(Topic ID: 206424)

Poor man's Stadium lighting

By Fytr

6 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 1,001 posts
  • 197 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 20 days ago by digitaldocc
  • Topic is favorited by 332 Pinsiders

You

Linked Games

Topic Gallery

View topic image gallery

PXL_20240314_012819212 (resized).jpg
PXL_20231122_065323557(1) (resized).jpg
ss2 (resized).png
ss1 (resized).png
pinlights-classic-comp-ft-720 (resized).png
20240113_164500 (resized).jpg
20240113_164431 (resized).jpg
pasted_image (resized).png
pasted_image (resized).png
pasted_image (resized).png
IMG_20230127_013429 (resized).jpg
8 (resized).jpg
IMG_20230125_175301 (resized).jpg
IMG_20230125_211008 (resized).jpg
IMG_20230125_210634 (resized).jpg
IMG_20230125_145140 (resized).jpg
There are 1,001 posts in this topic. You are on page 13 of 21.
#601 4 years ago

No thanks. I have a few Pinstadiums and I'm selling them. I don't need all the over-the-top flashers and I'm completely fed up with Scott's sleazy used car salesman tactics.

#602 4 years ago
Quoted from Cheeks:

Has anyone come up with a way to mount these on the sides of the playfield rather than the inside of the cabinet? It would be really nice to be able to lift the playfield without needing to remember to remove them.

I am working on it . I’m thinking like a L bracket that mounts under the playfield to an existing light screw or similar.

#603 4 years ago
Quoted from Langless28:

I am working on it . I’m thinking like a L bracket that mounts under the playfield to an existing light screw or similar.

I was just going to say the same thing then read your post. I’m sure you can use hanger brackets from the hardware store.

#604 4 years ago

No thanks, pinstadium is overpriced crap. I hated having to remove them to lift the playfield and now I'm sure someone will figure out a way to use L brackets or something for a fraction of the price

#605 4 years ago

Someone could open source a similar device/bracket

#606 4 years ago

I'm thinking flat bar aluminum 1/8" x 1/2".
These lights are super freaking light weight so you dont need much support. Basically you can create a mount or two where it makes sense to attach on your title. The key here woud be to create a tight cradle for the light bar to sit in (maybe even add soft velcro piece in the cradle). Of course drill a hole in the bottom flat piece to mount onto where ever.
Another cool feature of aluminum being pliable is if needed you can twist the mount the get it "straight" you can. I'm actually out and about right now. I'm going to swing by home depot and see what I can find. I'm actually installing lights on a TAF right now. I do like the idea of NOT using velcro.

20190817_150430 (resized).jpg20190817_150430 (resized).jpg
#607 4 years ago

Ready to experiment

20190817_154133 (resized).jpg20190817_154133 (resized).jpg
#608 4 years ago

The 1/16" thickness will easily slide between the cabinet and playfield. This is great. No additional shadows or blockage/eye sores.
The plan is to mount under playfield. I believe 2 per side will be sufficient. Now to get some measurements AMD bending going. Need to ensure the base is bent at an angle so the lights run the same angle as the cabinet.

#609 4 years ago

Thought I'd post a pic of my poor mans setup. I prefer to use Gameon power and set the sensor in a gi hole that way the stadium lighting interacts with the gi so it feels like it's supposed to be there. As you can see the before pic is just gawd awful. (Previous owner added warm white leds which suck and are getting replaced with cool white). TAF is kind a night mare to play with stock lighting. The next pic is with full blue/white both @ 100%. Due to TAF having dominate blue on the 3rd pic I turned the brightness down on white and left blue @ 100%. The "chicklet" effect most people complain about is SUPER in your face at the angle the pictures were taken. Normal standing position it's no where near as bad but I plan on adding diffusers.
20190816_191329 (resized).jpg20190816_191329 (resized).jpg20190817_190801 (resized).jpg20190817_190801 (resized).jpg20190817_191929 (resized).jpg20190817_191929 (resized).jpg

#610 4 years ago
Quoted from CLEllison:

Thought I'd post a pic of my poor mans setup. I prefer to use Gameon power and set the sensor in a gi hole that way the stadium lighting interacts with the gi so it feels like it's supposed to be there. As you can see the before pic is just gawd awful. (Previous owner added warm white leds which suck and are getting replaced with cool white). TAF is a night mare to play like that. The next pic is with full blue/white both @ 100%. Due to TAF having dominate blue on the 3rd pic I turned the brightness down on white and left blue @ 100%. The "chicklet" effect most people complain about is SUPER in your face at the angle the pictures were taken. Normal standing position it's no where near as bad but I plan on adding diffusers.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Are these just mounted to side of cab with magnet tape?

