No it's not difficult to do but do it with the power off. Some lights may be difficult to get to you may have to take off some Plastics on top of machine or light boards underneath the machine but just take your time.

No problems - just put incandescent bulbs back in. Check the manual to verify the bulb type and be aware of whether there are flashing bulbs.

Since you didn't mention what the game is (or at leas the era), there could be some things..

If it does NOT have LEDOCD or GIOCD (or one of the variants), then what others say - just swap them out.

If it has a controlling board mentioned above, you'll need to restore wiring.

LED are not only for the visuals, those old incandescent pull a lot of current and generate a lot of heat. Even if you want the old look and feel you can get LED that look very similar to the original. At least they are not going to cook your plastics.

I swapped out pretty much all the incandescent bulbs from all of my games for LEDs simply to save the connectors and plastics and BGs in the game. The Incandescent bulbs pull alot of current and also produce heat that is not good for the plastics and connectors and such. (Especially in older solid state games) The GI connectors take a beating in the game and are often burnt to a crispy brown color. I use Cointaker https://cointaker.com/ Retro bulbs, they have domes like incandescent bulbs without the heat. I use frosted either cool or warm white in GI (general illumination) and the I will usually color match the bulbs under the inserts or if they are clear or white inserts I will sometimes add some color to make certain shots stand out.

Good luck with your game and enjoy!!
Phoebe

I understand your question and it is a good one that I had when I got my first machine. I was used to automotive world if you switch to LED you could lead to voltage issues and what not and may need to modify the car to accept. I mean I searched and searched for answers and realized nobody was talking about switching other than just simply changing bulbs. With pinball machines it is a simple swap of bulb. The swap could be LED or incondescent, bulb for bulb. Of course, like others said if you were lucky to have an OCD board to control LEDs then you would want to remove. I wish I had one of those on my BW.

When ordering new bulbs be careful to get the base type right, wedge vs. bayonet. One slips right in and out and the other is a push and twist.

Wedge is usually in circuit board and bayonet are in a larger socket. The two games I have done, I found it easist to unscrew each bayonet socket from underneath and replace if it isn't sticking up throught the top.

Some will be flashers and you'll need a different replacement.

I am like you, I enjoy incandescents over LED's in my games. When I buy a game I do replace LEDs with incandescents. I have 12 games and they are all incandescents.

It should be a simple swap back. You might need to bypass OCD boards if they were installed by the previous owner.

I believe for System 11 games, people have to cut resistors to make LED flashers work, so if you have one of those games, this is something to check.

Like others have said incandescents generate more heat. What I do is use lower power bulbs. They are slightly dimmer, but doesn't bother me at all. Instead of the normal 44 bayonet bulbs, try using the lower power 47 bulbs. Instead of normal 555 wedge bulbs, use lower power 159 bulbs. Flashers should stay the same (906 and 89 bulbs).

Check out this club:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/incandescent-bulb-fan-club

Old school all the way!!

if you need more help, just let us know.

I’ve had bad luck with Cointaker bulbs and prefer comet Warm White frosted bulbs.

Incandescents really do pull a lot of current. My Monday Night Football spontaneously caught fire thanks to the heavy current draw over the years. The Molex connectors can’t handle the draw and eventually after 30 years suddenly they give up the ghost and cook themselves. Be careful! LEDs are so much easier on old power supplies and wiring. Just put incandescents where the bulb is visible to the naked eye and then warm white frosted LEDs where they are covered and you’ll never notice the difference.

I’ve never heard of incandescent bulbs causing a fire. Are unsure there wasn’t some other underlying issue like bypassed fuses or overfusing? Maybe the previous owner put in higher rated fuses?

On a machine with no modifications, normal bulbs and LEDs are interchangeable with no modifications necessary. However, if an LED OCD (Or GI OCD) board was installed to improve the look of the LEDs, you will just need to remove it, which is a fairly easy process, before putting regular bulbs in. Failure to remove the board will blow one of its fuses or possibly even damage it.