9 replies to this topic

[hassanchop]

I know a lot of peeps dont like LEDs on their pins, but i want to save some money on electricity.
the question is: can i change all the lamps on a real pin for LEDs, without any need for upgrades or changes in the machine?

the technician that sold me the machine said that in order to put LEDs, a change on the boards is needed. And a lot of peeps say that you just have to change the lamps, no need for changing the boards or anything.

can somebody help me? i am talking about Congo and No Fear machines.

[Osprey101]

I know a lot of peeps dont like LEDs on their pins, but i want to save some money on electricity.
the question is: can i change all the lamps on a real pin for LEDs, without any need for upgrades or changes in the machine?

the technician that sold me the machine said that in order to put LEDs, a change on the boards is needed. And a lot of peeps say that you just have to change the lamps, no need for changing the boards or anything.

can somebody help me? i am talking about Congo and No Fear machines.

I have changed all the active PF light on my Flash machine to LED. I had to disconnect one wire on the flash lamps though. Those lamps use a pre-warmer circuit that the LEDs didn't need. Other than that, I just changed bulbs. You may find 1 or 2 that will barely light, when they are not supposed to. I have one that does that: the shoot again light. Somewhere it is getting a tiny amount of current which is just enough to BARELY light it, when it should be off. Works fine otherwise.
You will need longer/taller bulbs for somethings though, so make sure you can get the bulb, along with your fingers or bulb holder, into where it goes, before you buy a ton of LEDs. Anything where the original bulb would sit with only about half the bulb exposed, can be a bear to try and get short, little LEDs in.

[hgpinball]

Be aware that in some pinballs, e.g. Pin*Bot, Williams used #89 flasher bulbs (12V!) which not only have a pre-warming resistor but run on 25V with a current limiter resistor that has to be matched to the bulb's resistance so it does not burn... they used the same 'trick' to make #1251 bulbs run on 50V! It may require some modifications in the circuitry to replace these with LEDs - not sure if that applies to your machines, but just to be alert...

Edited by hgpinball, 05 January 2012 - 05:47 PM.

[numiah]

There acre complete kits available, even for Congo.
They come with instructions and a layout.
http://www.pinball-led.com/

Marco has them too, but it's pretty steep pricing : http://www.marcospec...;cc=LAMP-LEDKIT

Even Ebay has them : http://www.ebay.nl/i...=item2c51825296

[numiah]

I just thought of something.
Did you fully calculate it through ?
Because I don't expect LED's to save you 100 euro's per year.
Perhaps you could measure the power consumption when all GI and the playfield lights are lit (testmode in rom) and then with them off (remove fuses?).
Then you could average the time the pinball is on, let's say per week * 49 (assuming you have some days of for holidays).
You can lookup the power costs of your electrical company per Kw/h and make the final calculation.
I'd think you'd be surprised how little it costs per year to run a fully operational pinball.
That weighed against the costs of a ledkit might be the shocker. You have to play several decades to earn back the investment.

If you want to save on your electrical bill, you'd be better of dumping the dishwasher or clothes dryer, or even your girlfriends hairdryer.
Who said girlfriends come cheap ?

[Joe]

on the older WPC games you may need the LED ghost fix rom's and they are VERY HARD TO FIND.

[hassanchop]

so being machines from 95', it means that they are just plug and play..
cool!! i like not having much work

If you want to save on your electrical bill, you'd be better of dumping the dishwasher or clothes dryer, or even your girlfriends hairdryer.
Who said girlfriends come cheap ?

LOLOLOL
yeah, it is an expensive investment. but the table looks brighter and they last long. no need to change lights all the time
maybe i will try it just for fun

[Indy_Jones]

I just installed an "LED kit" in my Pinbot and not 100% happy, I've been swapping a few of the colours around to see what looks best and where. But I recommend buying a couple of different types first and trying them to see what your happy with. Also under the playfield i had to keep a single incandescent bulb in the loop or one section would stay illuminated, might just be cause its 1986 game. who knows . All in all led looks a lot better to me.

Edited by Indy_Jones, 06 January 2012 - 11:31 AM.

[hassanchop]

Also under the playfield i had to keep a single incandescent bulb in the loop or one section would stay illuminated

that is probably cuzz leds dont have a wide light angle. they kinda light only to the front. for that one you probably need the difuse light leds.
something like this:

http://www.marcospec....asp?ic=05-44WF

[spalmer]

Also under the playfield i had to keep a single incandescent bulb in the loop or one section would stay illuminated

that is probably cuzz leds dont have a wide light angle. they kinda light only to the front. for that one you probably need the difuse light leds.
something like this:

http://www.marcospec....asp?ic=05-44WF

Take a look at www.cointaker.com. Chris designs all of his leds and has a wide variety and kits. I have his leds in both of my machines (Rollergames and Black Knight) and I could not be happier. I used the retro frosted cool white for the playfield GI and superbrights in all of the playfield feature inserts. He has kits for both Congo and No Fear. If you are not happy with the result he will work with you to get the result you want!