80`s pullout Alpine stereo - failed display repair.

[uk_senator]

I got some old ICE out my loft the other day, including this 80`s-tastic Alpine 7280L:



Now, it worked well, but the LCD display was black (it was turned on in that pic), so I set about stripping it back to find out why.

Turned out, the tiny (3x6mm) incandescent peanut bulb that lights it had burnt out, but, you couldn't pull the display box mounting off the circuit board more than 4-5mm without doing a mega de-solder & resolder. Same with the front panel circuit board, its was soldered onto the main unit board so tightly that it couldn't be pulled away from the chassis by more than 6-7mm, which meant, resoldering a new bulb directly into the old ones holes would be impossible without a proper soldering mission, something I didn't want to do with my huge soldering iron.. 



I decided to use thin wire to get a feed from one of the other display bulbs terminals.

I used a green LED from a bayonet heater type bulb (10 for £1.19 off ebay). Soldered it all in, nothing, re-soldered it in the other way, still nothing, dismantled another LED, put it in, & success!




Cut away a section of the LCD`s box to mount the LED, threaded the wire so it wouldnt foul any of the microswitches, hot glued it in & reassembled it.




There it is, in all its retro glory.



Sorted! 

The volume control is a bit crackly for the first 15% of its travel (you turn the volume control to turn it on as opposed to pressing it, so the first section gets worn), I did switch lube it several times, but its not sorting it. Above 15% its fine.

Works reasonably well with the SD Card cassette I got off ebay as well:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Kit-Stereo-Cassette-Tape-SD-MMC-Mp3-Player-Adapter-with-Remote-Earphone-Ho/202365742058

This has been an autoshite information production. 

[MikeR]

they are a nice radio , I gave mine away a couple of years ago .....as I went for a drop in one with usb port  and all the fiddly bits

 

and thats a good fix

[Timewaster]

I love it. Confusing title though...

 

I thought the fix was a failure, not a failure fixed.

[uk_senator]

Some of these 80`s Alpines (& Pioneers/Kenwoods) are regularly hitting £100+ on the bay now, as retro megabuck BM/Merc/Porsche drivers are wanting something period, & with the advent of these SD card cassettes, they`re just as up to date as a modern unit.
 

they are a nice radio , I gave mine away a couple of years ago .....as I went for a drop in one with usb port  and all the fiddly bits

 

and thats a good fix

[uk_senator]

Funny enough, I added "stereo" to the title, as I didnt want Talbot hatchback fanciers opening it & getting all disappointed..
 

I love it. Confusing title though...

I thought the fix was a failure, not a failure fixed.

[smellypoo]

That is awesome, excellent fix!

 

I remember those days vividly, when everyone fitted decent DIN head units and speakers to their cars as an upgrade - or even where there was no factory fitted items because BASE model.

 

Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood - everyone wanted those, they were always being nicked if they werent pulled out (or in the later days, the faceplate removed). Expensive back then, as you've said above they still fetch decent coin now in good working order.

[Marm Toastsmith]

That's nice. My mate had one of those in his Metro and it sounded awesome. Was always jealous, and would still like one, but as said above they are £££ now. Don't remember them ever really being cheap though...

[Floatylight]

That is awesome, excellent fix!

 

I remember those days vividly, when everyone fitted decent DIN head units and speakers to their cars as an upgrade - or even where there was no factory fitted items because BASE model.

 

Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood - everyone wanted those, they were always being nicked if they werent pulled out (or in the later days, the faceplate removed). Expensive back then, as you've said above they still fetch decent coin now in good working order.

Yep, had a Blaupunkt and a Alpine stolen, along with a rear shelf with amp & speakers. When the stole the alpine they smashed the driver's side lock, when the parcel shelf went in the same location (Stoke College) 2 weeks later they did the lock on the other side, stupidly there still wasn't a lock on the driver's side and it could be unlocked using a finger through the hole to pull the locking bar (MK2 Astra..) from then on i parked in the staff car park and when challenged told them what had happened and told them if I couldn't park there I wasn't prepared to park elsewhere and I would happily explain to my employer why I wasn't attending college..

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

[MikeR]

Some of these 80`s Alpines (& Pioneers/Kenwoods) are regularly hitting £100+ on the bay now, as retro megabuck BM/Merc/Porsche drivers are wanting something period, & with the advent of these SD card cassettes, they`re just as up to date as a modern unit.

 

 

 

looks for small domesticated furry animal to blame !!!!

[Zelandeth]

Surprised you didn't swap the rest of the lamps in there for LEDs while you had it apart, you know they will go as soon as you get it back in the car...

[Guest Hooli]

SD card cassette? that's a new one on me

[Dan_ZTT]

SD card cassette? that's a new one on me

Me too. Tempted to get one though.

