? WAY TO USE LED'S ? WHAT DO U THINK. ?

[Caveoftreasures]

hi , a quick question.

HAVE U HAVE CONVERTED A PIN TO LED'S ?
did it look the bomb. was it worth it ?  did it detract from the original look being too bright and make the ball too hard to see. what do you think.

i was considering just changing all the GI lights to white ones-led's, and all the bulbs under the playfield to white led as well. given that the led is so much brighter, i dont see the need to specifically go for a red led under a red insert? SAME TO THE BACKBOX, ALL GOES TO WHITE led'S.

does that make sense ?  surely the brightness of the LED will be enough, what do u think.

(so what i guess i am saying, is that using LEDS in place of bulbs, because they are so much brighter being white light, shld make the colours come alive without having to go to different colours.

what advice you got for me. WHAT STYLE LENS TO USE, FLAT , CONCAVE, wtf, WHICH ONES DO I USE ?  

SHOULD I USE FROSTED FOR GI, OR NOT FROSTED. 

[pinnies4me]

Played around with some, but didn't like the results much - too "on and off" and odd looking for general application. Did use them and leave them in the AFM mothership - the 89 in there blows constantly from the ship being bashed, and an array  looks sensational in there. We used a lot of LEDs in Coconut Island (for ease - the PS 5volts was used) but too dim overall. I'm not a fan mostly, although I have seen some good looking efforts.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

I have used some LEDs, but I have not converted a whole game to them

I am usually wanting to change the color scheme on the game, ie Green lights in the Goblin area on Spiderman

I have also used LEDs under colored inserts on the Sterns, Blue LEDs really make the blue insets pop out at you

The problem with using them on Spiderman is that some of the insert lamps are supposed to glow with different intencities, the more times you defete the bad guys the brighter the lamp glows
To dim lights a pinball machine is actually turning the lamp on and off quickly, the quicker the switching the brighter it glows
This is fine with bulbs, as the nature of bulbs (warming up, cooling down) means you do not notice the switching
With LEDs they tend to strobe, (because a LED is either ON or OFF) which can be annoying

[Wotto]

Yes - I have converted a lot of bulbs in my 4 games to LED's.
I am a BIG Led Fan - but NOT for Gi.


I have NOT done a WHOLE game in LED's but I have done a lot of the coloured inserts.
Like EB, I have done most of Fish Tales - looks GREAT.
Funhouse I used LED's selectively and I feel looks bloody good, same with WH20 - in both these games I also ADDED some extra blue LEDs around the place for a blue 'glow effect'.

CFTBL - used sparingly and selectively under inserts.

I have tried , experimented and used LED's in GI sections on NONE of my games - I dont like it at all for Gi ( except for ONE spot on the FH machine where the incandescent was doing my right eye in - LOL).

The complexity of trying to answer "what bulbs do I use where / what styles "  -  is too hard to answer, I had the same question myself at the beginning and ended up guessing my way through it all with 3 or 4 seperate Cointaker orders over a period of months in order to get the games 'right'.

As one example  - I have found that where a yellow might look disastrous on one game , it looks quite good on another, this example can be repeated with colours, insert sizes on all my games and THATS why I had to order and order and keep 'knocking colours out' before I was eventually happy.

If you own any of the titles I own , I am more than happy to raise the hood and write a list of what I did.

[Extra Ball]

Wotto has done some of the best LED work I have seen. My FT is 95% LEDs, really just the flashers to change, and they will be eventually. Wideangle whites worked fine in the BG, but will add that incandescent disperses light better, the LEDs dont like to cover the whole translite. LEDs in slingshot/flipper area is no-no for me (distracting). SP is the next job.

[Pinfan]

I have done a few games with full leds.

I try to match the colour of the insert to the colour of the led as sometimes the white led can change the look and colour of the insert.

I have only used wide angles for GI and CI and in MO with success.

I have had many collectors come through who have had little to no interest in leds but once they saw my pins were totally converted.

It does take some time to adjust jumping from a game with led lighting to incandescent lighting. Everything is quite bright and you really need to focus.

Wait and see the full conversion pics of the STTNG Caveman...You will be swayed! 

