where to start?

[scratchee35]

i had a guy call me, lives about an hour away...he replaced the 73 bulb with a led...a puff of smoke came from area...now, the winner paid, credits, coins played, and denomination area do not light up...this is in a machine that had the printer next to payline glass

he says the machine works fine, just that one led board and denomination part is not lit up

before i start checking voltages and swapping parts, has anyone ever seen this happen and if so, is there a good starting point?

thanks!!!

Steve

[rokgpsman]

That has happened several times to slot owners but I don't remember the exact details. There are several discussions about it here on NLG (also on the NLG archive site) and you can probably find them with the Search feature. Look for "LED problems", "converting to LED" or "OMG what have I done?".

My memory is fuzzy but it seems like on some machines if you convert to LED's you have to use a certain LED type, or have to move some of the LED leads out of the way so they won't make contact. If done wrong it essentially installs a short circuit on the lamp lighting and can burn up parts and traces on boards that carry the lighting voltage to the lamps.

You or he will need to remove that board and examine it for repair or replace it.

On a 73 bulb the base is wedge shaped and the two leads are on opposite sides and arranged so that you can insert the bulb either way, the leads still make contact with the lamp socket. In the socket one contact has + voltage, the other contact has the return connection. It doesn't matter to the 73 bulb which way it is connected. But it does matter to some LED's if they aren't made like the 73 bulb base.

[Harvs]

i had a guy call me, lives about an hour away...he replaced the 73 bulb with a led...a puff of smoke came from area...now, the winner paid, credits, coins played, and denomination area do not light up...this is in a machine that had the printer next to payline glass

he says the machine works fine, just that one led board and denomination part is not lit up

before i start checking voltages and swapping parts, has anyone ever seen this happen and if so, is there a good starting point?

thanks!!!

Steve

He fried the I/O in the door (hopefully that's all). He can use an LED (12V), but you MUST cut one leg off each side!

[rokgpsman]

The guy that called probably tried to use an LED meant for auto usage, those LED's have 2 leads on both sides of the lamp and don't work for arcade or slot machines.

The ones in picture below are for cars, not slots, unless you mod them as Harvs said by cutting off a lead on both sides to mimic how the 73 bulb is made.

[LINDAM]

Keep in mind many LED's are DC, so polarity is important. you need to know witch is the anode and cathode

[Haywired]

Here is a post on this subject ...I did get some of these to try ...For those who have tried these, did you cut one of the leads off before install...it doesn't mention it in this post so I was wondering ....hopefully this post will help others also


http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=3900.msg20091#msg20091

[rokgpsman]

Here is a post on this subject ...I did get some of these to try ...For those who have tried these, did you cut one of the leads off before install...it doesn't mention it in this post so I was wondering ....hopefully this post will help others also

http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=3900.msg20091#msg20091

The LED's they mention installing in that thread are from an ebay seller with these type LED's shown below. Notice that it only has one lead on each side of the base, which is what you want for a slot machine. The ones that cause problems have 2 leads on each side, like the ones shown in post #3 above.

[Haywired]

You're correct .... God ..I feel stupid I didn't even look at the bulbs before posting ...I will have to put some in and see how they look ...Thanks...by the way those were a good deal and cheap per bulb....

[rokgpsman]

When LED's first caught on for slot & pinball machines a lot of people installed them and really liked how they look, tried different brands and types. They reduce the overall heat and electrical use in the machine, so are friendlier on the power supply and your elec bill, especially if you have several machines and tend to leave them on for several hours a day. The only negatives I heard back then were that some of the early white LED's would give a yellowish light and that when the LED was supposed to be off it stayed lit dimly. They definitely keep the pushbutton lens covers cooler and they don't heat darken the lens like the incandescent bulbs caused in some machines. A lot of the slot guys like the ones in that ebay ad you referenced.

Makes me wonder if new slot machines have LED's in by design, would reduce a casino's maintenance costs for bulb replacement labor & parts. (would reduce their elec bill also, but I don't know if they'd notice since they have so much other elec stuff going on).

....by the way those were a good deal and cheap per bulb....

45 cents per bulb and free shipping,,, I agree that's a deal.

[scratchee35]

Great information from eveyrone...THANK YOU ALL!!!

i have no clue what led was put in, or where he bought it from, as i only talked to the guy on the phone...but it makes sence that he burned out the i/o card inside the door, as well as possibly the trace's on the light socket also

you all have given me a starting place and i guess i will take it from there and see what he wants to do

thanks again for everyone's help and feedback!!!

Steve