#611 4 years ago
Quoted from woody76:

Are these just mounted to side of cab with magnet tape?

Velcro was used.

#612 4 years ago

Outwater Plastics 1935-Bk Black 3

Edit: Link removed.

#614 4 years ago
Quoted from John_I:

Outwater Plastics 1935-Bk Black 3/4" X 3/4" X 5/64" (.078") Thick Styrene Plastic Even Leg Angle Moulding 46 Inch Lengths (Pack of 3) amazon.com link »

For the record 1/2" vs 3/4" ... that extra 1/4" is annoying not to mention that's expensive considering for around $13 you get both 1/2" side rails and a can of black paint.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Steelworks-3-ft-x-0-5-in-Aluminum-Solid-Angle/3053617

#616 4 years ago

These also caught my eye - https://www.amazon.com/LightingWill-Aluminum-Anodized-Mounting-TP-V02B5/dp/B01DM7GBIM/ref=sr_1_3

45 degree angle for mounting the strips with a milky diffuser

#617 4 years ago
Quoted from dudah:

These also caught my eye - amazon.com link »
45 degree angle for mounting the strips with a milky diffuser

Some interesting choices there.

L (resized).pngL (resized).png
#618 4 years ago
Quoted from newovad:

Some interesting choices there.[quoted image]

Someone earlier in the thread was going to try these but they posted their results.

#619 4 years ago
Quoted from CLEllison:

The 1/16" thickness will easily slide between the cabinet and playfield. This is great. No additional shadows or blockage/eye sores.
The plan is to mount under playfield. I believe 2 per side will be sufficient. Now to get some measurements AMD bending going. Need to ensure the base is bent at an angle so the lights run the same angle as the cabinet.

Now your start to realize why pinstadium built an adjustable height and tilt bracket. Your height is going to depend on where on the pf you mount.... which can vary game to game. And your angle will depend on that location too. The glass and playfield are not at the same angle. And where you have good space on the pf will vary title to title.

And 1/8 on both sides won’t fit all cabinets. That’s probably why pin stadium opted to go for a top side mounting.

#620 4 years ago

How about this? Clear or Frosted...20", $2.90 each with Free shipping.
Designed for 5050 or 3528.
The Link is not holding, so search this 20inch 0.5m 45degree corner led aluminium profile for 10mm 5050 ,3528 strip

I have a bunch, from several years ago, and am finally unpacking stuff from before the hurricane made a mess.

There are others, they work nicely. There are different vendors which affect cost with heavier metal, Plastic as well as quality of Milky Lens,
Some, I lightly sanded to improve diffusion.

2 RGB Strips, with Controller and these mounts will run $25. Mounting? Well I tested by counter sinking some cut off screws into the cabinet,
and glued neodymium magnets to the LED Strip Housing.

I left off seeing if I could run a step up from the GI to 12V, or if I was going to stick with white/warm white in 6.3v, Enjoying I had four sections to tie in creatively.
Color bombing only looked cool for a couple days.

pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png
#621 4 years ago

I have been thinking of routing some channels in the next cab I put together for my own use. I can inlay LED strips at a 45° angle. This should allow me to raise and lower the playfield, and also eliminate the awful glare...

#622 4 years ago
Quoted from CLEllison:

For the record 1/2" vs 3/4" ... that extra 1/4" is annoying

Sorry. Here is 1/2" black plastic. Personally I would not use metal because it could damage the playfield if it falls for some reason. Not to mention it conducts electricity.

https://smile.amazon.com/Outwater-Plastics-1933-Bk-Styrene-Moulding/dp/B07MFZY8XT/ref=sr_1_2

https://www.outwater.com/products/zz-1933/

#623 4 years ago
Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

How about this? Clear or Frosted...20", $2.90 each with Free shipping.
Designed for 5050 or 3528.
The Link is not holding, so search this 20inch 0.5m 45degree corner led aluminium profile for 10mm 5050 ,3528 strip
I have a bunch, from several years ago, and am finally unpacking stuff from before the hurricane made a mess.
There are others, they work nicely. There are different vendors which affect cost with heavier metal, Plastic as well as quality of Milky Lens,
Some, I lightly sanded to improve diffusion.
2 RGB Strips, with Controller and these mounts will run $25. Mounting? Well I tested by counter sinking some cut off screws into the cabinet,
and glued neodymium magnets to the LED Strip Housing.
I left off seeing if I could run a step up from the GI to 12V, or if I was going to stick with white/warm white in 6.3v, Enjoying I had four sections to tie in creatively.
Color bombing only looked cool for a couple days.[quoted image]

What size are those channels? I'd recommend not going over 1/2" as they just too big in my opinion.

