The biggest issue is to be careful when inserting the bayonet bulbs as some will fit very tight and can push or bend the copper connectors such that you can't make a connection and then you will need to replace the connector which you really want to avoid having to do. The biggest benefit of going LED is reduced power consumption (therefore, cooler running electronics and longer life on the IC boards) and the fact that LED's will last a lifetime. The aesthetics in my opinion are secondary.
You can buy LED kits that are game specific. They have the bulb types and colors mapped to the game's lamp matrix which takes all the guess work out of ordering bulbs and figuring out what should go where. I converted my LOTR LE pin to LED but decided to leave the GI bulbs that are above the playfield alone as I like the look of the standard bulbs for GI. You can buy LED kits that are game specific.
I have a 1979 Game Plan cocktail pin and I want to change it to led it takes the bulbs that are 44 size so would I just buy 44's in led and just swap them all out they are all white lights.
another video said that Spidy requires specially made bulbs to deal with the flickering affect found in the center insert. Center light is supposed to cycle between multi-colors. Why doesn't yours cycle? It just looks white. Please make sure you have Spidy custom bulbs or else I fear you did it wrong, sorry :(
I've converted two pins to LED lighting so far, and have some observations:
* Markus chose a pin with a retrofit kit available, and which also has fewer lamps than a 90s-era WMS. For this and other reasons, it took me MUCH longer to convert my pins
* It takes a lot of time to go through a pin and figure out what LEDs to order. Many pins have a mix of wedge & bayonet sockets, and the lamp list in the service manual usually has mistakes. Also, the GI lighting isn't in the manual.
* Wedge-base LEDs usually don't make good contact with the contacts in the socket. WITH THE POWER OFF, I use a dental pick to pry the contacts together to make better contact.
* They also don't fit snugly in the sockets. After having several LEDs pop out and get crushed in VUKs, I've started gluing them into the sockets.
* The LEDs are designed for DC, pinball lighting is AC, so the LEDs are turned off for a significant amount of time. Turn the lights off, and you'll see strobing.
* I'm working on a way to convert the GI voltage source to DC. The strobing's no big deal with the lamp matrix.
* LEDs look great in my Bride of Pinbot backbox, and not so hot on my World Cup Soccer. They made circles of light the size of silver dollars, so I kept the 555s in it.
* LEDs look fantastic in playfield inserts, creating rich saturated color. Lamps give everything a washed-out yellowish tinge.
* Use 40° for small inserts, 90° for medium, and 170° for large inserts.
* Using LEDs in GI is more art than science. I've seen some hideous conversions where people just replaced the GI with cool white LEDs. I prefer to use colored HP LEDs to bring out the colors in the plastics and the playfield.
* If there's a face on the plastic, you might not want to use a colored LED underneath it. Try the new HP warm whites.
* The yellowish tinge of lamps tends to give faces a healthier looking color, and can give better color to some playfield features. Experiment.
* If converting your 1st table, I'd recommend buying an assortment of styles & colors, so you can get a feel for how they work in various applications. Print out the lamp & flasher page from the SM, and do a takeoff on it. Then place a big order.
* The LEDs are obviously made in China, so be careful with the bayonet-base ones! After destroying several while trying to install them in playfield holes, I started dabbing some super glue between the lens and the base, so the lens won't twist off.
Despite the problems, I plan to convert all the solid state tables at Ground Kontrol to LEDs. As an operator, there are enough benefits to justify the cost, and besides, I love the look. :)
If you're not an operator, I'd at least consider putting them in pop bumpers and other hard-to-get-to places.
And if you're a purist who considers LED-lit pinball tables to be an abomination, I'm sorry, but you just need to get over that crap. ;)
Great video. Question- have you converted your STTNG with LEDs yet? I have heard anecdotally this is not a good idea with this machine due to ghosting (bulbs being on when they should be off, or vice versa). I'd love your input or even sample video as I would consider changing my machine's bulbs.
We've decided to not do Pharaoh as I plan to sell or trade it. It's worth around $800 and adding $200 worth of bulbs to it would not be a good investment.
It looks good, but ssme type of LED stuff; thats on a carnival ride, they got LEDs and some of the LED bulbs are out the 2nd year the carnival had that ride. Carnival rides lights aren't on all the time. They are only at night where this game sounds like it's going to be on all the time. All the lights not out, but some.
It does looks sort of good, but to me too many bright lights is no good for your eyes. When LED lights are closer to me at Sam's Club on dispy, it's like they blind me.
Both of them came out really nice, you can tell the difference when you change out even half of the bulbs. The playfield just stands out so much more.
