Dewitt, MI
Quoted from jeffsgames:I know Cointaker does a kit but they don't list what specific bulbs come with it.
I e-mailed them the machine I was interested in and they sent me the list.
(Topic ID: 1126)
Quoted from Tankster:I e-mailed them the machine I was interested in and they sent me the list.
Sweet! I was planning to do that tonight. They're pretty responsive to other questions I've had.
1 week later
here is a site that i love.
it shows a bunch of different games (you will have to figure out what the different lights are) and it give you a general idea of what colors to use. i used this on my lord of the rings, but i ended up changing a couple of them. i used blue under the characters (except frodo, he went with yellow) and green under the orc lanes.
i took my list and bought the Ghostbusters from Terry at Pinball Life.
the guides are free if you sign up for an account. you add them to your cart and then check out. they send you a link to download the guide. i find it very useful because it shows you not only the placement, but also the total quantity of each color.
hope that helps
Quoted from APOLLO_13:From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not helping at all dude...
I was posting that to help those on the site who didn't understand what spam was...
I think the links for led's was supposed to be a helpful place for people to find them, not really spam... I'm pretty new to pinball and don't know all the cool sites you guys do, so it helps me to go to these sites and look around and see what's out there... sorry, I really was just trying to help...
maybe we could have a sticky thread for listing dealers you like and what they carry... it might help to not have all the listings in what should be a thread to just discuss led's and not were to get them.
EDIT: Well, I guess we already have one of those... I'll just keep my fingers shut and just lurk from now on...
Quoted from APOLLO_13:sorry, I really was just trying to help...
No worries, sorry if I sounded harsh, that was not my intention.
Quoted from APOLLO_13:I was posting that to help those on the site who didn't understand what spam was...
I think the links for led's was supposed to be a helpful place for people to find them, not really spam...
Definitely spam, if you click the links you'll realize those sites have nothing to do with the LEDs we use in our pinball games. These have been popping up here and there in threads with LED in the title for awhile now. Oh well, I just hate seeing spam on Pinside.
Quoted from FlipperMagician:No worries, sorry if I sounded harsh, that was not my intention.
It's all good, no problems here... 
Quoted from FlipperMagician:if you click the links you'll realize those sites have nothing to do with the LEDs we use in our pinball games.
didn't click them all, I found a good source... I agree if it's not pin related it shouldn't be here. if they want to list things like that it should be in off topic bar... not really sure why they would post here anywayif it doesn't have anything to do with the hobby.
1 week later
Here is another led mod that is easy to do.
Grind the lead nub off the bottom of a flexi and pull the wires and light disk out of the base.
Stick it to the light board with double sided foam tape and tack the leads to the light board.
Here is a pic of the 3rd light added to the Return to Battle insert on AFM.
You can also bridge the hole and tack the legs to the half circles and eliminate the flaky sockets and is easily reversible just desolder and reflow the pads.
Quoted from tracelifter:Here is another led mod that is easy to do.
Grind the lead nub off the bottom of a flexi and pull the wires and light disk out of the base.
Stick it to the light board with double sided foam tape and tack the leads to the light board.
Here is a pic of the 3rd light added to the Return to Battle insert on AFM.
You can also bridge the hole and tack the legs to the half circles and eliminate the flaky sockets and is easily reversible just desolder and reflow the pads.
I'd love to see pics of your improvisation from beneath if that is possible!
Quoted from tracelifter:Sure TS, I had to pull the board to adjust it up a taste so I snapped one fer ya.
Excellent, thanks! I now better understand what you meant, but help me here... one wire seems to be going to the wedge base contact, the other looks like it just goes to the board edge. Is there a trace there?
I'd like to do this with the blue saucer light in my RFM but they alternate during attract. I'd have to figure out how to light it with either/both.
I just wrapped it around the edge of the board and tacked it to the end of the half circle the twist in socket goes to.
You can run them both through the sockets in the corners and it doesn't interfere with them or tack them onto the points on the board, this was just fast and easy for testing.
You can tack them to GI if you want constant on or a feature light if you want it to go on and off.
Here is a pic of the SOL scoop lighted, I drilled a hole in the weldment and made a standoff for the light.
I wired it to the GI but you can wire it to the feature light if you want it to light that way.
You can do a lot with the flexis to move the locations and eliminate hot spots.
If you look at the cow ramp those are Retros under there and the glare off the sides on the stainless made hot spots.
I put the sockets on 1/2" plastic risers it directs the light directly on the decal and eliminates the hot spots.