[rusty998]

Just had a look for sd card cassette adapters and came across Bluetooth cassette adapters, how good they are I don't know but I might just investigate so I can fit my pull out Kenwood

[PhilA]

I love it. Confusing title though...

I thought the fix was a failure, not a failure fixed.

That was to make you click on it to find out!

 

Nice job on that, LED's have come on so far these days to be that bright and that cheap.

 

Phil

[stuboy]

u need theses now..

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-sticker-Alpine-Silver-18cm-auto-car-audio-decals-sticker-stickers-A128-090/253388308402?epid=3013703572&hash=item3aff1ebfb2:g:iSEAAOSw5cNYdNi1

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Works reasonably well with the SD Card cassette I got off ebay as well:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Kit-Stereo-Cassette-Tape-SD-MMC-Mp3-Player-Adapter-with-Remote-Earphone-Ho/202365742058

 

That is quite the Photoshop job:

 

[uk_senator]

​I had 2 mega-systems nicked back in the mid 90's from my first Uno. Once in the unofficial works car park, once outside my parents. After the second time I taped split in half old skool razor blades round the edges of the door frames (they got in by bending them out) & round the centre console, but I didn't put a 3rd system in as I couldn't afford it by then (my ICE wasn't covered by insurance).
 

Yep, had a Blaupunkt and a Alpine stolen, along with a rear shelf with amp & speakers. When the stole the alpine they smashed the driver's side lock, when the parcel shelf went in the same location (Stoke College) 2 weeks later they did the lock on the other side, stupidly there still wasn't a lock on the driver's side and it could be unlocked using a finger through the hole to pull the locking bar (MK2 Astra..) from then on i parked in the staff car park and when challenged told them what had happened and told them if I couldn't park there I wasn't prepared to park elsewhere and I would happily explain to my employer why I wasn't attending college..

Surprised you didn't swap the rest of the lamps in there for LEDs while you had it apart, you know they will go as soon as you get it back in the car...

The others were fine, & it would have been impossible to do properly with my massive soldering iron, which is the size of a babies arm..

 

u need theses now..

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-sticker-Alpine-Silver-18cm-auto-car-audio-decals-sticker-stickers-A128-090/253388308402?epid=3013703572&hash=item3aff1ebfb2:g:iSEAAOSw5cNYdNi1

I have a selection of them from various Max Power, Revs, Street Machine free sticker giveaways. I`ve even got a full sized REVS rear window sticker...

Whether I`ll ever have the balls to stick them on any of my babies remains to be seen..

 

That is quite the Photoshop job:

 

s-l1600.jpg

Also available as a VHS or Betamax (I wonder if that`ll ever happen)

[AMC Rebel]

Fabulous work that is an epic repair.

 

The volume control is a bit crackly for the first 15% of its travel (you turn the volume control to turn it on as opposed to pressing it, so the first section gets worn), I did switch lube it several times, but its not sorting it. Above 15% its fine.

 

 

Ahh the "good old days" of the volume and tone controls being in the signal path - I don't miss that at all.

[Schaefft]

Just had a look for sd card cassette adapters and came across Bluetooth cassette adapters, how good they are I don't know but I might just investigate so I can fit my pull out Kenwood

 

Im using a bluetooth one in mine (at least until the tape deck stopped working properly. The sound quality is alright but the cassette itself is a bit noisy. Battery life is acceptable, I wonder if the SD variant is a bit quieter due to a different design?

[uk_senator]

It depends on your stereo`s design, if it swallows the tape completely (all mine do), then it`ll be quieter than one that leaves the end of the tape sticking out all the time, this one isn't that noisy, & doesn't create a lot of hiss like those older basic ones did, but again, that`ll depend on your head unit (you could probably adjust the tapes azimuth if it is hissing excessively.

I have dismantled the older wired type cassettes & put a small amount of white grease on the moving bits to quieten them down in the past.
 

Im using a bluetooth one in mine (at least until the tape deck stopped working properly. The sound quality is alright but the cassette itself is a bit noisy. Battery life is acceptable, I wonder if the SD variant is a bit quieter due to a different design?

[Zelandeth]

Depending on the deck design, you can sometimes get away with totally removing the reels from the adaptor.

 

Had that setup used in a stereo that followed me across a few cars in the early days, where the adaptor itself made a horrendous clicking noise - however removing all of the moving parts resolved it.

 

Won't work in all though as some use the rotation of the tape reels to detect the end of the side of the tape, so if they're not moving will continually try to switch sides.

[Zelandeth]

That is quite the Photoshop job:

 

s-l1600.jpg

Surely if you're going for the giant audio cassette look what you really want is this...

 

[Scruffy Bodger]

Nice fix!

 

I too was unaware of the SD cassettes and just discovered the Bluetooth ones were available after searching for them. I might just invest in one of those as I currently use an old wired type in the 405 and that seems to be a pretty good upgrade to drag the original player into the current century.