New Life Games LLC
**Reel Slots** Gaming Machines => Bally Electromechanical => Topic started by: Simple Sam on August 09, 2020, 04:44:31 PM
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I'm thinking of installing LED lighting in my slot machines, mostly so I can reduce the heat next to the glass. The pinball suppliers offer lots of choices for the #44 bulbs but it looks like #63 bulbs were never used in pinball machines as they are not available. The only results I'm finding are either way too bright or way too expensive (or both!). The #44 bulbs are readily available for well under $1 each and available in a variety of brightness and color temperatures. Is there anything like that for the #63 bulbs?
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Sam its pretty simple...
You either pay for what you call an expensive LED #63 bulb OR replace and increasingly scarce glass. My choice was easy. I bought the bulbs, eliminated the problem of blown bulbs, reduced the heat, and increased the brightness and in my opinion attractiveness of these old games. #44 and #47 you can have 20 plus bulbs in a continental cabinet. How many 63 bulbs could you Possibly need in a game? 4? 6?. I am VERY happy with my switch to LED. Did it about 6 or more years ago when they were even more EXPENSIVE and I have not blown one single bulb. No regrets. Your mileage may vary. www.cointaker.com (http://www.cointaker.com) is where I got my bulbs.
As always my advice is free and worth every penny.
Ra
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Sam its pretty simple...
You either pay for what you call an expensive LED #63 bulb OR replace and increasingly scarce glass. My choice was easy. I bought the bulbs, eliminated the problem of blown bulbs, reduced the heat, and increased the brightness and in my opinion attractiveness of these old games. #44 and #47 you can have 20 plus bulbs in a continental cabinet. How many 63 bulbs could you Possibly need in a game? 4? 6?. I am VERY happy with my switch to LED. Did it about 6 or more years ago when they were even more EXPENSIVE and I have not blown one single bulb. No regrets. Your mileage may vary. [url=http://www.cointaker.com]www.cointaker.com[/url] ([url]http://www.cointaker.com[/url]) is where I got my bulbs.
As always my advice is free and worth every penny.
Ra
I agree that saving the glass is an important factor; it's my primary purpose for doing the switch. I noticed the bulbs on cointaker that, at $1.79 each, are certainly reasonably priced. The problem (?) is that they advertise them as four times brighter than standard which I'm concerned would be overpowering. Have you used these particular bulbs? If so, do you find the brightness a problem? Did you chose the white or warm white color (I'd probably chose warm white but...)?
Anybody else have experience with these bulbs or other #63 LED bulbs?
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if you ever find a LED that has candlepower or lumen ratings, you're all set. 1cp = 12.57 lumens.
a 63 is 3cp, and a 44 is 0.9. If you found a 44/47 replacement that was 3x brighter, you could just replace the socket. Lots of styles of those used in pinball machines.
some of the led's are dimmable via external series resistor (drop the current and light output is lower), but at $2, if the thing is brighter than you want, I'd try masking some of the light with a sharpie or whatever.
Warm white would be a better match to the original.
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I ordered the bulbs from cointaker. They're cheap enough that I can experiment. I hadn't thought of simply using a sharpie (I might try some tape over the individual LEDs) to reduce the light; brilliant! Replacing the sockets sounds like a great idea but I don't have the confidence in my skills to do that.
I also got some #44 bulbs from comet pinball. I got the "retro" (least bright) and the 1 smd (surface mounted diode) bulbs (brighter) but I didn't see a significant difference in brightness between the two LED bulbs. I will end up ordering more for my other games so I will try a mixture of 1 and 2 smd bulbs. I'm pretty happy with the initial results and will be tinkering with the lights on this game and adding LEDs to my other games.
One of the problems with my game (California Special) is that the lighting isn't really well done as it's a modified 902. The words "California Special" are spread across the top of the upper glass but the original bulbs only go part of the way leaving the last few letters unlit. Likewise, there's a description of how you can win $1,000 on the bottom of the glass with $1,000 being very large but not properly lit. I'm going to try extra bright lights in the last position and see if that works.
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One of the problems with my game (California Special) is that the lighting isn't really well done as it's a modified 902. The words "California Special" are spread across the top of the upper glass but the original bulbs only go part of the way leaving the last few letters unlit. Likewise, there's a description of how you can win $1,000 on the bottom of the glass with $1,000 being very large but not properly lit. I'm going to try extra bright lights in the last position and see if that works.
space to drill more holes and add some lamp sockets? You'd wire them in parallel to the existing ones. Since you are going LED, you don't need to worry about additional power consumption.
if that's not good and they are GI lamps, maybe some of those LED tape strips that you could mount on the front side of the lamp panel behind where you want more light?
