That dizzying choice of LED..

[Retropin]

..Convex... concave... dome... flat top.. clear.. frosted.. etc etc etc.
Used to just be a dome and the pinball lit up really well so I cant see any need for anything other than frosted dome.. or maybe flat top for the bumpers.. am I missing something?

Look at this...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LED-PSPA-555-WIDE-Angle-LED-WHITE-pack-of-10-/151256789037?pt=AU_CoinOp&hash=item23379b702d

I have some of these type to test as samples and put them in a bumper.. under a sling.. in the backbox etc... the bloody things cast a black ring directly in front of themselves.
Do these have ANY purpose at all other than to try and reinvent the wheel?

Im of the opinion that's its all a bloody great waste of time.. frosted dome and flat top.. why all the other bollox?

[ddstoys]

Gav I use super brites everywhere except pop bumpers I use 5in1s

[pinballheaven]

Gav I use super brites everywhere except pop bumpers I use 5in1s

Ditto for me too!

[joele]

I use frosted dome warm white noflix as GI and flat top noflix plus under playfield throughout on all machines, tried different brands of LED and just don't like them including cointaker and those PSPA ones...

[Retropin]

Its more the convex shape im referring to.. cant comment on the quality of the product shown. But with that lens I see no purpose for these

[Caveoftreasures]

I just bought two of every led I could find from every seller, had apx 10 sample bags in front of me, and spent a few days mucking around til I found the perfect choice/choices.

whiote in white inserts, red in red, white in yellow (never yellow/looks awful) and match colour of insert to colour of led.
purple n pink inserts also like white as well.

flat top white is best all round, or red, green etc, but flat tops are best for inserts.
I leave flashers original or u go blind.

I found 5 in 1 leds too bright, again blinding.

only other leds I buy are the toothbrush sideways looking ones for inserts that have a pcb mounted sideways.

Re buying in bulk, I see terry from pinball life. buy 100 a time n watch the money come right down.

mark from melb does deals too if u screw hard and ask for the same price as terry I think I buy the toothbrush ones from cointaker, but again in BULK or its too expensive..

I just bought 1000 (one thousand) of each type n colour I wanted n got a huge discount. spent a few grand, but it was the only way to led out 40 machines.

then u need valium after all the farking around putting them all in.lol  

[ssspl]

Convex [) sprays out, concave [( focuses down to a narrower point, they might be useful for something where the area being lit is further away (or closer) than where you have them now. ie more suited for general illumination than actually lighting something a fixed distance from behind or underneath? Or more suited to focusing light onto the end of a fibre optic filament? My 2 cents...

[Boots]

I just bought two of every led I could find from every seller, had apx 10 sample bags in front of me, and spent a few days mucking around til I found the perfect choice/choices.

whiote in white inserts, red in red, white in yellow (never yellow/looks awful) and match colour of insert to colour of led.
purple n pink inserts also like white as well.

flat top white is best all round, or red, green etc, but flat tops are best for inserts.
I leave flashers original or u go blind.

I found 5 in 1 leds too bright, again blinding.

only other leds I buy are the toothbrush sideways looking ones for inserts that have a pcb mounted sideways.

Re buying in bulk, I see terry from pinball life. buy 100 a time n watch the money come right down.

mark from melb does deals too if u screw hard and ask for the same price as terry I think I buy the toothbrush ones from cointaker, but again in BULK or its too expensive..

I just bought 1000 (one thousand) of each type n colour I wanted n got a huge discount. spent a few grand, but it was the only way to led out 40 machines.

then u need valium after all the farking around putting them all in.lol  

That's a lot of LEDs

[skywalker]

Messed around with plenty of different types of Led's they can really do your head in,

Slight ghosting under the inserts are a bit of a issue, but happy to live with it,
Prefer slight ghosting than Strobing...
Mainly use Led's under all insets, makes a huge difference, stick to flat super brights, Faded insets come up new again,
Led flashers in selected PF & BB look Awesome,
cool white & some color led's in the BB also, Reduces heat in the BB heaps,
try to stick with bulbs in the lower half of the PF,
domed clear/frosted in selected PF also,
Flex led's are ok in certain places, can break easy,

a lot of choice out there,  

[skywalker]

edit, Warm white in the BB 

[Caveoftreasures]

I just bought two of every led I could find from every seller, had apx 10 sample bags in front of me, and spent a few days mucking around til I found the perfect choice/choices.

whiote in white inserts, red in red, white in yellow (never yellow/looks awful) and match colour of insert to colour of led.
purple n pink inserts also like white as well.

flat top white is best all round, or red, green etc, but flat tops are best for inserts.
I leave flashers original or u go blind.

I found 5 in 1 leds too bright, again blinding.

only other leds I buy are the toothbrush sideways looking ones for inserts that have a pcb mounted sideways.

Re buying in bulk, I see terry from pinball life. buy 100 a time n watch the money come right down.

mark from melb does deals too if u screw hard and ask for the same price as terry I think I buy the toothbrush ones from cointaker, but again in BULK or its too expensive..

I just bought 1000 (one thousand) of each type n colour I wanted n got a huge discount. spent a few grand, but it was the only way to led out 40 machines.

then u need valium after all the farking around putting them all in.lol  

That's a lot of LEDs

yeh, it was the only way. I didn't mention, I also rang around to a few friends (3 or 4) and asked if they wanted 50 or 100 or a few hundred of a certain LED, or if they wanted to cash in on the bulk order pricing, and all said yes. therefore, it was LEDs galore and it was like xmas day when the big boxes chok o block turned up. I still have boxes full of them which owe me not much money at all. At the time I was doing a lot of high end commercial jobs and had the coin to do it. Spending a few grand at once seemed crazy, but its a lot better than paying $200 to $300 for those kits that some sellers sell with the map showing where you should put them. Sharing in a bulk order is still the best way to fully LED out a few machines.

Its also great to have so many options with so many diff types of leds. Pricing has come down like everything else which is good.

I will add, I do NOT led any of the brand new sterns I buy, just no need to in my opinion. The machines are only on when I play them, so they don't get real hot for long, and the BNIB sterns seem to not even need them cause the inserts are so clear and the std bulbs are very very bright. Older dmds need leds mostly, but new sterns, not needed unless stern adds them at factory.

[Gorgonzola]

This topic is good timing for me. I recently started having a look online for some LEDs for my Getaway as I need to replace a few lamps anyway. The amount of options left me thinking I better do some more research before I spend money on something that I'll just end up wanting to replace a month later.

Caveoftreasures, is there any particular brands/sellers that you think are far superior to the others you've tried. It'd also be good to know if there was any you purchased that were complete garbage (a PM may be more appropriate for that :)).