Question about the stereo light of a KT 7300...

Hello Kenwood specialists,

I'm reading here since years, now I have a question and I hope you can help me... I own an old KT 7300 tuner, good sounding, but three dial lights and all three Led's (stereo indicator, AM and FM indicator) are gone, I can replace the dial lights with bulbs that i can buy here in germany, but where can I get the LED's? Any help is very appreciated, I've searched the net but found nothing...

Thank you and best regards

Michael

That is an exceptionally odd problem! In my experience, it's rare for even vintage LEDs to fail.

The only thing I can offer as far as replacement is that the electrical specifications of LEDs are not as critical as incandescent bulbs. The tuner is designed to supply about 10 milliamps of current to light the LEDs, and that is a reasonable amount of current for just about any LED. Try to find ones that will physically fit in place, and are a color that you can accept, and they will work. If possible, avoid ones that are described as "high brightness"; they will be probably be so bright that they will be aesthetically displeasing.

Oh, and you need to know that LEDs are polarized - they have a positive and a negative connection, and will only work when connected with the correct polarity. Most LEDs that have a round package will have a flattened area near the negative connection. With any luck, both the LEDs in your tuner and the new ones you find will have the flattened area, so all you have to do is maintain the same orientation.

Auf Wiedersehen,

chazix

Hello chazix,

thank You very much, there is a tension of about 13 volts at the connections for the stereo LED if stereo reception is given, if I switch between AM and FM, there is also about 13 volts on the connections... I tought those older LED's had no built in resistor, so is there a problem in my tuner that killed the old LED's? I was thinking that the old LED's are working with 1,5 to 2,2 volts? And the next problem ist that here in Germany are no bulbs for the dial light, I made a mistake, are these bulbs available in the USA?

Best regards

Michael

I don't think you need to worry about the voltage readings. If the LEDs have failed so that they do not draw any current at all, then the voltage at their connections will be abnormally high.

I'm not familiar with the incandescents in a KT-7300, but there is a forum member that specializes in supplying such parts, and perhaps he could ship to Germany. Look at dgwojo.com

chazix

Hello chazix,

thank You very much, now it's understandable for me, I've located some LED's fitting exactly, there are two versions in red, one with 1,5 mcd and the other with 10 mcd, so I'm not sure which one will be a good replacement regarding the original ones? I'ts very helpful here, again many thanks.

Best regards

Michael

The dimmer LED (the 1,5 mcd) would probably be more similar to the originals.

chazix

Hello chazix,

I'll order them, I will report the result...

Best regards

Michael

Hello chazix,

please excuse that I answer so late, I could order the LED's as You told me, the tuner works perfectly now...

Thank You and best regards

Michael