Yes. 47's draw less current and produce less heat but are slightly more dim than 44's.

the 44's are a little brighter but the 47's use a bit less power ( and therefore run a tiny bit cooler)

Has to be said,, the difference between 44 and 47 is 3. LOL

47s are great to use for GI, since they draw less current.

44s are maybe better for inserts where you don't want to sacrifice any brightness.

^^^.....no...the difference is the 7............Joey

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts-blog/44-vs-47-miniature-pinball-lamps/

i use 44s in all GI because I like to have a bright well lit playfield. 47s are great in backglasses where the light difference doesn't matter much.

Don't throw your 44s out. just throw them in some soapy water agitate and toss out anything silver or darkened on the inside. anything that survives this process ends up being pretty reliable.

yes i am cheap.

-c

I knew there was a reason I liked you!

aw shucks....right back at ya buddy.

-c

The plus side is bulbs are a fraction of the cost of LEDs; albeit they don't last as long.

How many games use a 28 volt 1251 bulb? I need one.

http://www.bulbtown.com/1251_MINIATURE_BULB_BA15S_BASE_p/1251.htm

Thanks, I knew where to get them, but I found it odd that Big Guns requires one for the Invincible insert. I burned out a couple of regular flasher bulbs real quick before I figured that out.

pinbot uses some 1251's

Cyclone uses 1251's as well

The big benefit of LED's is they consume about half the power on average, that means not only less expensive to run, but far less heat generated on the circuits and thus, fewer driver board failures. LED's really do pay for themselves in the long term.

the lower heat is debatable depending on the LEDs used.

Yeah I know that. I was just trying to lightheartedly look at the bright side since to op was lamenting his restore costs.

I pitch every single 44 or 47 I pull from a game. If anyone that is cheap in the lighting department wants these I suppose I could save them and mail out a box. Would someone actually want used bulbs?

they're getting better but still look bad in a lot of applications. if you re-do your connectors with good quality components and bullet proof the GI sections of your games then it's really not an issue especially in home use. I use LEDs in certain spots in some games but games that are LED'd out in most cases completely blow out your vision so you can't see the art on the playfield.

I'd rather have to rebuild a connector once in 10 years and gave a game i like to look at. I just removed all the LEDs from a WCS (except for a tasteful few ).

-c

the cointaker 4+ 1 LEDs are great for pop bumpers.

-c

Bring them to MGC, Allentown, Expo (Chicago), Patz, Chicagoland and i'll take them .

I'm cheap but also bulbs that have lasted a long time tend to keep lasting. you seem to always have bulbs that pop out of the gate in new boxes and by luck of the draw, these always seem to be in the worst locations to get to. I also pick out all of the GE bulbs, so i'm one of those weirdos too , though in my testing it really doesn't matter GE or otherwise..i find the ablaze and eiko bulbs that have lasted a while are just as reliable.

-c

IMHO LEDs look like ass. Like Craig said I'd rather spent $2 to replace J115, J120 and J121 and $10 for all new #44 than spend $120 for fugly LEDs. In a home environment there are no heat and connector issues once everything is rebuilt.

When I get a game in with LEDs I rip them out and throw them in a ziploc baggie.

1251 is the bulb on the turning light on High Speed, but that's the only 1251 bulb in the game.

Put LED's in hard to get to areas, and you wont ever have to go in that spot to change it again. Other then that, I don't like the wash out it does to the plastic art and the pf art.

My preference is incandescent over LED's. I use 47 bulbs instead of 44 bulbs for lower heat and power.

If you are going through the effort, also replace all 555 bulbs with 159 bulbs for lower heat and power. (159's have the same low power as 47's).

I find 44's and 555's can melt plastics and cause inserts to get hot. I've noticed with play fields covered in mylar, there are "bubbles" in the mylar over the inserts, where they've gotten hot.

Whenever I buy a game, I go through and trash all 44 and 555 bulbs and replace them all with 47s and 159s.

Here's an awesome article:
http://www.pinballnews.com/learn/lamps.html

i use 44's, because i like to live dangerously...

Unless you're leaving your games on 12 hours a day, every day, #44 are fine. I've replaced more plastics from them being broken from air-balls than from them being melted. Only melted plastics I've replaced were from flash lamps being locked on.

Actually, I've had to replace almost all the pop caps in my older games from the lamp heat and many had #47 lamps in them.

yup... agree completely... much of the paranoia surrounding 44's is misplaced...

although i have been known to slip an led into certain places occasionally... but for looks, not for the "heat/energy savings"...

I totally hear what you are both saying, and I personally did hold out on using LED's for many years because of these ideals. I do understand the reasons for not switching to LED's and do agree with them.

What finally changed it for me was when we started getting quality LED's with vast choices to select from at reasonable prices. Many warm white LED's of today actually do look like incandescent bulbs, frosted will take any glare out of the few that hit you in the eyes directly, using colored frosted LED bulbs in the inserts make the colors crisp and pure. So many possibility's today that you can really tailor any machine to your liking and tastes.

It does take some trial and error to not get the "burn your retinas out of your eyeballs" effect, different bulbs look better or worse then others in certain applications, and certain LED's do run hotter then incandescent, however for me the lower power consumption benefits can't be overlooked, I use significantly less power when I run my machines and it is clear on my electric bill that I am consuming less energy.

The bulbs pay me back for using them and negates the <.80c-1.30$ per bulb entry cost, rather quickly. Also I can run more machines on the same circuits because the overall draw is less, and in the summer this is especially important when everyone is running their air conditioners and line voltage drops.

Saving money and consuming less power helps everyone around me, any other perceived benefits, actual or not, are just that, benefits Again, everyone likes what they like, and I was in the incandescent camp for a long time, but after using LED's for the last couple years, I can clearly see the difference and benefits of using them and love the creative flexibility it gives me to add to the games overall effect.

ummm.....

44 vs. 47 bulbs - the difference is 100 milliamp or 1/10 of an ampere. 44s draw 250Ma and 47s are rated at 150. It adds up when you have a few dozen or so.