What mods do you plan on doing to your Twilight Zone Marcus? I was surprised how many they were and after playing on one machine with a lot of cool additions it makes a stock machine look barren.
I have only one mod on my TZ and it's to help grab the ball before it drops for the jackpot shot. It's a magnet that assists in keeping it from jumping off.
TZ BTW: is the most complex machine I have. It's also the most finicky. It has such demanding power requirements it can not be on the same circuit as any of the other machines or it's computer resets.
There are frosted bulbs we'll be putting into certain spots to help with that. We really have that problem a lot with Indiana Jones. It can get a bit hard to track the ball during play sometimes.
I see you have a Twilight Zone under construction, probably one of my favorite tables. Im jealous. lol
TemplarReturns 5 months ago
The biggest issue is to be careful when inserting the bayonet bulbs as some will fit very tight and can push or bend the copper connectors such that you can't make a connection and then you will need to replace the connector which you really want to avoid having to do. The biggest benefit of going LED is reduced power consumption (therefore, cooler running electronics and longer life on the IC boards) and the fact that LED's will last a lifetime. The aesthetics in my opinion are secondary.
kjmoore88 1 year ago
You can buy LED kits that are game specific. They have the bulb types and colors mapped to the game's lamp matrix which takes all the guess work out of ordering bulbs and figuring out what should go where. I converted my LOTR LE pin to LED but decided to leave the GI bulbs that are above the playfield alone as I like the look of the standard bulbs for GI. You can buy LED kits that are game specific.
kjmoore88 1 year ago
where do you get the led? and how much each are they?
IRONMAIDENFAN2006 1 year ago
Twilight Zone...
...i hate you, i hate you, i hate you...
...for not having one too! :P
HarakiriGTR 1 year ago
Awesome - Thank you for this.
you have now changed my mind about Led's in pinball machines !
Also you have now costed me a packet. :)
Cheers from Down Under.
squizzy2k 1 year ago
I have a 1979 Game Plan cocktail pin and I want to change it to led it takes the bulbs that are 44 size so would I just buy 44's in led and just swap them all out they are all white lights.
nick12882 1 year ago
another video said that Spidy requires specially made bulbs to deal with the flickering affect found in the center insert. Center light is supposed to cycle between multi-colors. Why doesn't yours cycle? It just looks white. Please make sure you have Spidy custom bulbs or else I fear you did it wrong, sorry :(
CruiseCntr 2 years ago
I've converted two pins to LED lighting so far, and have some observations:
* Markus chose a pin with a retrofit kit available, and which also has fewer lamps than a 90s-era WMS. For this and other reasons, it took me MUCH longer to convert my pins
* It takes a lot of time to go through a pin and figure out what LEDs to order. Many pins have a mix of wedge & bayonet sockets, and the lamp list in the service manual usually has mistakes. Also, the GI lighting isn't in the manual.
jdmceachin 2 years ago
* Wedge-base LEDs usually don't make good contact with the contacts in the socket. WITH THE POWER OFF, I use a dental pick to pry the contacts together to make better contact.
* They also don't fit snugly in the sockets. After having several LEDs pop out and get crushed in VUKs, I've started gluing them into the sockets.
* The LEDs are designed for DC, pinball lighting is AC, so the LEDs are turned off for a significant amount of time. Turn the lights off, and you'll see strobing.
jdmceachin 2 years ago
* I'm working on a way to convert the GI voltage source to DC. The strobing's no big deal with the lamp matrix.
* LEDs look great in my Bride of Pinbot backbox, and not so hot on my World Cup Soccer. They made circles of light the size of silver dollars, so I kept the 555s in it.
* LEDs look fantastic in playfield inserts, creating rich saturated color. Lamps give everything a washed-out yellowish tinge.
* Use 40° for small inserts, 90° for medium, and 170° for large inserts.
jdmceachin 2 years ago
* Using LEDs in GI is more art than science. I've seen some hideous conversions where people just replaced the GI with cool white LEDs. I prefer to use colored HP LEDs to bring out the colors in the plastics and the playfield.
* If there's a face on the plastic, you might not want to use a colored LED underneath it. Try the new HP warm whites.
* The yellowish tinge of lamps tends to give faces a healthier looking color, and can give better color to some playfield features. Experiment.
jdmceachin 2 years ago
* If converting your 1st table, I'd recommend buying an assortment of styles & colors, so you can get a feel for how they work in various applications. Print out the lamp & flasher page from the SM, and do a takeoff on it. Then place a big order.
