I used layers of painter's tape over the flashers in my Star Trek. When possible I use incandescent flashers. They are so much better and are always my first choice.

I am assuming this is a new game w stock LEDs?

For some reason, using flammable material like cotton seems like a really bad idea.

Use incandescent flashers. I am an LED guy on all of my machines, except for flashers.

I put 8 LED flasher towers in my DE JP. Big mistake. However I have found that covering the LED flashers facing the player with black electric tape works great, is adjustable, and reversible.

Seems the current generation of LED flashers is massively brighter than they were a few years ago. Older LED's weren't anywhere near bright enough, much dimmer than incandescent flashers, the current crop are eye-burners for sure.

-Hans

This does appear to be true. Comet even has stuff on their site like “shield your eyes!”

If it’s behind a plastic, then ok - but the ones facing your eyes... you just have to look away!

I’ve often wondered what people do to diffuse these. I’m interested in figuring out how to get my STTNG shields to light evenly, and those are a combo of regular GI and flashers

I wish Comet would come out with Flasher silicone condoms!
I used incandescent flashers in my machines but would use LED if the above came true.

I hate LED flashers, incandescent flashers only

I went the other direction, just love when you do something significant and the flashers go nuts. On some games (like a Secret Service I just purchased) the incandescent flashers are so subtle as to be almost unnoticeable. What is the point.

Sounds counter intuitive but sometimes the LED towers are less bright than the flat LED units. The flat ones are very directional while the towers will have only one or two LED pointing directly at you. Experiment with the flat 8 SMD and the 5 or 9 LED towers for best lighting effect.

I often wonder why LED flashers don't have domes like most every other LED. A 4 SMD flasher with a frosted diffuser dome would be great. Because of that, I only ever use incandescent flashers because I value my eyesight lol. ryanwanger find a way!

8's on the playfield are BRIGHT, try a short 5 LED tower and I think you will find it much better.

Yep, I can confirm that the 5LED towers tend to be a lot less bright than an 8, although they are still more bright than an incandescent.

I recently bought a bunch of 5 and 8 smd flashers from Comet, just so I could experiment with them. I like both, I'm not sure why people hate them so much. I mean, obviously you don't want them in a place where they will be directly exposed -- both because they are so bright and because they look like dog shit. But when used in places that will deflect or diffuse the light, they are great. I agree with others that 5smd is probably the better option all around. The 8s I have are just big and don't seem to really have much of a benefit over the 5s.

EDIT: Full disclosure, I'm experimenting with them in a WCS '94 which is a game that particularly lends itself well to bright white lights/flashers.

I find the 8's are great in the backglass and in playfield colored beacons that have fluting. Some machines that have two spots for flashers you can get away with one LED depending on location.

That's a great idea. I just can't use incandescent flashers. They just look out of place to me when rest of game is led. Sometimes you want the flashers to be bright when buried under plastics. Other times like when in a dome, they can be too bright. A condom would be perfect to tune the brightness where needed.

Pinball Life, Marco, or Pinball Resource all have them.

Whenever I have a flasher on the playfield that's too bright, I replace it with a Flex Flasher from Comet. That way I can bend the light to still be a bright flash, just not directly into my eyes.

Cut a milk jug into circles that fit in the flasher domes Or any other opaque plastic packaging to cover the LEDs.

Works great. I've done it to a few pins. No milk jugs here in Canada though. So I had to find other containers.
MMr used a sheet of opaque plastic as a LED playfield diffuser.

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I should have clarified that in my post I was referring to the 5 and 8 SMD tower flashers.

#89

Use one of these and you won't hardly notice those blinding led lights.

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I put a black marker pen dot on each of the led surface to tone them down sometimes, bigger the dot the more effect. Also use colour pen, eg blue on blue flasher. Works really well.

As everyones eyes have a different level of "Whats too bright", I find now at this age that my eyes have changed, and Ive had to change my flasher bulbs. AGAIN!. Even some Incandescent really close to the player, started hurting.

Of Course, I have a Giant bin to pick from, but there are bulbs at every brightness level to accomplish what you want.

So I go to the bottom single 12V LED or 5050 SMD on up.....Just think of your choices like when you look at bulb wattage at Home Depot or Lowes.
Direction too. Post above was true, Flex heads help a great deal when I wish.

Years Back I posted about some dome flasher samples,I believe and they were rejected because of price, as well as not fitting through Playfield holes.

Hate led flashers. Pull them from every game I buy and its a common complaint among my friends. Why led companies think we need to see flashers from orbit is beyond me.

Because that's what people want; bigger is always better for some.

I find my eyes have changed for the much better since I yanked all the led bulbs from my games.

Point, after decades of welding mine might be less sensitive than others.

I have thought about trying out milk jugs. Thanks.

If no milk jugs in Canada what kind of containers does your milk come in?

Been trying some 3D printed diffusers/domes on mine, but haven't had much time to really develop them.
Maybe I need to really do some serious testing here and get them sorted out.

Couple spots in my games currently that could really use them. But haven't had enough time to play anything lately so it hasn't been a priority.

I wonder if frosted spray paint over the LEDs would help?

Some convenience stores like 7/11 or circle K might have it in jugs. But in grocery stores, it's only bags or cartons.

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Egging me on? huh? My Answer is your either playing with great ambient light, Old games, or "ya doin it wrong".

I replace all my flashers with LEDs, because I have seen way too many games with melted plastics and messed up electronics from the heat, but yes there needs to be some middle ground..

Just playing games with bulbs as they came from the factory. They always seemed to be enough then as they are now.

If i have some LED flashers or LEDS that i want to tone down, i just use small pieces of electrical tape and cover parts or part of the LED. .

I color matched to the domes in some of my pins. That seems to be less bright when compared to the white.

Guys, guys, don't go through all that trouble messing with those troublesome flashers!

If you don't like intense flash, you can just pick up a pair of my new mod, "PINSHADIANS!", only 200 smackers!

pinshadians (resized).jpg

Yeah, the same way Windows 3.1 felt good enough 25 years ago.