I have bought a ot of frosted 6.3v LEDs with a 44 bajonet base sold as "suitabe for Pinball machines" directly from China and finally got them. I know that that might not have been the best placce to purchase but basically ordered them a day after I got my first pin without knowing that shops such as Cometpinball actually have really goo prices and fair international shipping costs. I will buy from them in the future but have a general question ni regards to LED usage.

The LEDs I got work fine when replacing GI bulbs (except for the LEDs actually emitting less light than slightly dirty incandescents) but I fail to get them working in inserts. They are designed for around 6.3V, testing them with a lab power supply works perfectly at 6.3V, although they also work with 12V and only get slighty warm.
The LEDs require negative at the larger bajonet base and positiv at the bottom tip to light up. My first guess would be that the insert lights are wired in the opposite manner. Unfortunatey I cannot test that as I can only get the insert lights to test in a blinking fashion (on-off-on-off-...) which confuses my multimeter, so I cannot get a reading for the voltage and hence the polarity.

I have the same problem with both my W?D and JM machines...

Basicaly my question is: Changing incandescent bulbs to LED should be plug-and-play, right? Or do I have to adjust polarity and diode direction at the lamp holders? I will be buying from Cometpinball as the LEDs from China do not meet my expectations, but before facing the same problem again, which I guess I should not, I still wanted to briefly ask.

Thanks in advance.

#2 9 years ago

RDM

volkdrive

Pinside member

10y 70,850 1,420

LEDs should be plug and play...I've only ever had to flip a 555 around sometimes. Usually I buy from cointaker or pinballlife, but consensus on here is Comet is solid too. No way you should have to start rewiring

#3 9 years ago

HLT

herg

LED OCD

13y 110K 5,551

Yes, they should be plug and play. The tip should be positive, and the base negative.

#4 9 years ago

SBD

simplykind

Pinside member

9y 62,300 880 1

I had the same issue. Bought them from somewhere in China on Aliexpress and they didn't work. Others I bought from Pinball life work they said they are most likely the wrong polarity. I've been meaning to file a dispute with Aliexpress.

#5 9 years ago

CMS

Xenon75

Pinside member

11y 86,800 1,969

They are probably not rectified and thus do have polarity issues. The early LEDs had this issue, and usually you just had to flip them around in the 555 socket and they would work. You may also need to play with the leads so that they make good contact in the socket itself. The socket may also not be snug enough to make good contact with the LED so you may need to replace the socket itself if you are set on using LEDS.

Good call on doing it the right way and buying from Comet though. Should have done that from the beginning!

#6 9 years ago

MEL

blondetall

Pinside+ Member

11y 99,300 6,269

Before I knew what I was doing, I did buy some of the cheapest bulbs that I could find to put in my NGG backbox, and spent over an hour with the power on and blinding myself because the bulbs weren't polarized and had to be put in a certain way to work. Taking each one out and turning it around and putting it back in, and occasionally wiggling it to get it lined up just right, is not fun but seemed to do the job.

Good luck to you, and certainly check with Art at Comet because he knows his bulbs and can probably help you diagnose your current problem and/or point you in the right direction with the ones he sells. He may still be on vacation but is also on here as Oldpinguy.

#7 9 years ago

CHS

Nycon

Pinside member

Bonn

9y 28,150 65 5

Quoted from Xenon75:
Good call on doing it the right way and buying from Comet though. Should have done that from the beginning!

Well, one needs to make mistakes most of the time to learn from them

I failed to inform myself thoroughly prior to the purchase of my first machine but was lucky in having a pretty fair seller who was really friendly and pointed out small cosmetic problems with the machine that I would not have seen otherwise.
After a few hours spent reading here I decided that I wanted to try out LEDs, unfortunately I had had not heared about Cometpinball back then ("back then" = almost 2 months ago) and ordered from aliexpress (Seller: ShenZhen PrinceLED Electronic). My next oder will definitely be with Cometpinball. If you guys tell me that "brand" LEDs should just be plug-and-play I will make a list of what I need exactly and order from Art next week (third pin, a BR, coming in).

Thanks again!

On a side note: Is there a list of numbers of bulbs required for specific pinball machines? For the JM the manual has a "lamp locations" section with bulb type, but for GI and backbox illumination I cannot find a list. Backbox is easy to count, but GI might be trickier. I just do not want to end up with having bought 5 bulbs too few or 80 too much. Although too much would not be as bad as I do have space for 4 pinball machines and am planning to use it accordingly

#8 9 years ago

OLI

flugs

Inactive member

Montech

12y 27,550 96 8 8

Salut,

Comet is nice to make business with (as most of the pinball part suppliers).
I just placed a new order some days ago (even if the weak Euro makes it more and more expensive for us on the old continent).

Normally you want to colour match LEDs (except for yellow LEDs) for the inserts to take full advantage of the LEDs.

I think from PinballCenter.eu you could download templates for a lot of pins.
Although as the layout depends a lot on your personal taste, they should only be seens as a proposal and I would only order LEDs once I have the machine at home.

Anyway, if you like LEDs, it is making sense to build a stock of them (with the different colors and types), so you can play a bit to see how it is looking.

Cheers,
flugs

#9 9 years ago

CHS

Nycon

Pinside member

Bonn

9y 28,150 65 5

@flugs: Thanks, found lists for BR and JM. I will try to color-match insert LEDs. The weak euro is really a pain in the a**, and I guess I will have to pay an additional 25% on the final price including shipping for tax and customs, except if Art is willing/able to mark the package as a gift...

Now I just have to wait for next week to pick up the BR. Excited already

#10 9 years ago

SBD

simplykind

Pinside member

9y 62,300 880 1

OP
Quoted from Nycon:
Well, one needs to make mistakes most of the time to learn from them

After a few hours spent reading here I decided that I wanted to try out LEDs, unfortunately I had had not heared about Cometpinball back then ("back then" = almost 2 months ago) and ordered from aliexpress (Seller: ShenZhen PrinceLED Electronic). My next oder will definitely be with Cometpinball.

Same seller I bought from... and was new to the hobby as well. Live and learn I guess, right?

#11 9 years ago

RJP

Patofnaud

Pinside member

Tilton, NH

11y 67,150 3,621 7

Quoted from herg:
The tip should be positive, and the base negative.

Depends on your machine. If its an old SS, like the United/Williams Bowler I have, some sockets are factory wired backwards. Figure back then who cared about light bulb polarity?

Drove me nuts as I had 2 LED bulbs that would not work in a certain spot but incandescent would.

1 month later

#12 9 years ago

SBD

simplykind

Pinside member

9y 62,300 880 1

UPDATE: I received a partial refund from PrinceLED off of AliExpress. The bulbs didn't work in any of machines. This is a new picture they added to the website. Are these supposed to work with solid state and later machines with this polarity?

HTB13L__GXXXXXbcXVXXq6xXFXXXZ.jpg

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