Nice video .. gonna hafta change my avatar every day now .. LOL .. j/k ?

Thanks for sharing and kidding around and not taking it "Why so serious" ..

It's nice to see this forum come back to life and even see some of the old mods taking an interest again in posting topics/threads etc.

I bet you have an LED Christmas tree this year don't you ? Hehe

So who in your Taxi machine is being picked up ?

The very rare blonde Marylin Monroe or the Brown haired "Lola" they did it to keep it out of the estate lawsuit ?

thanks for the post jbscar. nice youtube video. i am in the process of getting my tz done in led's as well. i am also getting installed a sub and getting the cash door, lock bar, side rails, and legs all done in chrome. i will post some pics when the projecy is complete.

Good stuff Jbscar, looks great, hey vex, how much to do the Twilight in led's?

Leigh,
when i get the final bill i will lyk. my guess is @ 75 U$, but will confirm and get back to you if interested.

That would be great, thanks Vex

I've done a lot of LEDs in a lot of machines, and for the vast majority of them I've found that it's best to put LEDs in the inserts, and use incandescents for the GI lighting. You just get a warm and classic glow from the incandescents that looks great and with LEDs the inserts seriously pop. Also, depending on the color scheme, some backglasses/translites look better with LEDs. Check out how much better my Twilight Zone backglass looks with cool white LEDs in the backglass.

Before: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/3634072769_1ca566952b_b.jpg
After: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2467/3634886996_3165dbcbb5_b.jpg
Bulb comparison: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3347/3634885364_fc5a1fdc2e_b.jpg

I just finished shopping out a Simpsons Pinball Party yesterday and used LEDs in all the inserts. Man, that game has a TON of inserts.

Wow that is major jar155,
night n day-
has anyone tried it in older pins from the mid 70s?

How does different overhead lighting effect the LED's? Even a black light! Has anyone tryed different lighting?

Will led lights work on EM pins,I have Bally Freedom EM that I would like to use them on.Thanks in advance

Yes LED lights will work on EM's. Just get the right ones with the base that fits your machine. They are usually sold as to what type incandescents they replace by number. I.E. #44, #555, etc. Just pull a bulb from your machine and look at the number on it.

Playing around with colors changes etc is up to you. The more popular machines have theme colored complete sets. But your EM will be up to you figuring out what you want where.

Go visit www.pinballlife.com for a nice assortment of LED lamps.
You can also find them at www.bayareaamusements.com but I don't know if they have the ablaze ones.

I just looked up your machine on www.ipdb.org:

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=952

I bet you could come up with a great red,white, and blue LED theme for it.

I think the LED lights look great in your machine. Your machine has a real nice look to it. Good job.

LEDs lose some of the effect meant for many games. What I mean is LEDs can not fade as bulbs do. And the fade and gradual build up of light is an awesome effect that LEDs can not duplicate. In my opinion LEDs are not an upgrade for that reason. CV is one of the only games I could see LEDs as being an upgrade for. Not to say I do not think your machine looks good because I think it looks sweet.

i finally got my TZ back. i will post some pics tonight. some of the things i got done are:

installed a sub woofer, huge improvement.
chrome side rails, lock bar and cash door.
every light replaced with led lights.
added alot of toys....looks really nice in led light. they use less power and keep the machine alot cooler which is a huge bonus with electronics.

is it true an LED replacement for a #44-#47 lamp cost about $1.50 each (U.S.)?
and does anyone know how long they last? or has anyone gotten a few bad ones
(quality control)?
I'm thinking of adding a few to light up certain areas of the playfield and backglass on a few EMs but not sure if they will work , sometimes you get a surge/dim in the older games -could that lead to shorter LED life? -thanks

They are pretty robust Autumnfade. My biggest concern in an older EM machine would be that you have replaced the filter capacitors in the power supply on it. Especially the big ones. If you need some I have a couple dozen of those really large ones with the screws.

Power supply filter capacitors are one of the first things I replace when I get an old machine.

It's very rare to get a bad LED bulb. I actually bought some with my last order as jbscar changed my mind too and am going to use them in certain places where it's a PIA to change it.

