Well what can I say....it looks like you added 36 LED star posts to your machine; Mission acomplished.

I'm somewhat of a purist but I.can appreciate the hard work and that you made it reversible.

Where did you tap power for the block?

Looks AMAZING !!

i need to do something similar for my Space Invaders.
just ordered color changing LED's for under the popcaps, and have new popcap tops, since the originals were burned from standard bulbs.

bought these light-up kits at TxPinFest to install in Joust, but haven't done it yet.
lots of unscrewing and wiring. going to be a weekend project for sure.

how's the entire pin look turned on? all the other lighting on too?

cheers,
bb

Insane!

Thatsa lota work.
I assume SI uses normal jeweled posts; and not the ribbed ones.

It had the Beehive ones.

Did you hollow out a recess in the posts for the LEDs, or are the posts sitting on top of them?

um- no.
You are going to break the top of those LEDs when the ball strikes the post... or and the very least twist off the LEDs/break solder pads.

Those post LEDs are designed for the hollowed out "Behive" eluded to before.

alluded

Thanks for posting this. It is always great to get some ideas on what can be done with LED lighting in any game.

They look great! Nice clean install job.

I'm actually looking to do the same thing to my Baby Pac-Man, but with blue lights as all the posts are blue. Hopefully they'll work for me. The machine isn't even running all the new LED's I put in it now. I don't know why they aren't working or what's wrong. I'm thinking of buying a whole new light board for it. We'll see.

The light board for Baby Pac is unique to that and Granny and The gators. Don't buy the Altek LED lamp driver for it. If you have lamps out check your connector.

Years ago when I first showed up at PPE with this mod, using it for GI was my intention. It evolved rather quickly to what it is today.

Steve

I do like the look of the lit posts, but not the connecting lugs and wires hanging outside at the posts base. IMHO they oughtta make them with the lugs to the buttom side for wire drill size holes contained within the posts footprint. thered just as easily be room for 2 3mm LED's, 2 tiny holes for their long solid wire legs to reach through, holes so small they dont de-structure anything.

not trying to be trollish to you at all, I'm critical about what THEY created and called underpost lamps.. all that stuff hanging outside a post sure isnt under it!

When I first saw these LED posts on Robs table at expo a few years back, I thought they looked pretty cool. But when I noticed the board hanging out the bottom (as in that picture) I wasn't interested anymore. The PDI posts that put the LED bit entirely inside with just a wire coming out are so much nicer, IMHO.

And what, 3x more expensive? I agree they look a lot better in most cases, but they are cost prohibitive for doing something ambitious like this. If you are just doing the slings I can see it. I have the CT ones installed on the slings of a couple of different games and I never notice the little boards sticking out.

Looks pretty cool! Let us know how they hold up! I've only ever put on the slings and they burnt out kinda fast May have just gotten unlucky

I like it. Saw the Funhouse at TPF next to Chris and Melissa. It had them as well. Thinking about doing that to my Funhouse restoration.

I have had a set on the slings in my Judge Dredd that is on location for a few months now and still working fine. I have mine hooked to my coils and flash when the slings fire.

Looks great sir. Thanks for posting this info and pics.

How do these compare to Great Lake Modular post lights?

http://www.greatlakesmodular.com/products/pinball/spl_kit.html

I thought CT used to get these from GLM?

I restored that funhouse for Chris and Melissa a few years ago. I love the looks of light up star posts. I plan on doing it to my baby pac as well.

Oh, cool. Flashing may be more helpful as mine were constantly on

Those are $4 more per post! Cointaker being a very solid pinball company, I would go with them no question. I missed out on the 20% but these babies are going in my pin on the next sale.

The extra $4 per post gets you a hand-built (by me personally, in the USA) star post light with ultra-highly color matched LEDs (probably the most expensive being used in the industry). It also gets you a star post light that both illuminates AND flashes at the same time. And flashes from not one, but TWO separate trigger sources (coils or flasher triggers) simultaneously without any additional hardware in most games.

It is (as far as I know) still the most advanced and versatile star post light on the market for anyone wanting to create the ultimate lighting experience, especially on the older SS games built before the use of flashers.

Yes, CT did distribute the original GLM star post light for a very brief period of time. After all, they did need a good template to copy from...

Oh, and to the OP, I would seriously consider using a dremel to remove the bottom ring and extra plastic so the LED's/solder joints aren't being compressed. FWIW.

