ARC REF75 problem with VU-meter lighting

[Joostp]

Hi,

I have been enjoying my ARC REF75 amp and LS27 pre for a some years now.
The REF75 is mostly original and i have only replaced the tubes with KT150 and reflectors 6h30. My LS27 has new caps in the power supply, some resistors replaced, new coupling caps and some other tweaks.

For some months now i have a problem with my REF75 as the led lighting of the VU meters stopped working. The leds started to flicker and slowly grew dimmer and dimmer and have stopped working now.

Maybe someone can help me out:
Has anyone encountered the same problem and been able so solve it?
Does anyone have a schematic to share of the REF75.

Thanks.

 

[Nemal1]

Without being sure where you are based and who the ARC importer is in your country, try going to Audio Research directly in the first instance and see what they advise.
Best of luck (I have the lights turned off on mine)

 

[Bobvin]

When I bought mine new many years back, one of the lamps went out fairly early on. Rather than ship to ARC for repair I had them send me the part. The entire meter gets replaced, and it was somewhat more than trivial... required more disassembly than I would have liked. All told it doesn’t require a technician if you’re handy, but be prepared to ‘get into’ the amp.

 

[Joostp]

Thanks for your replies.
I contacted ARC and they sent me 4 replacement leds for $10 each (!!) and this did not solve the problem. I checked all wiring and tracing as best as i could and this seems to be ok. So i think it must be somewhere in the power supply to the leds.
I switched the lights off now but this amp just needs to be in 100% working order for me.

 

[KeithR]

As Bob says, it's not an easy repair and happened on my 75SE as well. Ultimately the lamp assembly with the vu meters was totally replaced by a local technician.

 

[Pallen]

As Bob says, it's not an easy repair and happened on my 75SE as well. Ultimately the lamp assembly with the vu meters was totally replaced by a local technician.

Exactly my experience too on my REF 75SE. I got a technician to sort it out.

 

[Joostp]

Thanks, i will contact ARC again and ask for a solution. I would still like to have a schematic for future modifications, does anyone have one or have a source for this?

 

[Golum]

Thanks, i will contact ARC again and ask for a solution. I would still like to have a schematic for future modifications, does anyone have one or have a source for this?

Need to check this - might be I have it

 

[Pacha]

I have contacted ARC about schematics for some of the newer products and was told that they were not making them available to customers after about the Ref 2 line stage.

 

[Bobvin]

You might need to contact a local electronics servicing company who has experience with ARC. ARC supplied a local service shop with details for my REF10 when a small cap blew.