Just pull the screw and move the socket up and down in the hole and cut the riser to the length you need.
I am trying to remember the names of all of these leds, if you look at the two hallway plastics those are the white flexis with the blue tint and the clear inserts the same with 55 bases.
The GI is all clear retros the rollovers red retros and a red retro in the GI on the upper left of them.
When I shop the TZ I plan on hard wiring the two spots I put in the piano and eliminating the sockets and bases and it will unplug with a connector for removal like the other components.
1 month later
Quoted from jeffsgames:I wish there were a game-specific guide that we could reference. I have a WCS I want to convert to LED. I'd like to see what others have done. I know Cointaker does a kit but they don't list what specific bulbs come with it. Also collectors may have some specific recommendations for each lamp (use ### for pop bumpers, ### for the goal flasher, etc.). Also indicate for the games if there are custom ROMS available to improve the performance of the LEDs (and where to get them). Then finally pics would be awesome!
I'm starting with the backbox. Seems most recommend the Super bright cool white Cointaker LEDs. Anyone color match or is white the best color?
Whether to use cool white or warm white depends on the colours on the backbox. I prefer warm white all around as the cool whites look far too blue, while the warm whites appear close to the incandescent bulbs.
Something to keep in mind is that if you use some of the super-bright LEDs, they do put out heat approximating a #44.
Warrington
Problem IMO with LEDs is all the middle areas of playfields are darker than the rest of the playfield, the AFM and DM above both suffer from dark central playfield area.
One question I'm hoping someone can answer is regarding sterns current LE LED lamp boards, they are all white surface mounted LEDs on the boards, what I'm curious about is to get a richer colour would using glass paint over the top of each of the LEDs (colour matched of course) work to getting a better colour or not?
4 weeks later
My Led experience on a TZ... I love the look, I bought mine from Pinballheaven in England $170 delivered for standard brightness add $30 for ultra bright. The kit came in a nice partitioned plastic parts tray with a xerox of what goes where.
I found that is essential to bend the wires on the bayonet type bulbs sideways about 30 degrees or most of them would not make contact in the socket, No big deal, you just have to give them a little tweak. Where I got into $200 and 3 weeks worth of trouble was turning "all lights on" in diagnostics so I could spot the bulbs that I had missed or that hadn't made contact. and working under the playfield with power on. I removed one of the slingshot sockets and it made contact with the switch underneath and blew u20, and I was to find out later, fuse f115. turning the machine on and off for the lamp identification process is a pain. But it will save you the chance of hurting your machine like I did.
Upshot, I found it worthwhile, More expensive than I had planned but I think the reduction in heat and electrical load will keep the electronics happier. and add longevity.
And I got to meet some of you fine folks here.
1 month later
Quoted from Blackbeard:Installing a few LEDs in the playfield doesn't require any addition parts or modification to the pin other than just installing the new bulbs does it?
I would like to know this as well. I spoke with Chris at CT and he mentioned I would need to get the newer Alltek LDB's for my machine for the LED's to work properly? Said the lights will flicker a bit witht he stock one How bad is this effect?? I'm leaving GI incandecent, controlled lamps to LED to alleviate stress on power supply.
1 month later
I must add in on this conversation. So far, I have found the 4-LEDs from Pinball Life to be the brightest that I've used so far for GI lighting. They look amazing in the Dracula that I installed them in. It makes the blue really reflect the light off the playfield really nice. FYI..I stil have not even shopped out/waxed the playfield. Just only wiped down some of the playfield with Novus.
Enjoy the show!
Problem IMO with LEDs is all the middle areas of playfields are darker than the rest of the playfield, the AFM and DM above both suffer from dark central playfield area.
One question I'm hoping someone can answer is regarding sterns current LE LED lamp boards, they are all white surface mounted LEDs on the boards, what I'm curious about is to get a richer colour would using glass paint over the top of each of the LEDs (colour matched of course) work to getting a better colour or not?
That just means it wasn't done right. No dark splotches on mine taken in a totally dark too
Only lighting is the pin. :
Another led mod i use is high power leds in the bumpers they sit in the very bottom and light up the bumper bodies better than socketed aftermarket leds
Si_bumper_r.jpg Si_bumper_inside.jpg
Depending on the game and insert style I like to frost the backsides as well to give them the glowing icelike effect like i did on this bumber cap
2 months later
Quoted from wes2989:Is it true that LED's can only turn off and on and can't dim?
