Best miniature lamp LED replacements

[dubwoofer]

I'm working on an Onkyo Integra integrated amp that uses 14V 60/80mA miniature lamps. Some of them are out and need to be replaced and I'd like to use LEDs, but the problem is the ones I have on hand are focused and don't look the same as a filament bulb, resulting in uneven indicator illumination. Are there any LED's out there that don't have a lens that would work well as lamp replacements?

 

[sofaspud]

Probably not. The wide-angle LEDs are made for room lighting and so are too big for your application. A couple of ideas you could try that may balance the illumination... small 3mm or SMT LEDs mounted in a strip, or fewer LEDs behind a diy diffusing lens.

 

[Andrew Eckhardt]

Select the best size and color, and then sand the lens with 220 paper. Makes a decent diffuse source. Avoid narrorer radiation angle types to begin with, although those mostly involve a a peaked central area to the molded lens, which can be filed or sanded off too..

 

[rayma]

Are there any LED's out there that don't have a lens that would work well as lamp replacements?

There are many diffused LED types, though they are dimmer because of this.
LED Indication - Discrete | Optoelectronics | DigiKey

 

[jitter]

I'm working on an Onkyo Integra integrated amp that uses 14V 60/80mA miniature lamps. Some of them are out and need to be replaced and I'd like to use LEDs, but the problem is the ones I have on hand are focused and don't look the same as a filament bulb, resulting in uneven indicator illumination. Are there any LED's out there that don't have a lens that would work well as lamp replacements?

At work I, work on instruments that have illuminated Swisstac switches. Those take miniature bulbs or LEDs. A rounded LED lens leads to a very uneven light pattern on the opaque button, but a flat lensed LED has a nice even spread.

Flat lensed LEDs are available, but as an experiment, I filed the round part of the lens off and achieved the same nice even result. Worth a try...