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(Topic ID: 22082)

stapled bulb cable??

By charlu

11 years ago

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16 posts
8 Pinsiders participating
Latest reply 11 years ago by Frax
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Lady Luck Bally, 1986

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#1 11 years ago

CHL

charlu

Pinside member

Ville-marie, QC

11y 17,900 48

So I wanted to change some bulb on the playfield on my Bally 86 and then realised that there's a cable welded to almost every light and then stapled on the wood... it's almost impossible to get the staples out, I tried with screwdriver and vicegrip but it's too hard and I was damagind the wood... so my question is what's the use of this since the lights seems already plugged anyway, can I just cut it or would I need to weld it back ?

staple1.jpg staple2.jpg

edit: thanks for the quick answer guys! yeah that's a good ide to just bend it to replace bulb, but actually I was also planning to do some touchup acrylic paint and clearcoat the playfield so I'd need to remove everything to make this right... unless I tape every hole before clearcoat but even then if I need to repair some inserts it will be difficult with everything still screwed/plugged in under the playfield

#2 11 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,966 24 7

If you have a large enough soldering iron I would remove the solder and replace when putting things back together.

LTG

#3 11 years ago

CHL

charlu

Pinside member

Ville-marie, QC

11y 17,900 48

this could be a pain in the ass! lol

#4 11 years ago

MST

mystic

Inactive member

Nashville, TN

12y 34,900 1,763 19

can't you just bend the metal tab to get to the bulb?

#5 11 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,966 24 7

Quoted from mystic:
can't you just bend the metal tab to get to the bulb?

mystic is right. You can easily bend these back - change bulb - bend back into position.

LTG

#6 11 years ago

MST

mystic

Inactive member

Nashville, TN

12y 34,900 1,763 19

On all those older games that have the ground wire soldered directly to the metal tab I've always bent them back. Usually the ones I've done were 44s though but I dont see why this would be any different. Don't make it too much work, it's just a bulb.

#7 11 years ago

KIM

pdman

Inactive member

Boston, MA

14y 26,900 1,362 10

Quoted from mystic:
On all those older games that have the ground wire soldered directly to the metal tab I've always bent them back. Usually the ones I've done were 44s though but I dont see why this would be any different. Don't make it too much work, it's just a bulb.

same here

#8 11 years ago

CHL

charlu

Pinside member

Ville-marie, QC

11y 17,900 48

yeah that's a good ide to just bend it to replace bulb, but actually I was also planning to do some touchup acrylic paint and clearcoat the playfield so I'd need to remove everything to make this right... unless I tape every hole before clearcoat but even then if I need to repair some inserts it will be difficult with everything still screwed/plugged in under the playfield

#9 11 years ago

CHL

charlu

Pinside member

Ville-marie, QC

11y 17,900 48

maybe I could just remove every bulb and then bend them a little so I can tape the underside of every hole to clearcoat?

edit: I mean remove every bulb for those without inserts

#10 11 years ago

JAM

Wolfmarsh

Pinside member

12y 134K 10,956

The bulbs are under the inserts right? Why would there be holes?

#11 11 years ago

CHL

charlu

Pinside member

Ville-marie, QC

11y 17,900 48

Quoted from Wolfmarsh:
The bulbs are under the inserts right? Why would there be holes?

not every lights have inserts

#12 11 years ago

CHL

charlu

Pinside member

Ville-marie, QC

11y 17,900 48

so the real question is, is that cable necessary?

#13 11 years ago

MST

mystic

Inactive member

Nashville, TN

12y 34,900 1,763 19

You mean the ground cable? Only if you want the lights to turn on and off.

#14 11 years ago

MCS

Doot77

Pinside member

Dekalb, IL

12y 76,650 996 22 24

OP
Quoted from charlu:
so the real question is, is that cable necessary?

yes that cable is your ground for the lights

#15 11 years ago

???

KenLayton

In Memoriam

Olympia, WA

12y 83,400 5,965

OP
Quoted from charlu:
So the real question is, is that cable necessary?

YES! That is the common to every light in the machine. Cutting it and you'll kill the circuit to a lot of bulbs.

If you need to lift the staples, you use a "tack puller" which is commonly used in upholstery work. Here is one I use:

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Neck-TL4C-Tack-Puller/dp/B00004Z2MI/ref=pd_cp_hi_2

The "fork" on it is beveled. Tapping the head of the tool with a hammer forces the beveled head of the tack puller under the staple without screwing up the wood.

#16 11 years ago

FRX

Frax

Pinside member

Conyers, GA

12y 103K 16,662 2 9

Quoted from Wolfmarsh:
The bulbs are under the inserts right? Why would there be holes?

General Illumination...... : P

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