[ddstoys]

Ive only changed 4 inserts to leds On CFTBL  i turned some boring clear into a bright green and i think they look shit hot 

[Pinfan]

Ive only changed 4 inserts to leds On CFTBL  i turned some boring clear into a bright green and i think they look shit hot 

Its only the beginning Daniel!

[Caveoftreasures]

my reasoning about asking about LED's versus standard bulbs is this -

I want to see a game shopped, looking as good as i can get it, close to as new like when the game was first released brand new. We all know that some of our machines will all look in really great condition, not new, cause they can be 2 or 5 or 10 or whatever years old, but as good as we can get them, like new because  we clean n polish n refresh legs n bolts n all the things we can do, plastics etc.

So when i replace every bulb on a game, and every rubber and i stand back, I say to myself

"thats what that pinball looked like when the manufacturer first released it, or thats what the guy who first played it saw". Nostalgic lets say.

But i am wondering when u mess around with LED's, does it show something that it was never designed or meant to look like ? and as a collector, that can be like putting a holden bonnet on a ford.   

[Extra Ball]

my reasoning about asking about LED's versus standard bulbs is this -

I want to see a game shopped, looking as good as i can get it, close to as new like when the game was first released brand new. We all know that some of our machines will all look in really great condition, not new, cause they can be 2 or 5 or 10 or whatever years old, but as good as we can get them, like new because  we clean n polish n refresh legs n bolts n all the things we can do, plastics etc.

So when i replace every bulb on a game, and every rubber and i stand back, I say to myself

"thats what that pinball looked like when the manufacturer first released it, or thats what the guy who first played it saw". Nostalgic lets say.

But i am wondering when u mess around with LED's, does it show something that it was never designed or meant to look like ? and as a collector, that can be like putting a holden bonnet on a ford.   

nope, your overthinking again Brett

LEDs look unreal, but yes they make it look different.

[Pinprick]

My answer is simple:

(1) If there is an area which is too dull or requires highlighting LEDs are the shot.
For example - Theatre of Magic's twin upper rollover lane inserts are a notoriously dull green. Despite the clever mirror it's hard to see which lane is lit. Green LEDs solved the problem beautifully. Same applied to TOM's EB and Tiger Saw MB inserts. What a difference. I won't put any other LEDs in this machine now.

(2) If you want to reduce current draw or heat generation for any reason e.g. lit toppers with extra lamps pulling more juice, this can be compensated for by using LEDs.

Generally I find fully ledded machines too gaudy (except under flouro light) and as mentioned above, they can be distracting. Judicious use of LEDs can be fantastic, but it's all inthe eye of the beholder I reckon.

[Caveoftreasures]

well, it seems then that the general consensus is

1. not really for GI.
2. add to a few dull areas
3. every machine is going to have different needs, trial n error
4. a few well placed LED's is probably the go, versus adding many. (although reds n greens everywhere on a fishtales does look great i am told)

We need more before and after photos or videos, that would really be the best. Maybe post a few videos guys, espescially those who have done alot of led's to a machine. 

[RaptorLawyer]

Ive got a kit coming from the US for my JP plus a few extras so i can experiment a bit.

May be a week or two but i'll gladly add some before/after pics for ya brett.

[robm]

Heres a pic of my Indy that i've kitted out with Homepin's DIY leds.  When the pic was taken, most of the left side has been done and none of the right.

You can see the greens (with green LEDs) look awesome (particularly on the A and D standups) as well as red LEDs under the mode lights.

With it all done, i reckon it makes it a bit more exciting - particularly in multiball or a mode where all the lights flash.

Another machine that i think it made a huge difference to is Roadshow

[Wotto]

We need more before and after photos or videos, that would really be the best. Maybe post a few videos guys, espescially those who have done alot of led's to a machine. 

Funny you say this , as I was going to add to this thread last night that you REALLY need to see LED games in the flesh because photo's do these lights NO justice what-so-ever.

I have tried and tried and CANNOT get a photo that represents the ‘real-life’ look of ANY of my games after adding LED’s

It’s a shame because they look so good in real life yet look really ‘glowy’ in images 

If you are ever in the Sydney area - feel free to come and see my games