Blaupunkt Radio Light does not come on

[pthornton4]

I just bought a very nice Blaupunkt Ftz-nr U 108 radio on e-bay. It looks and works great, but the light does not come on. There is an extra male electrical prong on the outside of the back, but when I connect that to an electrical source, it is very good at blowing fuses, but not very good at turning on the light. Of course, this radio is used and the bulb may very well be broken, but I know these are dealer options and according to other Samba posts, the light ran off a separate source.

Is anyone familiar with this type of radio and how the light works? If it is broken, how do you replace the bulb? And does anyone know what that extra male electrical plug is for?

You can see a picture of it on the ebay URL below at if that helps. The extra male post is just to the right of the antenna socket.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230716332724?_trksid=p3984...mp;vxp=mtr

Thanks for your help!

[retrowagen]

The "extra male prong" on the back of that is the chassis ground... it should be connected to a metal part of the chassis of the car, not a power source.

It sounds as though there is a broken or burnt-out minibulb in your radio. They can be rather hard to fix.

That radio, BTW, was current in 1969-1971, and Grundig made models to identical VW specs as factory option fitment across the VW model range board in those years. I had a European-delivery early 1970 Type 2 that had the same exact radio (albeit by Grundig) with the same faceplate. They're actually a fairly robust set.
_________________
Dave

[lemke]

I found an older Blaupunkt in a Beetle at a parts yard years ago, and paid 5 bucks for it. It worked like a charm, except the light. I located a 6 -to-12 volt switch in the back, and I found that it still had a 6 volt bulb that was burned out - most likely due to the 12 volts that the PO may have run through it, or it was simply old and burned out. This was a different and earlier model - it had AM only. I had no problem finding a 12 volt bulb and installing it but that older unit was probably easier to work on and replace parts then the later models. After I fixed that, I took off the plastic faceplate, polished it to a high shine and repainted the flaking old white paint – and it looked like a million bucks. Man, I wish I still had it.

[Ojai63dbl]

email Bill @ Radio Doc ([email protected])

he can probably help out.

he repaired my blaupunkt and is professional, does a great job and fixed mistakes on my blaupunkt made from a former repair.

What I liked is he checked all circuits and replaced failing components instead of just making it work. My experience with others is they fix the problem but dont check out the whole radio resulting in a repair again in 2 years.

he may have a bulb.

[pthornton4]

It sounds like I should be happy that it plays loud, which is what I need it for. Opening it up for look for the bulb might be asking for trouble, uless there is a quick and easy way to do it that I do not know about.

Thanks for the info.

[RichOakley]

These bulbs are very easy to change. Blaupunkt used 14v and 7v bulbs on early radios (upto about 1971 I think when the bulb changed from bayonet to glass push-in). The later ones were all 12v glass push-in bulbs.

Remove knobs, nuts and faceplate. Wind the dial marker to one end. Gently prise out plastic screen at one side. Then gently prise out the black plastic backplate behind the dial. You will see the bulb.

[pthornton4]

This great. I will give it a try this weekend!

[pthornton4]

RichOakley - You were right. The lights are relatively accessible. The only trick I would add to your instructions is push down on the two slots at the top of the radio dial to get the plastic cover off.

Next question now. Where am I going to find a 14v .1 Amp light bulb? They do not have them at the auto zone nor at Radio Shack. I found one in Germany at http://www.koenigs-klassik-radios.de/en/spare-parts/becker/dial-lamp-14v-0-1a/a-36119/ but the cost seemed a bit too much. Does anyone know where else I might find one closer to home?

[pthornton4]

I did eventually find a light from the radio doctor guy. The bulb was $5 which I thought was a ripoff because similar new bulbs are about a $1 each at autozone. Then when it arrived, it was in the original packaging. I figure that 30 years of storage is probably worth $4. I followed the instructions and it works great now!

One thing I learned form this it that the rules is that you can always go down in amperage but before going up in amperage you have to first make sure the equipment will support the additional heat and current.

Getting new bulbs is difficult because other light bulb distributors said "I cannot get a 14V .1A bulb with the European BA7s base unless I have them manufactured 5,000 at a time. This lamp is 1.2A so is a higher amperage so it is up to you to determine if your equipment will support this lamp. Assuming you probably do not need 5,000 pieces I am quoting the closest lamp I have, the SE1274, is $1.00 per lamp plus shipping in small quantities and is in stock with a domestic distributor so we can get the lamps in a few days."

I chose to get an original for $5 that matched what I needed exactly.

[(o)=!=(o)]

Sounds great but you should stay original. I'd give that Blaupunkt to an all original 1970 Irish Green coupe.