I'd guess '66 for the "Last Ball in Play" (Cross Town may actually have been first with that, not sure).

Some woodrails have the Game Over screened in the glass, the backbox board drilled for the bulb socket, but no socket installed. I think they started populating it in the late woodrails, but can't think which games have it offhand. Would be late period though, like '57-'60.

Sing Along does.

If the Last Ball in Play socket is wired with a 35ohm sand resistor, you actually *have* to put a flasher in there. (Cross Town is this way.) A 44 (or 47) will burn up too quickly otherwise.

Looks like this (taken from Cross Town IPDB pic):

CT_rear.jpg

Bah, you would ask!

So here's a short version. You'll see on the schematic that these bulbs are actually on the 25V side of the house, rather than the 6V:

LastBall.jpg

A #455 bulb is a 6.5V, 0.5A bulb, so putting a 6.5V bulb in a 25V circuit will burn it out rather quickly. Some of the 25V needs to be consumed to leave 6.5V for the bulb. The amount needed is the difference: 25V-6.5V = 18.5V.

So a resistor is needed in series with the bulb to take that 18.5V. Since the bulb draws 0.5A, so will the resistor. Using Ohm's Law (V=IR) and solving for R yields V/I = R, so 18.5V/0.5A = 37 Ohms.

Now, 37 Ohms is pretty darn close to the 35 Ohms, but not exact. I'll wave my arms a bit here and say that there's another 2 Ohms of resistance in the circuit already (which can be measured), such that 35 Ohms is sufficient.

But that gives the resistance value, and a resistor has both a resistance and a power rating. With the 0.5A and the 18.5V, power in Watts is just 'volt-amps', or 18.5V*0.5A, or 9.25 W, call it 10 Watts or better.

So, a #455 bulb in series with a 35 Ohm, 10 Watt resistor.

(And no, I don't have this memorized; I have to re-derive each time, although this should do for awhile now...)

The Ice Review schematic shows it as being a 35 Ohm, 10 Watt resistor, so should be a #455 flasher bulb used.

I haven't found a good source for the original 'sand' type of resistors, so have to use ceramic ones when they need to be replaced.

Sometimes you'll find sockets in series with a 75 Ohm resistor instead. Those need #44 bulbs (which are 6.3V, .250 Amp)

If the LED is drawing a different amperage and voltage, probably should also change the resistor to balance it back out.

No, not necessarily. It depends on whether the socket is wired into the 25V part of the circuit or not, and even then, what value of resistor is wired in series with it. And this really was only used on the Last Ball in Play and some playfield lights (like Special When Lit type lights).

I can't think of a Game Over light that was this way at all. But they often are set up for a flasher bulb, due to the way the socket is set flush with the backbox board (so the large, round bulb doesn't prevent the bulb base from going in the socket).

Yes, those kickout hole lights have the resistors, but they are 75 Ohm, so need the #44 bulb specifically (a #47 will burn out). To use a #47, a higher resistor value is needed.

The resistors weren't used with the Game Over light (that I know of).