Now 2 yr's later ,, CoinTaker has the Premium 2 Led . It Will Dim and Completely Shut off , as I have Now Proven using it in Pinball Magic !! The Technology is Coming on Strong .
http://shop.cointaker.com/category.sc?categoryId=193
3 months later
Quoted from slingshot3000:Something to throw out that I didn't see above. Do LED lights produce more UV than incandescent? I've been told yes. UV + plastic playfield = bad over time. You would get brittle plastic with prolonged UV exposure. I don't know if LED lights producing UV is fact though. Of course, the LED manufacturers say otherwise because of people asking if they'll get skin cancer. I'd bet those same people don't wear sunscreen in their homes and cars.
LED's don't produce any UV (except for, of course, UV LED's). by design, they only put out the wavelength of light that you see, and is detailed on the spec sheet. while on the other hand, bulbs that produce "white" light are generating light across the entire color spectrum.
Brisbane
7 months later
I wanted to bump this link as I have found the original post extremely helpful for general LED matching to both the backbox and playfield lighting. Here were the important items I needed to know:
1. White bulbs: warm versus cool white
2. Bulb lens: frosted vs. non-frosted/no lens
3. Color match: to match or not match LEDs with insert, bumpers, playfield GI or backbox colors
4. LED type: bright, superbright, 1-LED, 3LED, flashers, etc...
5. Which retailer has the best LEDs or best prices
Other questions on LEDs:
- Are the newer SMD LEDs better versus the older type of LEDs?
- Is/are there a free site(s) that lists or suggests the playfield/GI and backbox LEDs replacement configuration for specific pinball games? I would rather not buy a kit, but would consider variations of a kit if available.
- Are there any updates for this original post?
Quoted from BestShot31:I wanted to bump this link as I have found the original post extremely helpful for general LED matching to both the backbox and playfield lighting. Here were the important items I needed to know:
1. White bulbs: warm versus cool white
2. Bulb lens: frosted vs. non-frosted/no lens
3. Color match: to match or not match LEDs with insert, bumpers, playfield GI or backbox colors
4. LED type: bright, superbright, 1-LED, 3LED, flashers, etc...
5. Which retailer has the best LEDs or best prices
Other questions on LEDs:
- Are the newer SMD LEDs better versus the older type of LEDs?
- Is/are there a free site(s) that lists or suggests the playfield/GI and backbox LEDs replacement configuration for specific pinball games? I would rather not buy a kit, but would consider variations of a kit if available.
- Are there any updates for this original post?
Having experimented on my Bullwinkle machine with quite a few different types and strengths of LEDs from Cointaker and Noflix, I can soundly answer all of these with my own personal opinion:
1. Warm for a retro look and/or inserts of either white or yellow color. Cool whites give a brighter newer look, and are also great for popping a white insert more. For example, I use warm white frosteds in most of my white and yellow inserts, but I use a cool white 2-LED in my jackpot white insert to make it stand out more.
2. Almost always frosteds, even in inserts. I only have a few inserts where I use 2-LEDs, like orange because a frosted orange doesn't match the brightness of the other frosted colors. Frosteds are also superb for backbox lighting. I use all frosted cool whites in my Bullwinkle backbox, and it looks by far the best from other LED methods I tried in it.
3. G.I. and Backbox should be always be frosted cool whites or warm whites depending on which look you prefer. You can use colored frosted LEDs in a FEW select places in the G.I., but this has to be done with a specific goal in mind. My own example is I used blue frosteds in the upper skill-shot lanes, and also in the lower return lanes in my Bullwinkle machine. I tried throwing some other colors around in the G.I., but too many colors just looks tacky. So I have all other G.I. cool white frosteds now. With regard to inserts, I've found Frosted warm whites are best for white and yellow, 2-LED or Super oranges for orange (Supers are slightly stronger than 2-LED), and then direct-color frosteds for all other insert colors.
4. Intensity depends on the size of the insert, but most are fine with a frosted bulb. I did have one insert that was so large as to require going all the way up to an "Ultra" from Cointaker, but this was the exception. For Flashers, I found that Cointaker's FLEX-8's are the most versatile and the cool whites look fantastic!
5. Best price-to-quality goes to Cointaker, but I found for direct-view situation where the playfield has a feature that uses bulbs directly in line-of-sight, nothing beats a Noflix Plus domed bulb. They have simply the best color saturation without blinding the eye, and their anti-strobing/ghosting features are unmatched by any other company.
