Nothing. It seems to happen over and over. Is this a case of the tuner needing adjustment? Why are these stereo bulbs so finicky? Nothing in this hobby is more frustrating than having a sparkly vintage receiver that is this close to being perfect and having one little thing preventing it. Is there a common reason for this situation? Thanks.
 
I have several receivers - all of them look and sound great, are clean and seem in perfect working order but, the stereo indicator light is dead.
...
These are all nice receivers. FM reception is strong and they all play in stereo. I dig into them and get all the other dead bulbs replaced. I snip out the dead stereo bulb and splice in a new one. Nothing. It seems to happen over and over. Is this a case of the tuner needing adjustment? Why are these stereo bulbs so finicky? Nothing in this hobby is more frustrating than having a sparkly vintage receiver that is this close to being perfect and having one little thing preventing it. Is there a common reason for this situation? Thanks.
Might be nothing more than a weak FM signal in your area. Are you sure you're getting stereo output? Is it clean and noise-free?
 
did you measure for voltage on the snipped wires? Did you measure for resistance on the snipped lamp?
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I live 1/4 mile from a college FM station so a strong signal is no problem. They play a lot of funky rock so it is easy to distinguish stereo vs. mono. I am just a tinkerer and haven’t taught myself to measure voltages. Was hoping there might be some Inside Baseball suggestions about what seems to me to be a recurring problem. I probably should teach myself to measure voltages. Thanks Blue Shadow.
 
Five receivers with the same problem? That's some seriously bad luck. Are you sure you don't have alien neighbors sending reports back to the mother ship? That could certainly do it. :naughty:
 
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