San Tan Valley, AZ
Which do you prefer and are pinballbulbs.com kits worth the extra money? Never used theirs, just comets. Looking to upgrade a PoTo playfield incandescent to LEDs. Thanks for your thoughts.
(Topic ID: 343455)
Edmonton, AB
Personally I use comet.
I Color match the inserts, then choose the color temp of white I want for the GI, maybe add a few spotlights and done.
Comet. HEP said he uses Comet. I wouldn't use something else if it was cheaper, certainly not if it was more expensive.
Quoted from jrcmlc:Comet. HEP said he uses Comet. I wouldn't use something else if it was cheaper, certainly not if it was more expensive.
Thanks! Appreciate the feedback. And makes sense.
Quoted from jesperpark:Personally I use comet.
I Color match the inserts, then choose the color temp of white I want for the GI, maybe add a few spotlights and done.
Thank you. Definitely don’t want to over pay for similar results.
Comet - been buying from them for years.
Agree about color matching inserts - really looks nice - buy a few extra for future need (Yes led's do crap out)
Also, if you're going LED I cannot preach enough - buy the OCDLED and GIOCD boards. LED's without them act terribly. I've got them in 3 of the 4 games I own. (1 is new and doesn't need em).
https://www.cometpinball.com/collections/led-ocd-boards
I bought from comet many times, was just curious if Pinballbulbs had better quality bulbs. Thanks for everyone’s feedback.
Quoted from CLEllison:Comet - been buying from them for years.
Agree about color matching inserts - really looks nice - buy a few extra for future need (Yes led's do crap out)
Also, if you're going LED I cannot preach enough - buy the OCDLED and GIOCD boards. LED's without them act terribly. I've got them in 3 of the 4 games I own. (1 is new and doesn't need em).
https://www.cometpinball.com/collections/led-ocd-boards
Thanks so much. So which one do I need for GI? I don’t see Data East listed. Or do I just need the insert LED board only?
Comet. I never had a reason to go elsewhere.
Nice variety of bulbs, competitive price, and I can't even remember the last time I had a defective/dead bulb. Plus as a small bonus, you usually get a few small treats along with your order, lol
Comet
2smd frosted sunlight LEDs in bulk (Black Friday special!)
No kits
Can color match inserts
Candy.
Quoted from RyanStl:I haven't used Pinballbulbs....
Nor have i ever met anyone that does. 
On COMET, I've bought LEDs from a few companies. It has been my experience that with most batches of LEDs you get from other suppliers, the bayonette style bulbs are 99%+ good, but a little less than 1 in 20 of the wedge style bulbs won't work. With Comet, I don't think I've run into a bayonette they made that didn't work and maybe 1 wedge in every other package of 100 won't work. So from a reliability perspective COMET is the best I have found.
I like 2 SMD LEDs. 2 SMD bulbs are bulbs with 2 surface mounted diodes (SMDs) in them. Frosted defracts the light better. Your machine will have some wedge and some bayonete bulbs. If you do order the LEDs for the flahers get the ones with less SMDs on the flashers. The first time I LED a machine I put tower 8 SMDs in the flashers and just about blinded byself on the test play.
Here is a quick video I made on different colored white bulbs.
I prefer "sunlight" on most bulbs.
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:On COMET, I've bought LEDs from a few companies. It has been my experience that with most batches of LEDs you get from other suppliers, the bayonette style bulbs are 99%+ good, but a little less than 1 in 20 of the wedge style bulbs won't work. With Comet, I don't think I've run into a bayonette they made that didn't work and maybe 1 wedge in every other package of 100 won't work. So from a reliability perspective COMET is the best I have found.
I like 2 SMD LEDs. 2 SMD bulbs are bulbs with 2 surface mounted diodes (SMDs) in them. Frosted defracts the light better. Your machine will have some wedge and some bayonete bulbs. If you do order the LEDs for the flahers get the ones with less SMDs on the flashers. The first time I LED a machine I put tower 8 SMDs in the flashers and just about blinded byself on the test play.