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Sam the 63 LED bulbs that I got have naked LED's. You can position your bulbs in the socket so direct light is aimed at the glass, or not. Please send us some before and after pictures so that all members can benefit from your experiment. I don't think that you will be disappointed.
Ra
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One of the problems with my game (California Special) is that the lighting isn't really well done as it's a modified 902. The words "California Special" are spread across the top of the upper glass but the original bulbs only go part of the way leaving the last few letters unlit. Likewise, there's a description of how you can win $1,000 on the bottom of the glass with $1,000 being very large but not properly lit. I'm going to try extra bright lights in the last position and see if that works.
space to drill more holes and add some lamp sockets? You'd wire them in parallel to the existing ones. Since you are going LED, you don't need to worry about additional power consumption.
After my previous post, I thought about it and thought that adding additional bulbs might be the best answer. As you point out, with LEDs, there is plenty of power available for more lights. That modification may be some time but I definitely think it is viable.
if that's not good and they are GI lamps, maybe some of those LED tape strips that you could mount on the front side of the lamp panel behind where you want more light?
This might be easiest and something I might just do a quick test on. I have LED strips on hand so it would be easy to try.
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Sam the 63 LED bulbs that I got have naked LED's. You can position your bulbs in the socket so direct light is aimed at the glass, or not. Please send us some before and after pictures so that all members can benefit from your experiment. I don't think that you will be disappointed.
Ra
I got the same bulbs and that was one of my concerns about them being too bright. I decided that it would be a relatively cheap experiment so if it didn't work out I wouldn't be out much and if it did work, that would be great. I'll post my results when I get the bulbs and play with them.
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I installed the LEDs in my 809 today. The first picture shows the change in process with two LEDs on the right and the remaining bulbs being the original incandescents. The LEDs are obviously quite a bit brighter.
The second picture is the before picture. Although the lighting on the insert coin, coin accepted, and winner paid is okay, the left and right legends aren't very well lit at all.
The third and fourth pictures are with the LEDs installed. The daylight picture shows how the LEDs really light up the game, particularly the legends. The picture taken in a dark room shows that these are quite bright and will show off any defect in your glass. I'm going to see if I can get new glass for this game and will re-evaluate the brightness after installation of the new glass. I have another game which has poor reel glass that I'm not sure about; it will likely highlight the glass defects which is not desirable.
I'd rate this as a success with more fine tuning necessary. I really like things well lit so this works for me.
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Although you did not show us April for picture with all incandescent lights and the glass installed I like the bright fourth picture. My game room is dim in order to recreate the casino experience. Those LED lights would really saying come here and put your money in me. My feeling is that if LED lights were available during the time that these machines were young the casinos would put them in for attraction as well as less downtime. Bravo!
Ra
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Can you buy those LED bulbs in a softer white, like warm white?
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Can you buy those LED bulbs in a softer white, like warm white?
Those are warm white. The lights look much better in person than in the photo. It's hard to get a good picture of lights.
Ra,
I agree with you. The bright lights pull you in and would definitely have been installed if they were available at the time. Modern gaming devices are bright, shiny objects designed to attract attention.
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The reel glass legends are usually dark with the normal 63 bulb. I might have to try a few myself. Where did you get these again?
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The reel glass legends are usually dark with the normal 63 bulb. I might have to try a few myself. Where did you get these again?
I got the #63 bulbs from cointaker.com as Ra suggested.
I also got a variety of #44 bulbs from cometpinball.com. I'm still fiddling with the #44s and may provide an update later. I chose them for the #44s because they offer a "sunlight" bulb. It's a white bulb that has a color temperature between "cool white" which tends to be harsh and "warm white " which tends to be too yellow.
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I went to cointaker and typed in 63 led in the search but nothing popped up?
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https://cointaker.com/products/63-super-5
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i checked with my supplier in china - can't touch the $1.89 price these are being sold here.
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Remember gang that I bought them from a trade show cal Pinfest many years ago. This is basically a pin ball venue but I was told that the occasional slot machine would be there. Because the technology was new for LED's so small I had to take out a mortgage when I bought a bag of 100 in the 44/47 size. (I had 3 Continental cabinet games at the time)The prices being quoted by Sam, and confirmed by GOD, are phenomenal. I also did not believe that they would REALLY last as long as the salesperson claimed. They do!
IF you can get used to the extra brightness they are they way to go in my humble opinion.
