Some info in this thread about it and I been wanting to try it myself one of these days. Seems like ebay is the best place to get them.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/led-tube-replacement-for-stern-florescent-backbox-light

2- Pack for $24 from Amazon. Put one in a Godzilla and one in Shrek. They look good.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U4NETKA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_w8eNzb58E8PGK

Just purchased one for a TSPP.
So, I gotta remove the starter AND the ballast, huh?
Do those pop right out?

I should mention that with these bulbs (and most led tubes) you do have to require a bit to remove the ballast and starter from the circuit. Pretty easy to do, general instructions are included with the bulb.

You don't have to take them out of the game, just cut and splice the the wires. I'll shot a picture of mine later today and post it here.

That would be MUCH appreciated. Thank you!

This is from Sega Godzilla, pretty sure it's the same as Stern games. Please double check and read directions with bulbs before doing just to be safe. Games may be different and wire colors may be different. But the concept should be the same.

With machine off, locate the feed, 2 pin connector with one black and one white wire coming up behind left speaker, this should be line voltage to the light circuit. The white wire is attatched to the top pin of the bulb connector (this stays the same)

The black wire goes to the ballast then out of the ballast to the right side bulb connector and returns to the starter and out of the starter into the left bottom connector. This is the wire that gets cut. Then the bottom left connector wire that goes to the starter gets cut and the 2 get spliced together with a wire nut or soldered and shrink wrapped (make a safe connection as this is line voltage.).

So basically you bypassed everything between the black feed wire and the black left bulb connector. You can leave all the parts in since there is no power to them anymore. Right side bulb connector wires are dead now as well. These led bulbs take line voltage feed to one side of the bulb.

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Do you think maybe just removing the starter and ballast could also do the trick, though?

That is actually what this is doing. If you just took out the starter and cut out the ballast you would still be feeding both ends of the bulb and that's not how the led bulbs work. It's really just cutting and splicing 2 wires together. I probably made it sound more confusing than it is.

I red all this topic. No need to remove or cut anything. I bought a brand New neon led. I switched the old neon with the new one. The neon was blinking. A new starter was provided, i switched the old starter with the new one and it worked.

A cool white led neon costs 5€ at the mall. T8 (60cm).

Just pull the fuser and add cheapest led bulb that fits.
Butt...
The light never covers the whole backbox but lights middle ok...
Also don't buy any that say require and electric starter.
I've done half a dozen sega & sterns.

A shot of my LOTR with New neon+starter.

MVIMG_20200308_123930 (resized).jpg

Hi guys

I need a little bit help. I want to replace the old light tube to LED tube in my LotR LE machine.
I cuted the two black wires ( ballast ) and I cut the black wire from the starter. The neutral is connect to the socket. The yellow cable is the power. I think i need connect the yellow ( power ) with the red cable ( this going to the other socket.) but isnt work the LED tube

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Check the documentation that came with the LED tube. Some are fed from one side only and some are fed from each side. Others are plug and play which still require the ballast (but not the starter I think, which can just be removed, not cut out)

I ordered this LED tube from Amazon. I checked the documentation, and for the tube need neutral and power ( L + N ). My question is: what cable need connected?

Do you have pictures about your backbox

Ok I will try again without the batteries. Was this the problem maybe?

Can someone take a picture about the backbox? ( how to install / connected the LED tube )

Thanks.

anyone still do this? thinking of finally getting around to this for route games
This was posted in the other thread by pinmonk
ebay.com link: G13 LED Tube Light Lamp Bulb T8 2 Foot Feet 2FT 24 Inch 10W Daylight Cool White

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/led-tube-replacement-for-stern-florescent-backbox-light

I did it for my lotr and am happy with the results. I just ordered another one from Amazon to do on Spiderman.

did you cut the starter and ballast out?

I left the ballast in, just cut it out of the circuit

Every thread and video I see focuses on single-ended LED bulbs as a replacement. I want a bulb for my TSPP that isn't super intense — and can only find that as a dual-ended bulb. Is there any reason why a dual-ended bulb wouldn't work? Seems like I would just use the existing neutral wire as is and connect the other tombstone to the live wire (bypassing the ballast). Am I missing something?

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01ILQZ3QU

I've used these on two pins so far (one cool, one warm) and they work great. Perfect lighting IMO. It's the same as an LED bulb, so you just find the power and ground and remove the ballast and starter from the circuit. Run the power to one end of the tube and the ground to the other.