[Chris Jones] recently found himself in a pickle. An indicator LED that turned off the old stereo equipment failed. It was a strange rectangular type, and no modern substitute could be found for it. Using a different LED will spoil the aesthetics. So what else was it [Chris] to do, but try to operate on an LED!
The first attempt was the simplest. [Chris] tried to solder a small SMD LED between the legs of the existing open-circuited part. It worked, but the light didn’t really spread to the top of the plastic of the LED. It was too dark to see.
worry free [Chris] instead it was selected to cut off the LED. he soldered the SMD LED this time to the leads of the original LED inside the housing. The top of the plastic lens was then cut to fit snugly over the new SMD part. A little superglue, then put everything back together. The finished product looks a touch messy on the PCB. However, installed inside the stereo, it’s the perfect hidden fix that looks great.
Some will find this amendment pointless and a waste of time. Others will appreciate that it retains the attractive retro look of a vintage audio rig. Anyway, we can all agree that modern LEDs are in many cases replacements for older parts. If you have your own weird, wacky repair tricks, feel free to share them with us. on the tip line!
This green LED has stopped working. I think it’s my fault – it shorted one leg to the chassis during startup and gave it 15V, which it didn’t like. It’s a weird shape, so we can’t buy a new one. Can we fix it? 🧵 /1 pic.twitter.com/DX71Kk0TP5
— Chris Jones (@mjtech01) January 25, 2023