Ra
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Remember gang that I bought them from a trade show cal Pinfest many years ago. This is basically a pin ball venue but I was told that the occasional slot machine would be there. Because the technology was new for LED's so small I had to take out a mortgage when I bought a bag of 100 in the 44/47 size. (I had 3 Continental cabinet games at the time)The prices being quoted by Sam, and confirmed by GOD, are phenomenal. I also did not believe that they would REALLY last as long as the salesperson claimed. They do!
IF you can get used to the extra brightness they are they way to go in my humble opinion.
Ra
And the #44s, which are what the upper boxes are full of, are down right cheap at 69 cents each. There's a lot of choices in the #44 in terms of levels of brightness, color temperature of the whites, and type of lens. Shipping is generally pretty cheap because they weigh nothing and are small so they can go USPS in a cheap envelope.
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Just rub in how much I over paid, why don't ya :duh: .
You had better order fast. In a month there may not be a USPS. Kevin Costner rides again !
Ra
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Just rub in how much I over paid, why don't ya :duh: .
You had better order fast. In a month there may not be a USPS. Kevin Costner rides again !
Ra
Ha, ha.
Actually, I was trying to make the case for others to try it as it is quite affordable. I've got some NOS and reproduction glass in my machines and do not want to see it ruined.
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I want to change my regular bulbs to led on all my Bally em slot machines and before buying them I just want to check if this are the right bulbs to buy?
And are this warm white the best option or should I use white ?
Thanks 🤗
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In my opinion those lamps are too hot, not temperature wise. They will create hot spots of light. I find myself using a variety of bulbs, but primarily frosted warm white. You’ll find they have a white dome over the SMDs. Anyhow, I’ve actually been working right down the street from Cointaker and have had the opportunity to see what they have on the shelves for lighting. It’s overwhelming! Now something else that will change everything is the artwork. Some colors just look better with cooler light. The Super Flex work well behind behind the reel glass when the occasional dead spot appears. For the coin tray I use both warm and cool #63 LEDs. Again It’s going to depend on the colors of the artwork. The cool 63 really make the coin tray sparkle. I recommend getting at least a sample of 4-5 of each to try out. Cointaker will sell the bulbs per piece.
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Sounds like you know what’s best for the different spots on the machine and I gonna order a bunch of the frosted dome #44 warm white and some other colors, but I’m not sure about the 63 led, I could not find it in frosted dome, and I’m afraid if I use the super flex on the reel glass it will make a hot spot and not that good spread light..
Could you post a picture inside how you have installed the 63 led?
Do any of you use led tubes 6w too, and if how does it work?
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The 63 LED bulbs aren't offered with a dome. These are the ones I use https://cointaker.com/products/63-super-5 (https://cointaker.com/products/63-super-5)
Since some coin tray lenses are clear and others are frosted, you'll have to try both colors. Something else you can do with the coin tray is to remove the lenses completely or if you really want a precise color, use a piece of light gels. Rosco offers a small sample book and I just cut what I need out of it https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002ER2YG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_PRB2M8ZCJPPVVFSNVMC0 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002ER2YG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_PRB2M8ZCJPPVVFSNVMC0)
I'll see about getting some pictures of installed bulbs for you.
As far as replacing the fluorescent tubes, I'm still experimenting. They are generally offered in two types. With one you'll bypass the Ballast and go straight to power and another type is plug and play with the existing wiring. Now here's a drawback to using all LEDs. These EM machines work best when warm. So keeping the Ballast connected will help with that. Otherwise you'll need something to give off some heat inside the machine, like a light bulb. A good place to locate it is behind the drop coin chute on the right side of the machine. A19 25w work well as they are small. I have one plugged into the service outlet inside the machine.
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So you are using the 63 Super 7V ac/dc on the sides on the reel glass too?
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Yes, but needed to get a little creative making lenses for them. With some artwork the LEDs hot spot strongly.
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Saw this topic about LED bulbs. The 63 incandescent is a 7V bulb.
Has anyone tried a 6.3 LED bayonet ? These are more widely available and less expensive. Probably many different lenses and options.
Thought I would ask. Just checkin...
Tony
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Saw this topic about LED bulbs. The 63 incandescent is a 7V bulb.
Has anyone tried a 6.3 LED bayonet ? These are more widely available and less expensive. Probably many different lenses and options.
I think the 63 was chosen for its size / light spread so it more uniformly lit a larger area. It's on the 6V circuit along with all the 44/47/55 lamps they used.
it may or may not be easy to replace the 63 socket with one/two of the smaller sockets the other lamps use ... depends on the game. You could also replace the socket with led strips/arrays if hot spotting was an issue.
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Does anyone have pictures of their led installation with bulbs or tubes?
I think led strips sounds like a good alternative too and it does remove the heat too I guess..