#624 4 years ago
Quoted from John_I:

Sorry. Here is 1/2" black plastic. Personally I would not use metal because it could damage the playfield if it falls for some reason. Not to mention it conducts electricity.
amazon.com link »
https://www.outwater.com/products/zz-1933/

I have not seen any "plastic" channels that are not bent in some way. You might get lucky or not care about them being perfectly straight. But, if you are, then you might want to consider aluminum.

#625 4 years ago
Quoted from Lamprey:

I have not seen any "plastic" channels that are not bent in some way. You might get lucky or not care about them being perfectly straight. But, if you are, then you might want to consider aluminum.

They should be flexible enough to be held straight by the mount to the cabinet.

They should sag on their own... but not be crimped/creased to be "bent"

#626 4 years ago
Quoted from Lamprey:

What size are those channels? I'd recommend not going over 1/2" as they just too big in my opinion.

They Are Aluminum and 20% Smaller than your request at 16mm or .4 inches

pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png
#627 4 years ago

Any ever thought about just spraying the ball in some fluorescent paint and adding a few black lamps so it glows, as technically all of this is so you can see the ball? instead of making everything lit why not just glow the ball hehe??

#628 4 years ago
Quoted from russdx:

Any ever thought about just spraying the ball in some fluorescent paint and adding a few black lamps so it glows, as technically all of this is so you can see the ball? instead of making everything lit why not just glow the ball hehe??

Paint would wear off the ball and onto your game. Nope.
Also, the "UV LED's" don't really project much actual light.

#629 4 years ago

Here are pics of what I did using the angle from Lee Valley tools above a few posts/page. I think the ones from OLDPINGUY are almost identical. I sprayed black and used RGBW lights inside. I am using a Wifi controller just for color adjusting, no tying into the flashers etc. Used rare earth magnets epoxied into the cabinet in 3 places. In the pics you can see some striping but with the naked eye you can barely see any. Also the lights on vs off pics are way more dramatic than shown, my phone is 3 weeks old and is great in low light. with rail lights off the middle of the playfield vanashes

20190819_221355 (resized).jpg20190819_221355 (resized).jpg20190819_221535 (resized).jpg20190819_221535 (resized).jpg20190819_221632 (resized).jpg20190819_221632 (resized).jpg20190819_221652 (resized).jpg20190819_221652 (resized).jpg
#630 4 years ago
Quoted from jesperpark:

Here are pics of what I did using the angle from Lee Valley tools above a few posts/page. I think the ones from oldpinguy are almost identical. I sprayed black and used RGBW lights inside. I am using a Wifi controller just for color adjusting, no tying into the flashers etc. Used rare earth magnets epoxied into the cabinet in 3 places. In the pics you can see some striping but with the naked eye you can barely see any. Also the lights on vs off pics are way more dramatic than shown, my phone is 3 weeks old and is great in low light. with rail lights off the middle of the playfield vanashes[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

I glad to see an example with a game I own. I'm kind of teeter-tottering on these. On the one hand a fully lit playfield is appealing, but on the other hand a well LED'd pin with added spots and zone lighting seems to give me a little better overall visual appeal.

#631 4 years ago
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:

I glad to see an example with a game I own. I'm kind of teeter-tottering on these. On the one hand a fully lit playfield is appealing, but on the other hand a well LED'd pin with added spots and zone lighting seems to give me a little better overall visual appeal.

What you really get used to is the consistent light throughout the entire machine. I have added spots to my mmr and stnng and I am happy with the results, however data east's just seem to be dark from the start, which is why I tried out the DIY route of stadium lights. Also I find it helps dim/washout the excessive strobing flashers that the JP has. What really shocked me was this weekend I went from JP to my stern star trek and star trek looked just too dark. I always considered star trek to be way too bright, so I went back and forth and realized it's just the JP is that much more consistently bright across the entire cabinet.

