(Topic ID: 295272)

Video of Bally Socketless LED boards installed in PARAGON

By dyopp21

2 years ago


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  • 15 posts
  • 9 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 2 years ago by dyopp21
  • Topic is favorited by 3 Pinsiders

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    #1 2 years ago

    Built an initial run of test boards and installed them under the "PARAGON" inserts for testing. They put out plenty of light and disperse nicely. I've got another run of test boards coming with a few modifications from this run (extending the copper pads some to make soldering the SMDs easier).

    Here is some video from both above and below the inserts to demo what it looks like, and also to compare with standard Non-ghosting LEDs that are installed in the original sockets that surround the paragon lettered inserts.

    #2 2 years ago

    Those look great and will be a must have for playfield.swaps in the future I imagine. I've found even with new sockets you'll sometimes get a flickering led etc. Any idea on price point for these? GI boards would be nice as well. Jr

    #3 2 years ago

    I dig these! Would definitely grab some to try out.

    Here's a crazy idea...

    Would it be possible to design these with thru-hole solder points, then attach pins. Then you could crimp and stuff the lamp wires into housings to create a solderless connection?

    Sounds like more work than is perhaps necessary. But maybe has some advantages?

    #4 2 years ago
    Quoted from rockwell:

    I dig these! Would definitely grab some to try out.
    Here's a crazy idea...
    Would it be possible to design these with thru-hole solder points, then attach pins. Then you could crimp and stuff the lamp wires into housings to create a solderless connection?
    Sounds like more work than is perhaps necessary. But maybe has some advantages?

    I know some people are scared of soldering, but these are SO simple to solder with the large pads. A solderless connection, I feel, would open you back up to a problematic connection over the long run. There IS an empty through hole connection and a surface mount connection for those that want to add resistors etc. in parallel to the bulb to stop flickering on the original Bally boards.

    #5 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    Those look great and will be a must have for playfield.swaps in the future I imagine. I've found even with new sockets you'll sometimes get a flickering led etc. Any idea on price point for these? GI boards would be nice as well. Jr

    I'm still working on price point. These are still in the testing/prototype phase. I'll know more once we get the finished package to the PCB mfgrs. As soon as I start to get an idea I'll share it with the group. Regardless of if I'm able to get any interest in selling these, I'll be really glad to be able to use it on the dozens of bally/stern machines I have that have shitty sockets that drive me crazy on the daily.

    #6 2 years ago

    I think those look very nice. I hope you are able make those available in the future.. very cool idea

    #7 2 years ago
    Quoted from dyopp21:

    I know some people are scared of soldering, but these are SO simple to solder with the large pads. A solderless connection, I feel, would open you back up to a problematic connection over the long run. There IS an empty through hole connection and a surface mount connection for those that want to add resistors etc. in parallel to the bulb to stop flickering on the original Bally boards.

    For sure. I agree soldering is still best, just throwing a dumb idea out there I recall from a previous post that you added the thru-holes for the resistor, thought that was a nice touch. Looking forward to trying these out!

    #8 2 years ago

    I applaud the OP making these up but not a product for me as I tend to experiment with a lot of different colors and styles of LED. If you have a game on location though it would be an excellent solution.

    #9 2 years ago

    Very nice
    FYI, the lamps replaced with LEDs that will be the most susceptible to flickering on Paragon will be the bonus lamps starting with 1k-4k, then 2k-8k, then 9k-30k, etc.

    Quoted from gdonovan:

    I applaud the OP making these up but not a product for me as I tend to experiment with a lot of different colors and styles of LED. If you have a game on location though it would be an excellent solution.

    Maybe dyopp21 can try RGB LEDs on another iteration with the option to allow users to enable the colors/mix they want.

    #10 2 years ago
    Quoted from Quench:

    Very nice
    FYI, the lamps replaced with LEDs that will be the most susceptible to flickering on Paragon will be the bonus lamps starting with 1k-4k, then 2k-8k, then 9k-30k, etc.

    Maybe dyopp21 can try RGB LEDs on another iteration with the option to allow users to enable the colors/mix they want.

    I have plans to make them available in many different colors. I'm just starting with warm white (gotta start somewhere!) If I can make this work, and find out if there is enough interest I'm going to work on the colored bulbs next.

    #11 2 years ago

    The ingenuity of some people never cease to amaze me. Well done.

    #12 2 years ago

    If you wanted to swap the LED color, would it be as simple as replacing the LED component? Since it's surface-mount, that is still delicate...but, nothing else would be required?

    Not that I have extra SMD LEDs laying around, but you never know

    #13 2 years ago

    Seems like a good idea. Not too long ago I used my Weller 280 watt soldering iron to basically weld all of the sockets in the main insert area of my Paragon playfield. I was tired of fixing one and then suddenly another would flicker. Its nice to have them all lit solid now and this mod would have been even better.

    #14 2 years ago

    Would these work in games from other manufacturers?

    #15 2 years ago
    Quoted from chucktee:

    Would these work in games from other manufacturers?

    Yes. I'm working on that aspect as well. Would just need some different components installed depending on what machine.

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