Need bulb for LPG control / Marinetics Corp

[Chuck Ray]

Hi All,

My LPG gas controller is missing the tiny light bulb that helps to indicate if it is on or off. I know that the manufacturer Marinetics Corp is out of business. I'm wondering if anyone else has had to source a light bulb for this and if so, where they were able to purchase it?

Any help with this is much appreciated.

Best,

Chuck

 

[tenders]

I’m certain a bulb exists that will fit that socket, probably less than $5, and probably a nice bright LED bulb in any of a dozen colors if you like. Marinetics Corp was mostly in the assembly business, and maybe in the faceplate-printing business, not the light bulb manufacturing business. They chose a standard base and bulb for that panel from the light bulb section of the greasy ten-inch-thick McMaster-Carr industrial parts Catalog of Wonder that was on the back of somebody’s workbench. There may not even have been any discussion over the choice.

I know this because my 1969 12V distribution panel master switch light was re-illuminated after 15 years of darkness. I’d long since given up on finding a replacement, but an internet search as LEDs were proliferating made me realize that there are a very finite number of bulb designs in the world. Now restored, it’s beautiful. It turned out to be a GE 1819, also known as BA9S, an extremely standard bulb used for decades in all kinds of 12V systems that had been recently rebirthed in LED form. You should have hope too.

But a side view of the socket isn’t particularly illuminating - you and we will need more specifics to be able to help here. Is it a screw-in base, or a push-in-and-twist base? How wide is the opening (use calipers)? How deep is it? Is there one contact on the bottom of the base, or two? With just this information, go to McMaster.com and start a search for 12V bulbs. You’ll see - you can probably find a handful of bulbs of suspiciously similar specs in just a few seconds, and at a few bucks apiece, maybe even less if you compare pricing on Amazon for cheaper Chinese versions, the penalty for being completely wrong isn’t too high.

Be forewarned, though - some LED versions of these old bulbs will be so bright they’ll put your eye out!

 

[Chuck Ray]

I’m certain a bulb exists that will fit that socket, probably less than $5, and probably a nice bright LED bulb in any of a dozen colors if you like. Marinetics Corp was mostly in the assembly business, and maybe in the faceplate-printing business, not the light bulb manufacturing business. They chose a standard base and bulb for that panel from the light bulb section of the greasy ten-inch-thick McMaster-Carr industrial parts Catalog of Wonder that was on the back of somebody’s workbench. There may not even have been any discussion over the choice.

I know this because my 1969 12V distribution panel master switch light was re-illuminated after 15 years of darkness. I’d long since given up on finding a replacement, but an internet search as LEDs were proliferating made me realize that there are a very finite number of bulb designs in the world. Now restored, it’s beautiful. It turned out to be a GE 1819, also known as BA9S, an extremely standard bulb used for decades in all kinds of 12V systems that had been recently rebirthed in LED form. You should have hope too.

But a side view of the socket isn’t particularly illuminating - you and we will need more specifics to be able to help here. Is it a screw-in base, or a push-in-and-twist base? How wide is the opening (use calipers)? How deep is it? Is there one contact on the bottom of the base, or two? With just this information, go to McMaster.com and start a search for 12V bulbs. You’ll see - you can probably find a handful of bulbs of suspiciously similar specs in just a few seconds, and at a few bucks apiece, maybe even less if you compare pricing on Amazon for cheaper Chinese versions, the penalty for being completely wrong isn’t too high.

Be forewarned, though - some LED versions of these old bulbs will be so bright they’ll put your eye out!

Thanks for your input. The problem I have is that I don't have the old light bulb to match a new one up with. I will take your advise and check out McMaster.com.