#632 4 years ago
Quoted from cosmokramer:

I have been thinking of routing some channels in the next cab I put together for my own use. I can inlay LED strips at a 45° angle. This should allow me to raise and lower the playfield, and also eliminate the awful glare...

For an even more custom look you could figure a way to allow the lights to rotate back into the groove to allow lifting the playfield, rather than having the lights permanently recessed.

6D573EBB-72EC-42D0-9ECA-51B496C9E573 (resized).jpeg6D573EBB-72EC-42D0-9ECA-51B496C9E573 (resized).jpeg
#633 4 years ago
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:

I glad to see an example with a game I own. I'm kind of teeter-tottering on these. On the one hand a fully lit playfield is appealing, but on the other hand a well LED'd pin with added spots and zone lighting seems to give me a little better overall visual appeal.

Dont disagree, but the flip side of the coin you have complete control over brightness and color. Honestly I "originally" planned on using just white due to all the pinstadium posts showing they annihilated the playfield with flooding color. I played with the brightness, then out of curiosity the color settings and found adding a scooch of a color really helps accent the playfield majority color. Using spot lights is good stuff, but you still end up with dark spots. They might not be ball trafficked areas, but being able to see all of the machine clearly is pretty cool. It does take some getting used too, I wont even lie about that. I also realize it's all personal choice but when I see peoples posts with em on full brightness it makes me think I'm playing a virtual pin, which I very very much dislike Lastly I do have to admit that adding these lights to my LOTR made a world of difference in longevity/playability. I can almost assuredly get to TABA everytime on 3 ball. Owning the machine for 6-7 years so that's huge. I never had that before. Being able to track the ball/balls seriously made a huge difference.

#634 4 years ago
Quoted from JayDee:

For an even more custom look you could figure a way to allow the lights to rotate back into the groove to allow lifting the playfield, rather than having the lights permanently recessed.[quoted image]

The physical size of those reflectors are something like 1.5"? That rail would have to be the same width .... that's a ton of real estate hanging on the side. Cool thought though.

#635 4 years ago
Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:

I glad to see an example with a game I own. I'm kind of teeter-tottering on these. On the one hand a fully lit playfield is appealing, but on the other hand a well LED'd pin with added spots and zone lighting seems to give me a little better overall visual appeal.

The suitability for stadium lighting really varies depending on the game.

For example, I went with added spots instead of stadium lights on my IMDN LE because I wanted to have the contrast between lit areas and darker areas. It really creates a mood and turned out amazing.

But on my Metallica, the stadium lighting was excellent and really made the Dirty Donnie playfield art pop, plus removing the spots over the slingshort opened up the playfield visually in a nice way.

#636 4 years ago

Ultimately for me (as some have stated) I do not like blind spots where you can't follow the ball caused by darkness (one of the reasons I cannot stand Revenge from Mars even though I absolutely love AFM). I've previously addressed the dark zone areas on my Getaway with spots and concealed Comet Matrix LED strips. I also don't have any blind spots on my JP and my current lighting is good, IMO. I have played a couple of games at TPF last year with PinStadium lighting, and from what I remember I liked some and disliked others (I really wasn't paying that close of attention at the time).

I think I'm going to need to see more in person first to decide if I want to move forward on either of my current pins. Regardless, this DIY thread is great and full of creative ideas for a home built alternative.

#637 4 years ago
Quoted from CLEllison:

The physical size of those reflectors are something like 1.5"? That rail would have to be the same width .... that's a ton of real estate hanging on the side. Cool thought though.

There's smaller channels available. This is the ribbon I use on my remodeling projects and this is the smallest 45deg channel they make. It's still probably too big since it's the same thickness of the cabinet side but that's where a little creativity is needed and/or fabrication of a custom channel maybe?

Photo Aug 20, 10 15 53 AM (resized).jpgPhoto Aug 20, 10 15 53 AM (resized).jpgPhoto Aug 20, 10 18 43 AM (resized).jpgPhoto Aug 20, 10 18 43 AM (resized).jpg
#638 4 years ago

That's another point I did not bring up is the colored light control along with dimming. The reason I run a blue/green is that those colors bring out the blue and orange accents on the playfield. It is quite interesting to play a little to see how certain colors on the plastics and playfield, will react with the colors from the LED's then the white just adds overall Illumination. Personally I run both at 80% brightness so there is more brightness than can be had, if i took the lenses off then I would have blinding light and could join the rainbow puke club

#639 4 years ago

What are you using to glue the led-strip to the bracket? I usually just use the glue that's on the backing of the led-strip when I remove the foil and I many times have to notice that the led-strip starts to break off from the bracket.

