(Front view of an RT-385a radio, with front plate removed, showing LEDs.)
Fixing a Bum LED
Article by Evan
Wright
This is probably my shortest article yet. Needless to say, with all the diapers I have been changing lately, time has been in short supply for me these days. However, I’m never too busy to chuck in an article for the newsletter. Let no one say I lack Club spirit.
I know most people have hand-held radios that are far more advanced than the clunky, bare bones, barely better than vacuum tubes, radios in many older GA aircraft. However, since there are some of us who fly that type of machine, I figured I would mention this in case it saves someone else a few bucks in the future.
Recently, I suffered a minor glitch in one of my radios: One of the LEDs burned out, leaving the radio's frequency to be something of a mystery. It’s a problem that seems to pop up every now and then in aging GA avionics. Fortunately, I have a spare RT-385a in addition to the second radio in the plane. The faceplate is tan instead of black like the rest of the panel, but the faceplates are easily switched if you remove the knobs and take out a few screws. I removed the radio from the aircraft, which FAA part 41 allows you to do (provided it is a slide-in type), and brought it home. Upon removing the faceplate to swap it, I noticed some of the LEDs were slightly different sizes and colors. It was obvious some of the other LEDs had previously failed and been replaced. Then the light bulb in my brain went off, “Hey, these things are removable”. Sure enough I wiggled the dead LED, and was able to remove it.
(Front view of an RT-385a radio, with front plate
removed, showing LEDs.)
Out of curiosity, I turned the dead LED over and saw the writing “Minitron 3015F”. I did a web search on “Minitron 3015F” and found a few web sites listing electronics stores that might stock that part, but nothing terribly promising. Then I did a search on EBay and found a man selling four of them for $60. I bought them from EBay, and they arrived in the mail a few days later. Installing the new LED took about 2 seconds, and I was back in business.
(a Minitron 3015F)
I figure if I’d taken the radio to avionics shop, I’d have been charged a “bench fee” plus parts and labor, i.e., more than I paid for all four LEDs. Plus, now I have 3 spares, which I know I will need eventually.
I can’t speak for other makes and models of radios, but if the LEDs burn out, you may be able to fix it yourself without running to the radio shop.
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