No, you can't rewire it. Your only choice is to trade up to the new model.

I was told by Frank that it is possible, but unlikely due to the cost and labor involved to upgrade.

But they are still developing a retro fit and hoping to come up with something that is affordable enough for people to do the change over.

You can't swap one LED board. You have to do the entire system.

If they make a kit ( they might ) it is a lot of work. Strip out all the data harnesses, all the power cables, all the boards. Make the GI tube holes bigger. Install new power supply, new GI tubes. All the LED boards. The HUB and BAG board.

Figure 8 to 10 hours, if you are good at stuff like this.

LTG : )

Seems like a lot of work and cost but it might be better than paying $300-$500 every few years to replace busted boards.

I'm debating if it would be worth it or not. I guess it depends on how unreliable the 1.7 boards end up being. I've had three die in a year of <1000 plays and not being left on all the time. Not exactly promising.

Way back I heard an estimate of $2K.

But no idea if that is accurate or not. They have to figure how many parts, bag and tag them, and instructions.

Then we'll know the price. They may have just been throwing out a figure back then. With no way of knowing.

LTG : )

I suppose you could pray to the hole gods and see if they could miracle them bigger.

I'd be thinking of clamping a piece of wood below the playfield, and drill from the top down. To lessen damage or the wood breaking out below.

LTG : )

I forgot the run new cables part for power and data.

Sorry.

LTG : )

I wouldn't be stunned if at least some mention of it is made at Expo this year but that's just a hunch by me not official.

Why does the new light system for WOZ 2.0 need bigger GI light tube holes? Does it have backup LEDs for when one goes out? Just trying to understand what the difference is that requires the bigger holes.

The profile of the boards is different, the diffuser posts are different, the mounting brackets are different, the newer playfields are cut differently to accommodate the different setup.

If you are the original owner you can get on the list for full buffered replacement for about 700.00 and that should be pretty reliable,I did it and it has been great

5th try?

This

As long as they continue to support the original system I will probably keep it as is. I've only blown 2 boards (and had the LED fail on one) in over 3 years of limited use. Though I can understand how frustrating this would be for someone who is blowing boards left and right.

One last time - can someone definitively explain to me which WOZ light boards are most likely to be reliable and why, what game versions did they appear on, how do I identify them, and what WOZ models, if any, should I avoid if I want to stay away from these issues?
I am planning to buy a WOZ. Several versions are available in the area, 75th, ECLE, etc, but I don't want to deal with light board issues after spending more than 7000-8500 for the game. Thanks!

Most reliable is the 2.0 system but only give or take 10 percent of currently existing games use it. Note that all WOZ built from this point forward will have the 2.0 which means that if you want you could simply wait and buy one NIB soon. Most common is the v1.4 7.5v buffered boards which have done pretty well although there have been failures. Earlier versions of the 7.5v system include v1.1 (pretty uncommon). Then earlier still you have the +5v boards, buffered and (earliest) unbuffered. I would avoid the +5v unbuffered if I could although you can swap them out later if you want. +5v buffered do just fine in my experience.
Any and all of this is subject to update because there will be a 2.0 update kit coming which will allow (although certainly not require) anyone will a version earlier than 2.0 to upgrade to 2.0 thus rendering the entire discussion moot (but only on a case by case basis of course). Does that help?