Thanks for any info!

#640 4 years ago
Quoted from Nepi23:

What are you using to glue the led-strip to the bracket? I usually just use the glue that's on the backing of the led-strip when I remove the foil and I many times have to notice that the led-strip starts to break off from the bracket.
Thanks for any info!

Thin layer of gorilla glue works wonders. Also great for securing the connector/wires to the channel.

#641 4 years ago
Quoted from Nepi23:

What are you using to glue the led-strip to the bracket? I usually just use the glue that's on the backing of the led-strip when I remove the foil and I many times have to notice that the led-strip starts to break off from the bracket.
Thanks for any info!

The glue on the LED strips SHOULD be enough, but surface prep may help:
1. At a minimum, clean the surface of the bracket/channel with isopropyl alcohol or naptha or equivalent.
2. If the surface is really smooth, try roughing it up with some sand paper (400 grit works good) before cleaning.
3. After applying the LED strip use another bracket/channel or piece of wood and clamp it against the LED string to help it bond and let sit overnight.

I do #1 and #3 and I've never had a strip come off.

Cheers!

#642 4 years ago

Anyone made a shopping list w links to get this done?

I know people are always trying to improve, but im just needing an L- channel, white or rgb dimmable strips, and mags or velcro.

#643 4 years ago
Quoted from Dantesmark:

Anyone made a shopping list w links to get this done?
I know people are always trying to improve, but im just needing an L- channel, white or rgb dimmable strips, and mags or velcro.

Check out the first post of page 1. Many links to various types of projects

3 weeks later
#644 4 years ago

Anybody here yet innovated a way to connect the stadium lightning to the playfield (i.e. not to the cabinet) e.g. with some small poles, which keep the lights up? It would be great to be able to lift the PF without removing the lightning separately first.

Please share your concept!

#645 4 years ago
Quoted from Nepi23:

Anybody here yet innovated a way to connect the stadium lightning to the playfield (i.e. not to the cabinet) e.g. with some small poles, which keep the lights up? It would be great to be able to lift the PF without removing the lightning separately first.
Please share your concept!

Has any one just tried sticking these thin light strips directly to the glass? so they just slide out with the glass? I'm pretty sure this is enough of a gap

#646 4 years ago
Quoted from russdx:

Has any one just tried sticking these thin light strips directly to the glass? so they just slide out with the glass? I'm pretty sure this is enough of a gap

Might get a bit interesting removing the glass depending on how the wires are ran.

#647 4 years ago
Quoted from DudeRegular:

Might get a bit interesting removing the glass depending on how the wires are ran.

Yeah i was thinking just a little connector under the lockdown bar you just connect/ reconnect every time you want to remove the glass.

#648 4 years ago

did anybody 3d print something like the hovers. that are available for the pinstadium's ?

#649 4 years ago

If you want to take your DIY lighting to the next level you can always put DIY LED tape strips around your whole room!

20190923_192508 (resized).jpg20190923_192508 (resized).jpg
#650 4 years ago
Quoted from russdx:

Has any one just tried sticking these thin light strips directly to the glass? so they just slide out with the glass? I'm pretty sure this is enough of a gap

Quoted from russdx:

Yeah i was thinking just a little connector under the lockdown bar you just connect/ reconnect every time you want to remove the glass.

Yes, Ill try to reset up and get pictures.

Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
$ 25.00
Electronics
Yorktown Arcade Supply
 
$ 10.00
From: $ 2.25
Playfield - Other
Bob's Pinball Stuff
 
Wanted
Machine - Wanted
West Point, UT
$ 139.00
Cabinet - Other
Pinball Pimp
 
$ 69.00
Playfield - Plastics
Pinball Shark
 
$ 69.00
Gameroom - Decorations
Pinball Pimp
 
$ 10.00
Playfield - Plastics
UpKick Pinball
 
£ 195.00
$ 30.00
Lighting - Led
Pinballrom
 
$ 18.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
From: $ 10.00
Playfield - Protection
UpKick Pinball
 
$ 149.95
Boards
Allteksystems
 
$ 22.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
Hey modders!
Your shop name here
There are 1,001 posts in this topic. You are on page 13 of 21.

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/poor-mans-stadium-lighting/page/13?hl=lamprey and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.