The "problem" you guys have with this design ... boards sticking out is really odd.
Would you rather have to drill into the PF to mount wires?
Would you rather have to dremel the post to get wires out?
Seems counter-intuitive to me... as most people want a reversible, bolt-on mod.

$4 extra per post x 36 star posts = $144 extra? Star posts are 20¢ apiece. I can't justify that added expense. Also, are your leds made in USA? Just curious

Yes, $144 could light the rest of the pin with LEDs. It might be hand made but is $144 worth it? Most LEDs are made in China but he may have some US maker (that's why the price would be almost double).

Well if you don't mind drilling through your playfield, you should be able to do all 36 posts for under $8 with a DIY approach. Not everyone is going to go to that extreme though.

As for LED's (and most raw electronic parts), I doubt there are any made in the US except for exotic parts destined for military and industrial applications (Ultraviolet C band LEDs springs to mind). Not sure what kind of point you are trying to make here, it's been this way for decades.

I've seen GLModular assembling these by hand at TPF in years past.
I don't think this is really relevant to the OPs original post. GL just came in to say his have a higher feature set than others on the market at a direct request from one of this threads comments. I don't think it was his intention to say the op should have used his.

I do find it concerning that others have ripped off his work with an inferior product. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Thanks, Zitt, you have read my intentions clear.

Honestly, when I put out the first commercially available LED star post light, I fully expected knockoffs to appear. I had no allusion otherwise. My goal is to just to stay ahead of the curve and make the best one I can.

Each star post light out there has advantages and disadvantages depending on the end application. There is no one single perfect product out there. Quite honestly, if the OP only wants to light up posts and do nothing else, then the CT one was probably the best choice.

My point is you are trying to make it seem that your product is made in the USA, when in fact it is just ASSEMBLED in the USA. Just sayin'.

I don't feel bad for him that others are making them now and selling them for less, originally GLM took the idea from me and I wasn't flattered at all.

Steve

handbuilt == assembled
just a different way of saying it.

*sigh* if anyone wants to bother reading old stuff from a year and a half ago (and it was old news then):

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-gotten-lighted-star-posts-to-activate-with-slings

But to recap:

Rally Play's Rally Girl, circa 1966. Yes, 1966. Nearly 50 years ago.

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/images/3599/image-12.jpg

Rally Play's Play Boy, circa 1967:

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/images/3601/image-6.jpg

Rally Play's West Club, circa 1967:

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/images/3601/image-13.jpg

I still remember when I finally got to see a West Club at PPE. Absolutely stunning game.

But somehow some people still believe they invented the internet...

Bild17b.jpg
Bild18.jpg

LOL, Bottom line is that I applied LED's to existing posts before anyone else did. You saw my mod and had them for sale at the next show. There's an old RGP thread that goes into it better than the Pinside link you posted.

Steve

Sure:

http://www.greatlakesmodular.com/products/pinball/spl_kit.html

I apologize, normally I would have been at TPF, but things didn't work out this year.

If you aren't set on the concentric ring posts, then my advice would be to switch them for the standard style, as this will work best with the existing designs out there.

You may have to fill the center shaft with something that will harden to prevent the post from moving. May be more trouble than it's worth. Also, the tabs are extremely close to the metal posts on the back side. This is a potential issue with both the CT and GLM designs.

The Pinball Decals one would be good for this kind of tight area, but I believe these are lit only, GI lamp run versions. No idea how well these would work mixed with others as they are a two LED design, not four.

Same info there as well.

See you Friday. Don't forget your wrist band this year!

that was me

also built the world's first tag based browser to run on unix based internet.

Where do you sell yours at currently? Looking to get a few and id support the original person

I hear ya, thanks for the interest but when my plans to ramp up selling my LED post mod got shot down, I decided that I didn't want to compete with my own idea so I sold off all of the boards I had made, switched gears to another mod and got out of the way. All the mods I do now are for me, I don't sell or show off anything I make anymore ... sorry. If you really want that type of mod, you'll have to pick from one of the existing guys, they'll gladly take your money.

Steve

http://www.pinballnews.com/shows/pagg2013/index.html

"Bay Area legend and Gottlieb System 80 guru Steve Charland, who brought his stunning Mars God of War with his own design of illuminated flipper mod."

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-mod-illuminated-flipper-bats