Hey DJ, This is OT but I've noticed you leave your Pinball games on all the time. That's Ok because they are industrial machines and built to take the punishment (if your ok with paying the bill for the extra power draw on your power bill. These things are hogs when it comes to eating electricity).
To save the GI circuit I'd suggest making sure you adjust the power saver feature on both games. The software of all WPC games allows the user to set the intensity of the GI lamps when the game is in attract mode. In the "Adjustments - Standard" (A.1) menu, set the GI Power Saver time to 2 minutes (the lowest time allowed). Also set the GI Power Saver level to "4" (the lowest value allowed). This simple modification will automatically dim the GI lamps when the game is in attract mode, after two minutes. This will dramatically help save the GI connectors. The game's GI will automatically return to normal intensity when a game is started.
Here's a picture of what may happen. You may want to take a peek inside the head to see if this hasn't already happened.
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We are replacing the bulbs with LED - they're on order and should be here this week
Dave
Did you see our jukebox?
I currently have 15 pins setup and another 3 waiting to be restored and for me to find room for them. The wife won't let me set any up in the bedroom. Can't even convince her with the ones with a shaker motor installed.
He told me the part numbers from the machines correspond to pretty much these...
906 - flasher all glass
89 - flasher with nubs 89
555 - all glass bulbs
44/47 - little nubs that twist
So i started making a list from my manuals of which bulbs are needed. The manuals show strange part numbers - but i've identified which are led numbers.
My question is... the led's come in a variety of options Frosted, Flat Top, Dome, etc... Have you any experience with the different types and what to use?
Anyway, Yes, I've done a far amount of retro fitting LED's into games in my collection. Believe it or not I've found that using white and clear LED's give the best results. Some guys try to match the colors to the insert colors but I found that white LED make the original insert colors POP.
However that's where the simplicity stops. There are different intensity's of LED's that will make your inserts range from normal brightness to eye squinting, staring at the sun, burn your eye's out brightness. Then as you mentioned there are different styles of bulbs and some styles work better in certain places in the game then others.
The best way to do it is to buy several different shapes and brightness's and try different combinations in each socket to see what looks best. Here's a ruff idea of what I found works:
Here are my recommendations. The costs I show below are USD and from a few years ago. I think I bought all these at Cointaker.
Cointaker :
Under most inserts you can use the Wide 170 Degree LEDs. These are the least expensive LEDs available and work great. Cost about $0.59.
or
I personally prefer the Mini LED for a brighter light under the inserts. A brighter light makes the playfield really pop and these are still low cost. Cost about $0.69.
If you have an insert that you want to be extra bright (i.e. Specials) I would use either the Super Bright LED or the Premium Super Bright LED. Cost $1.29 and $1.59.
For areas under the playfield you have limited space to get lighting to I would recommend the Premium Super Bright Flex LED. These will allow you to move the light into a better position under the insert. Cost $1.59.
Under your pop bumpers I would recommend the 4 LED Lamps. Cost $0.99.
I have discovered that LED lamps can handle a wider range of voltages than the old iridescent lamps. This enables you to use the 555 lamps in the 906 locations. This gives you a lot of freedom when selecting LED types.
VERY IMPORTANT:
Use only warm white lamps under your colored inserts to avoid color shifts. Under your white/clear inserts I do recommend the cool white lamps. The only time I would use a colored lamp under an insert is if I want to change a white/clear insert to a different color.
Hope you find this info helpful. If you use this as a guide you'll be surprised of the cost savings when compared to ordering those LED kits.
In the end you may want to keep it simple and buy a kit from Cointaker (Sorry Terry from Pinball Life!). Their kits are already put together for you and are color matched to the inserts of your game with the proper intensity. Here's a link to the Dr Who Kit:
Link to Dr WHO Kit from Cointaker
I've bought a few kits from Cointaker and have also bought single White LED's and honestly both results are spectacular. *eek*
Let me know how you go on this.
I fly back to Calgary next week, hopefully the leds arrive by then. Jer and I would like to stay and do the swap next Friday.
It's probably too late and I'm sorry I didn't think of this sooner. They offer non ghosting led's. They're more expensive but you don't get that little shimmer like the bulb is not all the way off when it should be. They're a nice touch if that kind of thing bothers you.
I will wait to do the third pinball when we get into our new office next month.
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Thanks for sharing. You made my day!
At the very least you can have it rotate randomly and make appear like it's looking around.
This might just open up an entire new market for you. Interactive pinball toppers.