LED conversion kits

[Wyle E One]

Hi Everyone,

I have a Williams High Speed pinball machine and I am thinking of investing in an LED kit where I would replace all of the old incandescent bulbs to LED. I'm wondering if anyone has done this yet and if you're happy with the results. My two concerns are: 1) an LED bulb won't be as bright as an incandescent bulb. 2) LED bulbs will be too hot and melt/discolour the plastics.

The machine looks so beautiful when all of the lights are working but anyone who has this machine, knows how certain bulbs (the ones for the "Radar Detector" especially) blow really fast.

Thanks so much for your help,

Marcus

 

[jrolson]

You can get "super bright" LEDs if your worried about brightness.
LEDs run cooler and last longer than the incandescent bulbs but are more expensive.

It's up to you if you want to make the investment of LEDs... If you play alot and want to do less maintenance it's probably worth it...

Personally I hate the look of LEDs... They just dont give the soft glow/on off fade like the incandescent bulbs do. The LEDs have an instant on and instant off look.

 

[Wyle E One]

Thank-you so much for your input, I certainly appreciate it!

 

[pinnite]

As a rule I do not like LED in pinball's it darkens them up to much for me. However on really hard places to get to or bulbs that go out really fast I do use them.

 

[Kolchak357]

Some of the retro style LEDs have a softer look that I like in many pins. I've seen some ultra brights placed in classic EM pins that really looked terrible to me. It's not easy to do tasefully.

 

[dtown8532]

Check out this video of a Gottlieb Target Pool I repaired. All the general illumination is LED. Well, SMD to be exact. The vid gives a pretty good representation of how it can look. All the playfield lighting are Cointaker Retros. I used some colored SMD's for the pool balls in the backglass. The people on the backglass are illuminated by Pinball Life 3LED bulbs. I actually like these better than the Cointakers because, one, they're cheaper and two, they're a bit warmer looking. All the underplayfield lighting are incandescents. It's tough to get that really warm look of a regular bulb but the heat savings on the plastics can make up for it.

Also, I don't buy kits. I'll look at the game I bought, use a pen and paper and count the number of each color I want. Cheaper this way and you're not bound by someone else's decision on what they thought looked good.