Some Updates..

Getting ready for round #2 of these conversion kits. I've got some more PCBs in & most of the materials, so I'm beginning to package up kits & expect to be able to start sending PMs out to those that expressed interest via the interest list (ie. waitlist) toward the end of this week or over the weekend. Those PMs will go out in small waves, 2-4 people at a time, so I can keep a better handle on the limited digits I have right now. People will be contacted in the order they signed up on the list & given a few days to respond. I'll keep moving down the list until I run out of digits.

I've not had a chance to update instructions further, so I'll again be offering a slight discount on the 2nd Batch of kits (just not as steep as the true "BETA" round). It'd be awesome if the people ordering on this 2nd round can provide feedback if it will be the first time you're putting a kit together. From the looks of it, everyone from the BETA TEST round has been happy with the instructions & what's been posted in this thread by others. Very few questions asked via PM.

I expect the 3rd Batch of PCBs (likely mid-to-late November) to finally move to the estimated "Introductory Pricing" since there will have been enough sets of these in the wild & instructions should also be refined a bit more. At that time, I'll likely be offering some quantity discounts (3x or more sets). Once people expressing interest in the 3rd Batch have been taken care of & providing there aren't any other material shortages -- remaining sets will be available for order directly at http://www.pinitech.com/products/ballystern_conversion_led_display.php

Thanks for the kind words Michael! I saw your Nixie displays on Youtube at one point, thought those were pretty cool!

A few more conversion kits made it out in the wild this week, thanks again to everyone supporting this idea!

If I haven't contacted you already and you were on the wait-list, expect to hear something toward the end of next week.

On the topic of WHITE displays, I'm going to have a few more color filters coming in as well. A Darker Green, Purple and a Magenta (dark pink). I think the Magenta would look great in Playboy! And let's also not forget that pink displays could help convince the wife to let you finally put a pinball machine in the dining room!

morecolors (resized).jpg

Looking at the backglass I think you could pull off Magenta / Hot Pink on SBM. Yellow certainly. Red. Purple. Or just leaving them WHITE would look nice even.

Some mock-ups below (borrowed your image Grnrzr)

I included an aqua color as mentioned by dothedoo -- I don't have filters for that, but if it's a desired color for this and other games I could add that to the assortment.

sbm_mocked (resized).jpg

So many of these backglasses have enough colors in them that practically any color display looks nice since it's either complimenting or contrasting things a bit.

Yep, the scenario for some people is going to be to take what otherwise is junk/trash or just laying around and make them into nice looking efficient displays. Then take any working plasma displays and sell them for $30-40ea. If they're really nice plasmas with no burn-in, you should get $40-50 out of them. So the conversion kits at that point pay for themselves easily, as long as you're willing to invest some time.

Another thing I've mentioned to a few people now -- these conversion kits are "educational kits" on multiple levels. Not only as just being a DIY kit, but in having a more challenging type of kit where you need to remove components from an older board. Want to improve your ability to desolder on older boards? What better way than with junk boards that are easily replaceable if you mess a few up? You don't need to buy a kit to get started, just look at some of the photos of depopulated boards that VID posted earlier in this thread. Start removing/desoldering components on the junk boards you have. If you can successfully depopulate a board or two, then they're ready-to-go with a conversion kit.

It's kind of a forced way of developing better techniques with reworking older boards. Not everyone will see it like this, but I *know* there will be a few people that do.. and realize this type of challenge is going to pay off in big ways in the end. You'll be less intimidated to work on older boards and have developed techniques you can utilize either on future display kits or *any* older board. Plus, you have something really cool to show for all your work in the end, that other people can also see and enjoy I think that's really cool personally.

Really happy to see this kind of feedback!

When you do get your set done, definitely post a picture with the backglass in! No rush hehe. I'm at some point going to create a page linking game names to pictures with various display colors so people can get an idea of what colors look like on each game. I think that'd be cool and help encourage more people to "take the plunge" in trying different colors in their games.

Playboy might look nice with MAGENTA, BLUE OR PURPLE. RED too. Like I said, if you really get looking at things many backglasses work with many colors.

Again these are just mock-ups.
playboy_mockups (resized).jpg

"AceBatHound's color mock-up service. Here to mock-up your machine all day, every day."

Figured some people might like to compliment the blonde's swimsuit.

You're right though, Hef would disapprove of anything but PINK

I wonder if the -21 boards are more likely to have their pads lift, even among single-sided boards. I think that's the board I had trouble with. Learned pretty quick I had to change my technique.. I found cutting component leads top-side flush, then adding a bit of solder to the back and grabbing the remaining lead (often bent-over the pad) with micro-cutters worked. Just took much longer. I've only done a few of those boards and plan to work on some better techniques that I can hopefully give here & in the instructions. Definitely treat the single-sided boards with care. They don't put up with a lot of heat.

