Interesting.

The 555 bulbs do have a slightly larger base than their incandescent counterparts, but I haven't had any problems with them so far--that has usually helped with poor tension in the socket. Just make sure the lead wires on the bulb are positioned correctly and aren't crossing each other or making contact with the socket where they aren't supposed to.

The other bulb manufacturers use the same style.

I recently ordered another 400 or so bulbs, and didn't notice anything different about these compared to older ones I still have on-hand.

Do you have any photos of where they aren't working in your game?

Those Bally 555 holders are notoriously awful just by themselves aren't they?

Yes...interesting indeed...I'm sure others have used Comet wedge bulbs in their classic Ballys with no issues...unless that's a poor assumption.

I got mine from Cointaker and did not have a shorting issue, but did have a heck of time getting them inserted into my EBD. I ended up taking a dremel and sanding down each one of them and it made it much easier.

Yeah it seems weird...my bally as all 44s so I can't comment to that angle.

I bought a bunch of 555's from Comet for an Elektra and I had a heck of a time with them as well and I like the original post have shopped numerous games and never had this hard of a time.

It was something unique to the Comet 555 and 80's solid state games - supper hard insertion and removal. I thought the same - there has to be something wrong with the Comet 555's. I made them work but it was NOT easy.

Did you contact comet? They are well known for helping pinsiders.

I guess the logical solution would be to put the correct bulbs back in and stop fiddle fking around with this other crap.

.

This sounds incredibly frustrating, and we're looking into it. That being said, please reach out to us with any problems you might be having with any of our products. If we don't know there's a problem we can't fix it. I'm always happy to help in any way I can. Just shoot me an email at [email protected], and we can work together to come up with a solution.

Boom. What he said ^

More like what he said.

Sounds like more of a problem with the sockets than the bulbs. If the 555 bulbs fit 95% of the games out there how do we come to the conclusion that the bulbs are the problem and not that some odd sockets are to blame in those specific games?

Because the 555 actual miniature lamps have fit fine in those sockets for the past 35 years. That's how I come to the conclusion.

I'm blaming the Bally sockets. Changing out the incandescents to leds was a real pain. That said, I have not had any issue once they were installed. One does have to watch out for the bulb wires to make sure they don't move to where they shouldn't while struggling to put them in. Every other game I've used the 555s in, no problems.

So the fix would be to make them smaller thus making them too small for other games. See the problem here?

Just saw this thread. In the past month I just did a full conversion of my EBD to comet LEDS and had absolutely no problem at all.

I honestly cant even understand what the OP is possibly doing in order to short out a game with a bulb? Can you please explain and maybe provide a few photos of how you have managed to do this?

I have had plenty of examples in SS, Gottlieb, and several years of Stern, where Ill "Suggest" different sockets were used at manufacture, or different injection
issues at fabrication.
They obviously fit fine for incandescent, but some LEDs were tight to impossible. The most common were Non Ghosting Bulbs,
or an attempt with Optix bulbs.
When I did these games, the solution was to find 1 bulb out of 10, that fit, or I had to fiddle with socket, or take an exacto to the edge of the
bulb.
POTC had bunches of games like this.
While shorting could occur outside the socket, it is more likely that when pushing them into the socket, the wires on the bulb base got pushed
into a crossed position, creating the short.
So answers are, different bulbs, different sockets..PITA, adjust bulbs, go back to incandescent.
Dont forget youll need a board to make LEDs work right is some of these games.
IMO.

We're trying to work this out with the OP. Rest assured kind pinheads, our bulbs don't just randomly short out games. There is definitely something else at play here, probably caused while trying to forcefully install. The sockets on EBD (and maybe a few others?) are extra tight for some reason, and I suspect you'll have a similar experience regardless of where you buy your LEDs.

If anyone else who sees this is having or has had issues, my advice is don't drive yourself crazy trying to jam them in. Reach out and we can help troubleshoot or offer a refund.

Yep. And most of these crappy aftermarket bulbs not only don't fit right, they can damage the sockets if you force them in.

Regular replacement incandecents, even the cheap ones tend to be the same size as the originals.

Possibly because of few Manufacturers adhering to the same tolerances? Aren't most of these bulbs sourced from just a few Suppliers?

Possibly because most don't give a shit or adhere to the same tolerances as the original bulbs.

Have you thought about starting a no LED club, much like the no rainbow puke club? Seems like you don't care for LEDs, which is fine, but no need to crap on them in this thread. One person's user error doesnt mean "all LEDs are garbage."

Original are glass (smooth) where they slide in. Leds arent. Not just Comets, most any are super tight on old Bally's.. Usually they just won't work.. I'm guessing he pushed hard enough to short one or two out.. Stick a large flat blade screwdriver in the socket first and give a twist..helps a bunch.

Have you thought about stating to your own opinion instead of telling others theirs?

Is there really a need for you to crap on somebody elses?

Who is the user that made the error you speak of?

You might want to kill power before the screwdriver does that for you.....

I know your just trying to be condescending here but he's talking about the OP if it wasn't obvious.

Couple major mistakes caused this. Two simple steps would have prevented the unfortunate situation of damaged boards vs just a refund request.

1. Never force electronics.
2. Change bulbs with power off. Not popular but I do it that way all the time after I saw a friend short something by dropping a screw.

OK, I get that.

But my whole point and I don't know why some here need to get so offended about an opinion on an inanimate object like a light bulb, but the reality is the bulbs are not the right size, which is the nature of the problem in the first place. I've seen it again and again firsthand.

If the company that sells these or any other bulbs wants to correct the issue, they probably need to do a little better quality control and communicate with whoever is making them. And don't send them out unless they are right.

The end user may sometimes use some extra force to try to make things fit because he might think he's bought a quality product that has already undergone inspection that it is the correct size.

pookycade can you please answer the above?

I honestly still cant understand exactly HOW you possibly shorted out your game by installing any LED properly? I seriously just used comet LEDs in my EBD a few weeks back and not a single issue. I took my time, had the game off and any tighter sockets I made sure to open up slightly and move slowly without force. It really was not tough to do with the game off and I think maybe 3 total tight sockets.

Genuinely not understanding how it is even possible? A few photos would be great.

I had a brand new shorted incandescent blow fuses on a DE Star Wars. Took me forever to find it becaus I was looking for pinched wires.

Damn you, China!!!!!

Guessing you criss-crossed the LED light wires and shorted across it the actual bulb? Do you bend wires out before install? I find that to be a good trick to avoid shorting out

Random, but maybe related to your issues if you’re using LEDs...

so did you have to use brut force to install these bulbs?

I’d put an incandescent in the aforementioned, regardless as that was the design.

probably smashing the contacts down inside the holder shorting out the two terminals. Normally i'd think the SCR would burn up and act like a fuse, but I guess it could burn the connector too with the rectifier fuse being for feature lamps being like 20a on the later games if nothing else goes open.

that is a pretty shitty attitude and honestly I think you have read their post wrongly.

Both Ryan and his employee have been very cordial and are known for great customer service.

I understand that you are pissed you made a mistake and your screw up (sorry but you are the one forcefully jamming the bulb in a socket), but reaching out 3 days ago and telling them you were going to get back to them after trying other bulbs, then trying to roast them on here before getting back to them is not a very nice way to go about it.

It honestly sounds like user error. Some incandescent sockets are tight, you have admitted that using a screw driver to loosen them is a good thing to try, but in this case you jammed in a bulb and messed up your game. The bulb is obviously not the issue here; as I noted I just used the same bulbs in the same game a few weeks back without issue.

Can we confirm my suggestion is not the case, please? You’re not getting anywhere positive by arguing about the size of an LED.