Help with Dark Factory Radio Display

[robfg67]

I bought this radio from a member here on the forum earlier this month and the display is not back-lit. The radio station characters are there but difficult to read in daylight and impossible when dark.

 

The display is a self contained box attached to the mother board with a ribbon.

 

I'm guessing that I need a new display box-not sure that I can crack it open and replace a bulb.

 

Any thoughts?

[jpnjake]

@Minuit Calling the Radio master in

[Minuit]

The display is actually several components held together by the sheet metal cover you can see. That has tabs at each corner that can be bent up on the back of the circuit board, two on each "short side" of the glass that can be seen from the side, and the components (a paper diffuser, a plastic deflector/light pipe, the sheet metal display cover that holds everything in, and a hook-shaped bulb cover) will all fall out if you bend the tabs on the outer cover and bend the bottom of it out so it's parallel with the circuit board. Once the outer cover is off, replacing the bulbs can be made a little easier by bending the leads on the LCD outward to give you more space to work.

 

All of that bending seems destructive but the outer cover can be bent back into shape and reused with care.

 

Clear as mud? I really should make a video about these damn things some day.

 

Source: I've changed bulbs on at least 200 of this exact radio.

[robfg67]

Is it the same bulb as the one you recommended that I buy from Amazon? I bought the CEC Industries 7219 Wire Terminal (10-Pack).

[Minuit]

Yes.

[robfg67]

On 6/25/2023 at 6:02 PM, Minuit said:

The display is actually several components held together by the sheet metal cover you can see. That has tabs at each corner that can be bent up on the back of the circuit board, two on each "short side" of the glass that can be seen from the side, and the components (a paper diffuser, a plastic deflector/light pipe, the sheet metal display cover that holds everything in, and a hook-shaped bulb cover) will all fall out if you bend the tabs on the outer cover and bend the bottom of it out so it's parallel with the circuit board. Once the outer cover is off, replacing the bulbs can be made a little easier by bending the leads on the LCD outward to give you more space to work.

 

All of that bending seems destructive but the outer cover can be bent back into shape and reused with care.

 

Clear as mud? I really should make a video about these damn things some day.

 

Source: I've changed bulbs on at least 200 of this exact radio.

Difficult, but not impossible task. 

 

I replaced both bulbs and they work!!!

 

Minuit, can anything be done to remove the black framing at the bottom of the display glass?

 

 

[Minuit]

That's fluid "bleeding" in the LCD. Replacing the LCD glass is about all you can do, but it looks like yours isn't too bad yet.

 

Want a parts radio?

[robfg67]

How much shipped to 02081 in Massachusetts?