I recently bought my first pinball, Baywatch. Like many said, I went with Comet frosted 2SMD cool white. I bought 100 wedge and 50 bayonet. Ordered like 10-20 each of colors to match inserts. Didn’t bother with replacing flashers. I had three bulbs that were ghosting so I placed another order to replace those along with more blue for some GI locations around the playfield. Super happy with the result and saved a lot of money versus buying a kit. And have lots of bulbs leftover for the next pinball.

A non-ghosting bulb isn't better than a regular bulb, it just has a resistor to suck up the loose voltage. I wasn't saying people should buy cheap bulbs, just that using all ghosting bulbs is an unnecessary expense.

Well you can get dumb colored GI and spend more monies for it...I think that's what we are calling wrong.

Hi Confused, I'm Force

I thought you were, "Flow"?

Just watching the discussion.....

Lets yank the thread out about building LEDs for a Nickel!

I was new to LEDs a while back and understand your confusion. It can be somewhat daunting to know what to buy. There is a lot to know when going with LEDs.

After doing some research and some experimenting I use the following on my solid state pins:

Clear dome 2SMDs for inserts, color matched except for the yellow and orange inserts where I use cool white. Cool white 2SMD LEDs for clear inserts. I always buy one or two extra of each color because I inevitably count wrong and miss an insert. Be thorough and careful when counting each color that you will need for the inserts and you won't need to order extras.

Frosted dome 2SMD LEDS for the GI. Cool white LEDs have a hint of blue in them. Warm white and sunlight LEDs have the more traditional look of incandescents and are more toward the yellow side of the color spectrum.

Since you are just starting out, I would keep it simple and go with cool white for the GI if you want bright or sunlight for the GI if you want a more yellow, traditional look. If you are an experimenter, like I am, then buy a few color coordinated LEDs to match the playfield and see if you like them. It's a matter of personal preference though. You might want to look up some pictures of playfields with different colors of LEDS to get some idea what you like best, but seeing LEDs in person is very different than seeing them in pictures. LEDs 'pop' when you see them and the camera doesn't pick this up well.

I experimented with some color GI and sunlight LEDs with Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man and like how it turned out, but you don't want to go crazy with the colored LEDs above the playfield (general illumination or GI)!! I went with cool whites on Harlem Globetrotters and I like that look too. Very bright!

I like Comet LEDs. Their cool white LEDs are really bright and do a good job of lighting up the playfield and really 'pop' when used under clear inserts.

Check this out:
https://www.cometpinball.com/collections/how-to-buy-pinball-leds

There used to be some cheaper 39 cent LEDs on the market, non SMD. Avoid these; they are junk. Just stick with Comet and you will be fine.

Common rule is color match except warm white in yellow and orange inserts.

You might want to look into whether Data East games have issues with leds. Some games have flicker problems and ghosting (leds never fully turn off). Flickering can be fixed for most B/W games by turning off dimming. Ghosting can be fixed with non-ghosting bulbs or ocd boards. I'm not sure what options you have with BTTF, though.

This ^^^

Let us know when game 2 comes!

Same, but I use Sunlight. Cool whites can be a little on the blue side and make yellow inserts appear a little green.

I have so many yellow LEDs from before I learned this. A yellow bulb under a yellow inserts seems like it would make sense, but it's really a waste and generally dimmer than what an incandescent bulb is. Orange is that way also to a degree, but not nearly as bad as the yellow is.

So good advice on using the warm white LEDs under yellow and orange inserts. If you use cool white instead of warm white it will make the yellow insert color off (greenish I believe).

I always thought this thread title was funny...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cointaker-money-and-time-taker

Anyone know how to get in touch with ANYONE at Pinballbulbs.com? The TAFG I just picked up came with a complete LED kit from them and I really need to know if their stock TAF kit comes with ghosting or non-ghosting LEDs (not to mention the kit was wrong but that's a different issue) and I can't seem to reach them via a PM here or their website...

Thanks,
Jeff

I like cointaker bulbs. Have had too many issues with Comet bulbs. Done with them.

Also to mention, I had some color changing bulbs from Comet for inserts that wouldnt work correctly. Tried Cointakers and they worked fine... Not sure why.

Oh boy.

haha yes, I like color on my games. The Walking Dead was too boring stock.

Would love to know more about this. I’m guessing they were the LED style which we’ve discontinued due to complaints in inserts specifically. Haven’t heard any problems about the SMD style. I’d be happy to send you some or refund you for the others. PM me to discuss.

All LED style bulbs of ours are discontinued...it’s an older tech that just wasn’t holding up well enough for everyone.

I'm from the competition, but maybe I can help. Their kit does come with non-ghosting bulbs.

We've got our own kit so it'll be easy to help figure out what's wrong with yours. PM me. (My first guess is maybe the backbox...as I believe there were two different kinds of sockets used at some point during production. Or, maybe TAFG has some subtle differences I'm not aware of?)

Thank you!!! Very helpful to know. I was only asking since the OCD LED/GI boards work "best" with ghosting LEDs but it probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme...

Thanks,
Jeff

I think OCD LED specifically calls for non ghosting bulbs?

Ah I see...just more flexibility

"What if I already have non-ghosting bulbs?
Standard LEDs will give the OCD board more direct control over the LEDs, but you can still use non-ghosting bulbs with some minor restrictions."

A bit late to this- having gotten bulbs from the poll vendors as well as comet, I'm a hands down fan of comet. and as other suggested, don't go with the kits.

Yeah, I have tried a couple and settled on Comet as the best value for the quality. Will be using them for all my restos going forward.