* The LEDs are obviously made in China, so be careful with the bayonet-base ones! After destroying several while trying to install them in playfield holes, I started dabbing some super glue between the lens and the base, so the lens won't twist off.
jdmceachin 2 years ago
Despite the problems, I plan to convert all the solid state tables at Ground Kontrol to LEDs. As an operator, there are enough benefits to justify the cost, and besides, I love the look. :)
If you're not an operator, I'd at least consider putting them in pop bumpers and other hard-to-get-to places.
And if you're a purist who considers LED-lit pinball tables to be an abomination, I'm sorry, but you just need to get over that crap. ;)
jdmceachin 2 years ago
Effective, but i will probably not do all that to my machines once i get machines
TheDabeavis 2 years ago
Loved the vid, and thanks for throwing in the stats, exactly what I was going to ask, good stuff :)
mjsinjapan44 2 years ago
Would you advise doing this to a twilight zone pinball machine? What bulbs would work best?
Doriguin 2 years ago
Great video. Question- have you converted your STTNG with LEDs yet? I have heard anecdotally this is not a good idea with this machine due to ghosting (bulbs being on when they should be off, or vice versa). I'd love your input or even sample video as I would consider changing my machine's bulbs.
Thanks!
holminone 2 years ago
Video looks great in HD! More pinball HD videos please.
gms1975 2 years ago
Where are you guys located? I want to play those pinball machines!!
rtpseller 2 years ago
Can't wait to see how Pharoah turns out!
1ch190 2 years ago
We've decided to not do Pharaoh as I plan to sell or trade it. It's worth around $800 and adding $200 worth of bulbs to it would not be a good investment.
markeedragon 2 years ago
It looks good, but ssme type of LED stuff; thats on a carnival ride, they got LEDs and some of the LED bulbs are out the 2nd year the carnival had that ride. Carnival rides lights aren't on all the time. They are only at night where this game sounds like it's going to be on all the time. All the lights not out, but some.
It does looks sort of good, but to me too many bright lights is no good for your eyes. When LED lights are closer to me at Sam's Club on dispy, it's like they blind me.
Predatorocks 2 years ago
Marcus why do u have so many pinball machines? lol
gtsshadowknight 2 years ago
Same reason why some people have so many video games. :) You like to play different ones from time to time.
markeedragon 2 years ago
i think they look alot better with LED's
CrazyForWoW 2 years ago
Loved watchin this, seems like everytime i log into youtube there's a new Markee vid to watch :), really glad i subscribed ^^
TehBunnysBack 2 years ago 3
Both of them came out really nice, you can tell the difference when you change out even half of the bulbs. The playfield just stands out so much more.
What mods do you plan on doing to your Twilight Zone Marcus? I was surprised how many they were and after playing on one machine with a lot of cool additions it makes a stock machine look barren.
PressStartComic 2 years ago
I have only one mod on my TZ and it's to help grab the ball before it drops for the jackpot shot. It's a magnet that assists in keeping it from jumping off.
TZ BTW: is the most complex machine I have. It's also the most finicky. It has such demanding power requirements it can not be on the same circuit as any of the other machines or it's computer resets.
markeedragon 2 years ago
i like the led switch over
Dot2TheLock 2 years ago
Nice to see a new pinball vid from you. It looks great with the new lights. BTW, did you get rid of your Dark Knight pinball?
MrHitchcockFan 2 years ago
We did get rid of it. Someone got lucky because it ended up selling for $3000. New it was $4300 and we only played it a few times.
markeedragon 2 years ago
That's too bad. TDK pin ended up being kind of disappointing.
I hope to see a video on what you're doing to your Twilight pin.
MrHitchcockFan 2 years ago
ouch lmao..
TryNRun 2 years ago
Wow, that does look much better.
Atheyst 2 years ago
looks awsome and bright has can be
ShuanyE 2 years ago
Sweet! Thanks for the tip dude! Too bad i just replaced some of my bulbs:(
techfreak6 2 years ago
the LED lights do make the boards really shine nice collection of tables man i love pinball and you got some nice ones.
demented669 2 years ago
Awesome, looks great.
Btw the guy with black hair sounds exactly the same as you Markee
Strifezilla 2 years ago 5
lol LED FTW!
mojacherox 2 years ago 2
Cool!
JackiePaquito 2 years ago
LED= Teh shiet ^^
Tawaxyon 2 years ago
sometimes it looks to bright tho :S
d4rkn3z132 2 years ago
There are frosted bulbs we'll be putting into certain spots to help with that. We really have that problem a lot with Indiana Jones. It can get a bit hard to track the ball during play sometimes.
dragonbritt 2 years ago
nice=D
julez2k9 2 years ago
good vid
stupidnoobk1 2 years ago
Nicee l ol
vikturi 2 years ago
first man
busterbrown1994 2 years ago