6. SMDs are in fact better than the older style, at least I think so. Instead of a single point of light, they can give off a wall of light depending on the configuration.
7. Never use a kit. If you're unsure about a look, just order a couple bulbs of a few types and test them yourself. I did this for my LED conversion, and I ended up getting exactly what I wanted. I know now I would have been disappointed had I used a kit.
I was testing 555 LEDs on my Pinbot in the center color matrix, below the visor, but for some reason they would not work. Haven't had any issues with any other LEDs bulbs not working for the inserts or GI. Any idea what the problem could be?
Quoted from Dommer:I was testing 555 LEDs on my Pinbot in the center color matrix, below the visor, but for some reason they would not work. Haven't had any issues with any other LEDs bulbs not working for the inserts or GI. Any idea what the problem could be?
I know that 555's from Cointaker are finicky and sometimes won't work unless you readjust the wire positions. Sometimes you even have to bend the wire over to the other side.
Essex, ON
Quoted from FirebrandX:7. Never use a kit. If you're unsure about a look, just order a couple bulbs of a few types and test them yourself.
Not necessarily true. Some company's kits are "better" than others, I have different company's kits and I know which ones I am not happy with. However, even the not so great kits give me the extra bulbs I need to mix-and-match like you are saying. If a kit is well thought out and not just colour-matched - they can be stunning.
Quoted from Pauz21:Stupid Noob question. What is "Ghosting"?
It's when the insert is faintly lit, but is not supposed to be. It's from power leaking to the bulb and LEDs can faintly light with less voltage than a regular bulb. So, there is added circuitry to prevent this in non-ghosting bulbs.
Quoted from hollywood:Not necessarily true. Some company's kits are "better" than others, I have different company's kits and I know which ones I am not happy with. However, even the not so great kits give me the extra bulbs I need to mix-and-match like you are saying. If a kit is well thought out and not just colour-matched - they can be stunning.
I'm sorry but kits will never be as good as your own preference. And there's no point to a kit having extra bulbs, seeing as how you just bought the entire kit to begin with. It's already a wash at that point.
Quoted from BLACK_ROSE:Now 2 yr's later ,, CoinTaker has the Premium 2 Led . It Will Dim and Completely Shut off , as I have Now Proven using it in Pinball Magic !! The Technology is Coming on Strong .
http://shop.cointaker.com/category.sc?categoryId=193» YouTube video
Premium_2_Led.jpeg 24 KB
I don't know, still quite a bit of flicker in these. They are not designed for slow fading. Pinball Life $0.39 LEDs paired with LED OCD is really the ultimate solution.
Quoted from Crash:I don't know, still quite a bit of flicker in these. They are not designed for slow fading. Pinball Life $0.39 LEDs paired with LED OCD is really the ultimate solution.
» YouTube video
Full Disclosure:
The LEDs being used in that video are not CT Premium 2; they are Ablaze 3-LED. Here's a link to Altan's review:
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/altans-informal-review-of-led-ocd
Quoted from herg:Full Disclosure:
The LEDs being used in that video are not CT Premium; they are Ablaze 3-LED. Here's a link to Altan's review:
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/altans-informal-review-of-led-ocd
While Cointaker premiums are "decent" at reducing ghosting, they suck concerning strobing. At least that's been my experience with them. By far the best for reducing both strobing and ghosting were Noflix Plus LEDs, but of course those are the most expensive.
Quoted from Crash:I don't know, still quite a bit of flicker in these. They are not designed for slow fading. Pinball Life $0.39 LEDs paired with LED OCD is really the ultimate solution.
» YouTube video
I agree with this, but there are actually couple bulb options that eliminate (or drastically reduce) flicker, like Noflix and Ultimate Optix. Basically the type of bulb is a personal choice depending on how bright you want in your insert/GI area. Straying too far from factory spec results in some people (e.g., potential buyers) being turned off 
Brightness Scale:
1.0x - Incandescent
1.0x - 1-led
1.0x - mini SMD
2.0x - 2-led
2.5x - super SMD
There are brighter options as well. Also note that while SMDs are decent as a point source it still has a hot spot, so a clear lens on top of the SMD is supposed to disperse the light an extra 30 degrees.
Question? Is it normal for an LED light that has been swopped out with an incandescent light to be hot to touch? My other LED are only warm at best to touch.
Quoted from PinDescabarian:Sorry. Incandescent light that has been swopped with an LED.
Did you possibly put a 6v LED into a flasher socket by chance?
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