Were the -21s the first single-sided boards you modified?

Blue looks awesome with that backglass! Nice job!

Good to know on the 2n5401's. I'll keep including some extras with the kits. I've personally had at least one or two displays that I noticed one digit was a bit dimmer.. swapping the 2n5401 did the trick. Also gives people spares in case any were missing or dead to begin with on the donor display.

Great to hear that! Did the -21 boards have their component leads bent over the pad? What tools/techniques did you use for removal of components? I figure the more tips/tricks we can post here the better the success rate will be on single-sided boards with bent-over leads.

Displays look awesome BTW I'm excited seeing people successfully building out their kits every time!

Based on the photos, I'd go for the blue in SBM myself. I like how it pops. That said, the white looks nice too & I was really wanting to see a photo of that, so thanks for posting Grnrzr!

I think if I had a choice of complimenting the prevailing color or balancing things out by picking up one of the secondary colors to use in the displays, I'd probably favor the secondary colors most of the time. Just to give it some balance, rather than be too "matchy". Just what I prefer. I'd basically look at whatever color was the 2nd prevailing color in the backglass and go with that -- or maybe the 3rd in-line. Speaking of which, I think magenta might actually look nice in SBM as well.

I'm not sure what I'd do with Strikes & Spares. Yellow's the prevailing color. Plasma/Orange works with the amount of orange in the backglass. I think light blue or red could look nice. From the mock-ups below, I'm kind of digging the light blue. I'll have to order some light blue gels, I'm sure there's more games that would look nice with a light blue too.

strikesspares_mockup.jpg

Vid, that would be awesome! Having something to model off of makes it much quicker and those pictures are as good as having a display right there with you. Should help with completing the 1st display in less time. I'd wanted to get pictures in the instructions per display revision from the start, but it was overwhelming considering I didn't even know how this whole idea would be received & I wanted to get some displays out in the wild for beta testing. At this point though, it's time to refine things more & make it easy as possible.

I had someone ask -- yes I do have more kits available. I probably won't have them directly available on the website for a few more weeks as I'm trying to get ahead with packaging up kits. For right now, if anyone else is interested in kits -- PM me or add yourself to the waitlist & I'll be in touch fairly quick with a link to order.

Some more updates..

• White digit order came in, so plenty of those right now.
• Blue digits are in limited supply, 3-5x sets left from the original [small] order I had made. More blue led digits should be coming in early-to-mid December.
• For the 2nd batch of kits I've got a better process of cutting filters for the white digits to-size on my end, so they'll be a pretty consistent height/width for each filter. Height is now the same as digit height, so no need to trim & makes it easy to add the foam light block then.
• I've added some new color filters -- purple, magenta, a darker green. I'm still tweaking filters a bit to find colors that really "pop" nice and/or come close to matching native led digit colors & plasma colors -- or have some kind of "neat" factor to them. I'll get some pictures up on the website with the new colors soon.

Thanks so much to everyone that's tried a kit, commented, had good things to say, suggestions on things to change or shown excitement for this whole idea. It's great seeing new life breathed into older games that might not otherwise have seen led displays!

Desoldering components on some old sound boards today. Not displays.. but component leads folded over similarly. Sometimes can't even see the leg in the solder joint.

What I'm having success with is using the Hakko to suck up the solder to expose the lead first. If I can see the lead, then I position the Hakko tip right next to the lead and suck the solder up, otherwise I just suck up whatever blob is there Sometimes the lead is loose at that point & I can straighten the lead with micro-flush cutters or cut off the right angle to remove the component. Otherwise, I'm then grabbing the lead with the Hakko tip (inserting the lead into the Hakko tip) and gently let it rest against one side of the tip so the solder still holding the lead to the pad melts. Leave it there a second or two and then use the Hakko to straighten the lead & suck any remaining solder up.

A slight modification to the above -- if the old solder isn't heating up too well is to position new solder at the pad, use the Hakko tip to melt it into the pad & then suck it up right after.

I've got more displays I need to modify so will be perfecting some methods with removal pretty soon and will post any tips I have for making better time with that part of the process.

I like how the SBM looks with those magenta/pink filters! Brings out a color that's barely there and balances well. Not for everyone, but it's definitely an option as I'd thought. I do like the blue too though. And I'd need to see the yellow in-person since as you said, the photos don't do it justice. Decisions Decisions

Was the green the darker green or lighter green filter? Kind of looks like the lighter green from the photos, but could be the pic.