Kustom Kasino Fever diode replacement

[nosaj]

I've got a Kustom Kasino Fever I'm working on

The 2 diodes that go to ground are shot, was wondering if anyone had any creative ideas for replacement of these.

they are IN5349 12v 5 watt Zener Diodes, The parts I'm looking at are nte5127a, but there's been mention of how nte are to stay away from.

Thanks,
Jason

[Enzo]

The real part - 1N5349 - is just a zener diode. Well, these days they woulod be the 1N5349B - same thing.

if you read what I have said many times about the NTE, my reason for not wanting people to use them is twofold. In power amps, you really want all your output devices to be the same, not three RCAs, two Motorolas, and a couple NTEs. They won;t necessaily share current well, and that is asking for amplifier failure. If you are replacing one little transistor that turns on an LED, who cares? I am not concerned if the parts are of good quality, I am concerned that they are really the same as the parts they replace. For example I recently listed 2M3904, 2B4401, 2N5088, and the list goes on. Look them up and NTE replaces ALL of them with their NTE123A. Now granted, transistors can be substituted rather easily, but those parts are not the same.

But the real issue is cost. For someone like yourself asking about stocking parts, this should be important. If it is a matter of running down the street and getting the NTE part and having the amp up within the hour, then fine. And for that matter, whatever the parts cost, the customer will be the one paying for them. But it eats into your potential profit. SO here is the example.

Mouser sells 1N5349 for 36 cents. Even cheaper in bulk. Mouser sells the NTE5127a for $2.18. SIX times the price of the real part. That is a lot to pay for that poly bag around the part.

[Jazz P Bass]

Just wanted to add, in this application the NTE diodes will be perfectly acceptable substitutes.

[nosaj]

So where would you not use NTE I guess is the bigger question for me.

Thansk,
Jason

[Jazz P Bass]

Go back & read Enzo's excellent post.
You do not want to use the NTE parts,transistors in particular, in "critical" applications.
Critical being parallel arraingments, or where a specific transistor is called for.
On a lot of small signal circuits it really would not matter.
Again, it depends on the circuit & the specific transistor.

[Enzo]

As I said, price matters to me.

As to where I would not want to use them for electronic reasons, it is mainly where they will have to work with other parts and need to be the same as those other parts. Especially in rows of supposedly same output transistors in high power amplifiers. A dumb little transistor is a dumb little transistor. But when NTE crosses a general purpose transistor AND a low noise transistor to their same part, I have to wonder how well it will substitute for the original low noise part.

If I need a single TDA2040 in some little amp, the NTE version I am sure would work. That is NTE1376. Now let's shop: Mouser sells the TDA2040 for $3.70. Mouser sells the NTE1376 for $14.53.

The only reason to ever use NTE is if time and convenience are such a factor that the other things don;t matter.