anderslober
Yikes...not again!
Hello.....I have a ka9100 that has very dim meter lights. They are factory spec 8v/150mA lamps.......they just seem to dim. Any ideas on brightening up the unit? LED's?...........thanks.
Brighten up a KA9100?
- Thread starter anderslober
- Start date
I don't have any experience with the lamps in these Kenwoods, but I have a Yamaha CA-810 I re-lamped with the correct lamps and it looks dim to me. However, it seems that's the way it was intended to work.
If I was more ambitious I would replace them with LED's. I used white LED's in a CA-2010 and they are much, much brighter. Both Yamaha's have a blue plastic filter, which diminishes the light output somewhat.
So you may want to try LED's.
If I was more ambitious I would replace them with LED's. I used white LED's in a CA-2010 and they are much, much brighter. Both Yamaha's have a blue plastic filter, which diminishes the light output somewhat.
So you may want to try LED's.
iamthejeff
Active Member
I significantly lightened up my KR-6400 by lining the top and bottom of the lamp holder with a narrow strip aluminum foil. Cut it to size and glue it in shiny side out, obviously. Super bright now!
Great idea!
anderslober
Yikes...not again!
Hello John.....yes, I got the vol/bal control....excellent! Unit works perfectly now. Thanks for your help.
anderslober
Yikes...not again!
Can LEDs run of the 7.5v AC? I think the unit would look better with a bit more light.
anderslober
Yikes...not again!
How about 200mA lamps......would that be safe?
The problem is that the 9100 has limiting resistors (two series'd 56 ohm 2W resistors, Rz3 and Rz18). The lamps are in series, and the supply voltage is 30VAC. This is not the best candidate for an LED conversion unless you want to rectify the AC.
Because of the limiting resistors, swapping in higher current lamps will change the voltage across the resistors and thus change the voltage at the lamps themselves. It may be tough to predict the voltage drop (and the 2W resistors are already at 1 1/3 watts, and they suck to get access to). If you are willing to rectify the AC with a small bridge and swap out the 56 ohm resistors, you could install LED's in series like the original lamps. But it'll be a bit of a project, and you may not be happy with the end result. This is about the only LED that has a chance to work here.
Because of the limiting resistors, swapping in higher current lamps will change the voltage across the resistors and thus change the voltage at the lamps themselves. It may be tough to predict the voltage drop (and the 2W resistors are already at 1 1/3 watts, and they suck to get access to). If you are willing to rectify the AC with a small bridge and swap out the 56 ohm resistors, you could install LED's in series like the original lamps. But it'll be a bit of a project, and you may not be happy with the end result. This is about the only LED that has a chance to work here.