I dont have a filter capacitor on any of my pins, do you need them to run LEDs?
I mean I'd try a few lamps before going for a '100' pack of LEDs first but then again
perhaps LEDs are for SS games only? -still a little confused?

No .. LED's are for any machine as long as you get the ones that replace a certain lamp number for your machine. If your EM's are one of those without filter capacitors (and have a DC power supply/rectifier circuit) I'd add one in on at least the lamp supply in line after the fuse. Maybe that is why you see dimming/surges. I wouldn't go below at least around 6,000 microfarads.

Also btw many of the old EM's were simply AC and not DC. I think yours might be that. You can still use an LED even if it's AC and not DC rectified. Capacitors are a DC filter. Putting one in an AC machine will make no difference. (Capacitors pass AC and block and store DC).

Even if you don't do that they won't burn out until they get up around 10-12 volts which is almost double the norm. Actually an LED will last longer on AC than DC. Even though you can't see it the filament is being "pulsed" instead of constant. I often check LED's out at work using my curve tracer that has an AC voltage at the probe leads.

Sorry about all the edits ... I'm in the middle of making dinner/homework/kids etc and keep thinking about what I need to say.

here is tz done in led light. hard to tell from these pics but the results are quite stunning in person. it gives the game a fresh modern look.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff74/vexvex/098.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff74/vexvex/126.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff74/vexvex/109.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff74/vexvex/134.jpg

Looks fantastic vex, well done.

"What is DC what is AC?"

DC = Direct Current

AC= Alternating Current

Hey brokedad,I put a red white and blue mix of Led lights on my freedom that you suggested and they look great!! I can even play in the dark as they are a lot brighter than the others,will try to post pictures in the near future.

I can't wait to see the pictures .. USA USA USA .. hehe

It's too bad Chicago lost the 2016 Olympics but then I do have a Norwegian citizenship via my wife and other things.

I think it's great you did your machine up in the LED's.

Well I've had my Spidey almost a month now. I've seen the difference between a machine with stock bulbs and LED bulbs. It is a huge difference and I think I'm about to undertake my first pinball mod by changing some of the bulbs over to LED to see how they look. I will need to find which LED bulbs will be the correct match for the bulbs currently in the machine. I think this will be a good learning opportunity to work with machine without getting in over my head. Does anyone recommend a particular brand of bulb? I'd like something that is very bright.

Well I looked at the lower portion of the playfield and have decided to change all 11 of the #555 bulbs with LED bulbs that make up the attached picture that I just took. For some reason the date of the photo is incorrect. The bulbs are very easy to access when the playfield is resting back. All I do is replace the bulbs with the new ones correct? I.E. - there is nothing else to do such as change power settings, or anything else?

Picture.jpg

I know alot of people like the ultrabright LED's. The others I've seen used are the Ablaze LED's. Pinballlife has a nice assortment of the latter. And all you have to do is plug them in but don't forget the magic powder, feather headdress, and the rubber chicken thing just to be safe

Here is their direct link to the #555 ones.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1175&parent=192

Thank you very much for the link

Thanks again Brokedad for the link. From the attached picture you have seen, should I go with all white bulbs or should I buy colored bulbs to match each color on the playfield such as the green on the green goblin or the blue on the venom? Looking at each one on the playfield you will see it is a different color. I.E - would a white LED or a green LED look better on the goblin which is green on the playfield. Still laughing at the rubber chicken.

Matching the inserts gives you MUCH better results, but even going all white is better than incandescents in inserts.

ChrisJK Pinballlife.com has a set of LED's for Green goblin and Venom, check it out

Putting a colored LED behind or under your colored playfield item will make it deeper color but the LED produces much more light than the incandescents. I'd use whites where the plastic is fully covered from behind or below if you want the most brightness. It's all your choice on creating your "theme". It's all subjective so I don't want to influence your decision that much. Also remember your "color wheel". You can combine a colored LED with another color plastic to create a whole new color.

A follow up topic has been opened, so I'm closing this one.
Go here to continue discussion
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/led-bulbs-or-bust-pt-2