(Topic ID: 302452)

LEDs conversion

By borna

2 years ago


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  • 18 posts
  • 16 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 2 years ago by Wmsfan-GAP
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    #1 2 years ago

    Hello all,
    Have a 1975 Bally Wizard that i am in the process of restoring. Do you guys think upgrading to LEDs gives it a better illumination and worth the price?
    Also, is that a fair price?

    https://www.pinballbulbs.com/products/wizard-bally-em-led-kit

    Thanks

    #2 2 years ago

    Don’t do it, just my opinion. Some people love it.

    #3 2 years ago

    Do it!

    I like the looks that LED gives myself. Done right and it will look great. Can't say about the kit you picked out. I have never shopped with them.

    #4 2 years ago

    Most well used older machines show heat damage on certain connectors and deserve attention. LED's reduce the load on those connectors. Some folks like the look of incandescent and use those on the play field GI lighting and such to keep the old machine look while using LED's under the playfield. I prefer LED's but am picky about which style to use, I rarely use clear lenses as being too harsh and prefer frosted. There are other choices as to brightness and color and light pattern.

    I prefer to assemble my own lighting schemes on my machines but there is some trial and error. $150 is more or less what it will cost with a kit or doing it on your own. A kit is much easier and a good option as long as they have made good choices. I work as a lighting designer and enjoy the headaches of sorting it out on my own.

    #5 2 years ago

    I like them because you won't have to replace the hardest bulb to get at when it Blows five minutes into your first game...
    The heat reduction is also a big factor

    10
    #6 2 years ago
    Quoted from borna:

    Also, is that a fair price?

    NO.

    Using LEDs in an EM can get a lot of reactions both ways, and that's understandable.

    What i cant for the life of me figure out is how people are advising you to pay 150 dollars for this shit, recockulus.

    Go to comet and buy bulk warm white [or sunlight..whatever) and do it for way cheaper.
    https://www.cometpinball.com/products/2smd-bulbs-100-packs

    Spoilers, paying someone to color match every insert is a total waste

    Edit: I ASSume these are all 44s like EMs, so im looking at a picture and there cannot be more than 50 insets so fuck it, let's color match.
    3-4 red, 3-4 yellow, 15 (tops) white, 10 green (assuming all rollovers ares green. Large guess 25 white for GI, large guess 25 for Backbox (remember when using LEDs in the Blackbox its not needed to fill every socket, it'll be too bright).

    I got like 88 lights there which is probably too many; at 69 Cents a pop. Whilst I am a scientist math is not my field, but I dont know how we get to $150.

    #7 2 years ago

    If you do, don't buy a "kit" I bought one for my Comet,(not an EM), and I got all kinds of fruity colors that looked like ass. Fortunately I have other machines and have been using those up, under playfields. Also if you're looking at a "kit" through eBay for instance, you'll get better quality bulbs from Comet.

    Lastly, I've tried warm, cool, sunlight etc. And nothing looks like incandescents. That's what's keeping me from using them on my EM's for GI. Williams system 9's have GI issues so I do have a lot of LEDs "top side" on my Comet but they are all non colored.

    #8 2 years ago
    Quoted from borna:

    Hello all,
    Have a 1975 Bally Wizard that i am in the process of restoring. Do you guys think upgrading to LEDs gives it a better illumination and worth the price?
    Also, is that a fair price?
    https://www.pinballbulbs.com/products/wizard-bally-em-led-kit
    Thanks

    Do it. But don’t get a kit. Just go to comet pinball and get a bunch of the warm white frosted non ghosting bulbs. Those are all you need.

    #9 2 years ago

    thanks all for the great information you provided. Looks like comet is to place to go.

    #10 2 years ago

    Do it but don't buy a kit, I converted all my games to LEDs to cut down on heat on the GI connectors. It also helps with the plastics and heat in the game. I use Cointaker frosted either cool or warm white depending on the color scheme of the pin for the GI...then I will use retro colored for inserts. I usually only color match green, blue and red the orange and yellow don't really show up that much different so I just use the frosted that I used in the GI. If you prefer you can just use the frosted in all the inserts. That is your personal preference. Cointaker sells bulk (100) bags of the frosted cool or warm bulbs. Just get a bag of each and see what you like.

    https://cointaker.com/t/frosted

    Phoebe

    #11 2 years ago

    Two things. Don't buy game specific lighting kits or rubber ring kits. You'll be disappointed.

    #12 2 years ago

    Leds are the way to go.

    Go with the frosted (less harsh) warm whites for the GI and inserts. I see no colored inserts on Wizard so there is no need to even buy cool whites. If you ever led a game with colored inserts, put cool whites under blue and green inserts to make them look less faded and red under red inserts for the same reason. That is the only "color matching" you need to do.

    #13 2 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Go to comet and buy bulk warm white [or sunlight..whatever) and do it for way cheaper.
    https://www.cometpinball.com/products/2smd-bulbs-100-packs

    Spoilers, paying someone to color match every insert is a total waste

    This is great advice. I've finally come over to the side of having LEDs in EMs. Personally I simply buy bulk packs of the Comet Sunlight bulbs. I use the 1-SMD for EMs though. There are also the "Retro" bulbs that are a little less bright. Sometimes Retros look good in the backbox if the others are too bright.

    Matching insert colors is lame. Use the same color bulbs throughout the game, especially on EMs. Not only is it easier, its cheaper and looks better in the end. Sunlight would look great on Wizard BTW.

    One thing to know is that sometimes there are locations on EMs that will ghost really bad. It is usually on a bonus ladder or something similar while the bonus is being counted the LEDs will all blink on and off. It is annoying to me, so I swap those inserts back to regular #44 bulbs.

    20211014_082342 (resized).jpg20211014_082342 (resized).jpg
    #14 2 years ago
    Quoted from Swainer80:

    . If you ever led a game with colored inserts, put cool whites under blue and green inserts to make them look less faded and red under red inserts for the same reason. That is the only "color matching" you need to do.

    Trick from a fellow pinsider .. pink under orange ... really makes the orange pop .... redid all my games! the orange bulbs just don't have vibrantcy

    #15 2 years ago

    I go frosted warm white for 95% plus except colour match very large inserts. The larger the insert the brighter the bulb you need to get an even light to the edge of the insert. White on a large insert looks washed out so I usually colour matched the large red, green and blues.

    #16 2 years ago

    I just did my Judge Dredd using a kit, also $150, I won't do that again. For my Data East Star Wars, I'm going to go the bulk route and color match the inserts like others have suggested.

    #17 2 years ago

    Indeed, color match large inserts or scratched, faded inserts. Use a 2 headed Flex, when real large, or splitters.

    #18 2 years ago

    Don’t do the kit!

    Comet is the way to go for LED bulbs.

    Also, Comet usually has Black Friday bulb sales which are great for stocking up….just saying.

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