Author Topic: leds in backglasses  (Read 199 times)

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Offline pinball god

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leds in backglasses
« on: January 22, 2014, 11:08:13 PM »
I have been thinking of doing this on my older games that have glass back glasses in particular to lessen the heat. But and I don't know if I have asked this before, do leds work on those special globes (545's) or something like on tz or fh which blink themselves. Or by replacing these with leds it defeats their effect?
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Offline Retropin

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Re: leds in backglasses
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2014, 11:33:13 PM »
The 455 bulb.
OK.. LEDs are a good idea to reduce the heat given from the filament of a bulb which does affect a backglass over time. LEDs give heat from the back and require heat sinking.. be that your standard bulb base or otherwise.
As far as I know there is no substitute for the 455 bulb.. but then again why would you need one?... They are an age old technology and personally I LOVE the little "pink" they make when switching off and on.
 The filament of the bulb isn't on long enough to build up any heat.. everytime it warms up, the little strip expands and breaks contact and then cools off only to warm up again etc.

If you are an arcade and have your machines on show/ lit up/ waiting for a player/ enticing a player to drop a coin, then by all means LED's are a good idea as the warmth over the years will shrink the paint of the backglass.. but it does take absolutely years and replacing every part of light in your life isnt going to save the world or your backglass.. too many variables affect your backglass also..
For instance..
How well it was made.
How clean the glass was when silk screened
Quality of enamels.. we all know some glasses hold up better than others.
Ambient room temp changes.. heat and then cold will kill your backglass quicker than any bulb will.
Damp - biggest killer of them all.
In all honesty, in a home environment, your machines aren't on for enough hours a day for enough days to wreck a backglass.. it does take YEARS.

So go buy boxes of 455 bulbs as I have and keep their production alive... I love those little " pinkers"

Offline pinball god

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Re: leds in backglasses
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2014, 11:43:14 PM »
Thanks Gav, I only asked the question because I noticed a couple of posts where a tz was modded and the 455's were replaced. I figured the lighting effect would not work but was not sure. I remember my tz came with standard 555's  in their positions and until someone told me of the starry night effect I didn't know any different. But putting in the 455's the effect s really neat
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Offline Pinball

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Re: leds in backglasses
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2014, 09:11:37 AM »
Rob, The TZ mod that I'm familiar with is changing the 545 sockets (wedge)with 455"s (bayonet) as the 545 bulbs are no longer made and are expensive to buy.

Offline DSB

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Re: leds in backglasses
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2014, 06:38:37 PM »
http://www.rtbb.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_119_200&osCsid=4dfabcf8e330b977ef1694e37fb77860
RBTT Has LED 454's under Electrical-LEDs-Flashers. Is this what you are looking for?

Offline pinball god

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Re: leds in backglasses
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2014, 10:53:36 PM »
Well I be damned I didn't know such a thing existed. Thanks mate.
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