Use 6 of the double spots from Pinballbulbs. They would help light it more evenly. Or how about a L shaped piece of aluminum, hinged in back so it could lift up to get it out of the way when lifting the pf and run a long strip of led black lights in it pointing downward.

But you want the light to wash DOWN on the art work and the L shaped aluminum would keep the light out of the players eyes and focused downward. Don't want to blind the player.

Blacklight has UV rays. It will fade your plastics and playfield. It would be the same as if the machine was being left in some sunlight while the bulb is on. Dispite what most say about blacklight being safe. It still can lead to fade on some inks and plastics.
Just a warning.

Although black lights produce light in the UV range, their spectrum is mostly confined to the longwave UVA region, that is, UV radiation nearest in wavelength to visible light, with low frequency and therefore relatively low energy. While low, there is still some power of a conventional black light in the UVB range.[20] UVA is the safest of the three spectra of UV light, although high exposure to UVA has been linked to the development of skin cancer in humans. The relatively low energy of UVA light does not cause sunburn. UVA is capable of causing damage to collagen fibers, however, so it does have the potential to accelerate skin aging and cause wrinkles. UVA can also destroy vitamin A in the skin.

But we're talking about a few 6.3 or 12v bulbs here not the power of the sun.

It will not fade our PinBlades

god I hope not.

If he was going to operate the game, it would be worth warning him. In home use, maybe 2 or 3 hours a week, he should be fine.

Back in the day, it wasn't a cool arcade if it didn't have one or two 4 foot black light fixtures somewhere inside. Ironically, it also wasn't a cool arcade if a single ray of sunshine got through a window or door. They had to be completely blacked out. No sunburn, just the slow burn from the black lights.

As an oldtimer, more than one black light on a playfield sounds like a horrible idea. Put the black light on the wall, where it belongs. d

That's the way I remember it too so that's the way I set up my gameroom. Blast from the past baby!

I traded some messages with Steve Ritchie today and he definitely has a strong opinion about black lights on the playfield. Specifically, he said:

"Black lights or UV lights will degrade plastics, rubber, silkscreen inks, and clear coat quickly! I installed one on a proto game when I was working at Atari, and the rubber rings were beginning to crack in a few days. The posts began to disintegrate like they were 50 years old within a week. It's bad news to install UV lights on any pinball machine, unless you plan on having a pinball bonfire in your backyard the following week I would never, ever use a black light in a pinball game design."

So there you have it. On the wall or ceiling if you must, but not directly on the playfield.

Apparently, Steve Ritchie found the power of the sun versions or just a wee bit of exaggeration, lol.

All that from a few 6.3v bulbs? I have 22in. long, 60 watt bl lights under my games so to settle this and see if the rubber rings fall apart after a few days I'll put a black and white ring a few inches away and after a few days see what happens and report back.

Black light exp. started.

BL Exp..JPG

UV LEDs are pretty weak, and don't actually put out much UV. Steve Ritchie definitely wasn't using them when he was at Atari. So his anecdote isn't really that relevant.

Leds weren't even invented when Atari was around....were they?

The use of LEDs began extensively in the 1960s.

I am not sure when Atari was created. Early 70s?

14 hours and no change.

Blacklight will react to the inks used on plastics. And the playfield. They will fade.
A local operator I am friends with went on a service call to fix a scared stiff they had sold someone.
The buyer had instslled blacklight leds to make the boney beast glow more.
My friend had said all the plastics in the area of the blacklight leds were/looked washed out.

I trust them, and believe that it can and will happen.
If it can cause skin cancer. It can cause pin cancer.
But anyone can try it for themselves. I just prefer not to even take the chance.
I bet it looks super cool though. I just don't have the guts to do it.

To add to my experiment I covered half of a sling plastic with black electrical tape and put it next to the rubbers. All are about 1-1/2in away from a 60 watt bl.

If the bl I bought caused skin cancer why did it NOT come with a warning?

It probably does come with a warning...but you need the black light on to read it

I hope the Blacklight doesn't affect the playfield as thought for the soon to be Predator owners.

I used UV LED's on my Tron gear (MAME)

The art on my control panel has not been affected even after several years.

My palm is not tan either

image-46.jpg

image-999.jpg

To funny.

The American Osteopathic College of Dermatology urges caution with UVA lights. According to the AOCD, UVA lights can cause premature aging, including wrinkling, brown spots and skin cancer. To prevent cancer and other harmful UVA side effects, cover up in the prolonged presence of black lights. But don't worry about spending a few hours under black lights at a party or a show -- according to the AOCD, UVA radiation is less likely to cause cancer than lying out in the sun.

Thats why no warning.

49 hours and no change.