Here is a quick video I made on different colored white bulbs.
I prefer "sunlight" on most bulbs.
Awesome write up and video. I really appreciate it! Thank you so very much. Just have to see if Phantom needs the LED OCD board.
Quoted from TheLaw:Nor have i ever met anyone that does.
I can’t find anyone on the forum who has used them. That’s why I figured I would ask. Can’t even find any reviews online either.
Quoted from BallyKISS1978:I can’t find anyone on the forum who has used them. That’s why I figured I would ask. Can’t even find any reviews online either.
Probable a scam.
While I mostly buy from comet, I have personally bought from pinballbulbs.com on a few occasions.
They’re based out of a town southeast of Portland, Oregon and the two guys that ran it are pinball enthusiasts. They were a bit more of a go-to since they offered pre-made kits specific to machines I had at that time.
I’ve bought their mixed color LED translite backbox kits for a few WPC machines including STTNG and TZ. I’ve bought playfield and backbox kits for a few of system 11 machines including Earthshaker, Whirlwind and others.
I was very satisfied with the results and it’s clear to me that they actually did testing and research for attractive backbox and playfield lighting arrangements. I have never had a one of their LED bulbs fail. Same goes for Comet’s products.
They’re a little bit more expensive but the convenience of a full kit was worth it.
I used a lot of Pinballbulb kits.
Their extra spotlights and led strips are pretty cool and plug and play.
Comet is fine too I like their Matrix pieces except blue.
I think this might be one bulb style that comet doesn't carry:
https://www.pinballbulbs.com/products/button-led-63v-555-cool-white
I always have to trim the lip off of no-lens bulbs in order to fit them inside the arcade-style start buttons in WPC games.
I color match it (when it's green or red; a yellow button just gets a sunlight white bulb).
Quoted from EEE:While I mostly buy from comet, I have personally bought from pinballbulbs.com on a few occasions.
They’re based out of a town southeast of Portland, Oregon and the two guys that ran it are pinball enthusiasts. They were a bit more of a go-to since they offered pre-made kits specific to machines I had at that time.
I’ve bought their mixed color LED translite backbox kits for a few WPC machines including STTNG and TZ. I’ve bought playfield and backbox kits for a few of system 11 machines including Earthshaker, Whirlwind and others.
I was very satisfied with the results and it’s clear to me that they actually did testing and research for attractive backbox and playfield lighting arrangements. I have never had a one of their LED bulbs fail. Same goes for Comet’s products.
They’re a little bit more expensive but the convenience of a full kit was worth it.
Definitely like the connivence of a full kit. Just have to see how much the cost difference is for that connivence. He has videos for some games with the LED’s installed and look really good. Thanks for you reply, appreciate it.
Quoted from ForceFlow:I think this might be one bulb style that comet doesn't carry:
https://www.pinballbulbs.com/products/button-led-63v-555-cool-white
I always have to trim the lip off of no-lens bulbs in order to fit them inside the arcade-style start buttons in WPC games.
I color match it (when it's green or red; a yellow button just gets a sunlight white bulb).
Yeah I color match inserts also. Not yellow like you said. Haven’t found a good yellow LED yet. Always dim, and not really yellow
Quoted from BallyKISS1978:Yeah I color match inserts also
Just for clarification, I was talking about the cabinet buttons--not playfield inserts. Standard (no-lens) bulbs do not fit inside start buttons (or buy in, or super game buttons). You have to trim the outer lip of of the bulb housing in order to get them to fit. It would be nice to have a bulb (with color options) so I didn't have to do that.
Quoted from ForceFlow:Just for clarification, I was talking about the cabinet buttons--not playfield inserts. Standard (no-lens) bulbs do not fit inside start buttons (or buy in, or super game buttons). You have to trim the outer lip of of the bulb housing in order to get them to fit. It would be nice to have a bulb (with color options) so I didn't have to do that.
Oh ok. Thanks for clarifying. Sorry misread that. Thanks again!
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