Just curious if they're worth it...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140338360011&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140338360011&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Anyone use these LEDs for Pinball?
- Thread starter HighScoreSaves
- Start date
Encom
Well-known member
Yes, they are good LEDs. That Ebay ad is from the CoinTaker LED people. Check out thier website for better selection www.cointaker.com
freckledpeas
Active member
Yeah, if they're the ones from cointaker, I've bought 'em... used 'em... and like 'em. 
enjoyvelvet
Well-known member
any difference between those and the ones from pinballlife.com?
shardian
New member
That's a nice price for them, that's for sure.
Pinball Life's LEDs are much brighter than these and can be overpowering depending on the application. If the ones in the auction are the frosted type I would go with those.
enjoyvelvet
Well-known member
I'd like to stick some in the playfield on my Back to the Future. I was going to use frosted for GI but the regular bright ones for under the playfield...anyone know the difference between cool white and warm white? Any preference? Also, it says for the 89 flashers you need to do a slight mod for a system 11...is Back to the Future this system? Thanks in advance!
I stick with frosted wherever possible. I think LEDs without the frosted dome are way too bright for inserts, but that is just my preference.
The main difference between the white and warm white is warm white has more of a yellowish tone to the color to make it look more like an incandescent bulb. I prefer warm white under white inserts. I would not use LEDs for flashers... LEDs are too directional and will not light up as much as a normal bulb would.
BTTF is not a System 11. I would have to search but I believe there is an issue with the LEDs not staying on long enough and the mod is for that.
The main difference between the white and warm white is warm white has more of a yellowish tone to the color to make it look more like an incandescent bulb. I prefer warm white under white inserts. I would not use LEDs for flashers... LEDs are too directional and will not light up as much as a normal bulb would.
BTTF is not a System 11. I would have to search but I believe there is an issue with the LEDs not staying on long enough and the mod is for that.
enjoyvelvet
Well-known member
Thank you for the wealth of info! Thats exactly what I needed to know. The frosted white LEDs are still brighter than the regular incadescent bulbs right?
BBQ
New member
Frosted white from Cointaker in my Firepower backbox does not look good at all. I am going to swap out some wide field whites per their suggestion.
Frosted does look good on the PF GI, while wide field colored are awesome for the inserts. I do look forward to a better white color match as the whites I got are a bit cooler in color temp than standard 44s.
Frosted does look good on the PF GI, while wide field colored are awesome for the inserts. I do look forward to a better white color match as the whites I got are a bit cooler in color temp than standard 44s.
I would say they are similar. I still prefer incandescent bulbs overall to LEDs. I do like LEDs for the backbox though.
Speaking of Firepower I just did a full LED conversion on my project game. The GI looks really good, the backbox to me looks OK as well although if you take pictures of it you can see it looks spotty. Not so much in person.
Here is bit more info on LEDs:
1. The 555 wedge base lamps have a tendency to not fit snug in the sockets or the wire leads do not make perfect contact. This is a common problem with LEDs. The way to fix that is to bend the leads away and wrap some electrical tape around the base to make it slightly thicker. This is going to be fixed in the future.
2. The frosted LED tops can break. When inserting a bulb make sure to not hold the bulb by the frosted tip. If you apply too much pressure it will break and the LED is trash. Hold it by the white collar around the bulb
enjoyvelvet
Well-known member
is that issue only with cointaker or leds in general
There are three main vendors of LEDs:
Pinball Life
BCS Pinball
Cointaker
Pinball Life doesn't sell frosted LEDs. IIRC I don't think their 555 bulbs have that issue, I have a few that I bought to try out and I don't remember it being a problem.
As far as the other vendors go, yes both issues are a common problem.
beerorkid
New member
I had no issues with the 100 or so 555 bulbs from pinballlife. They are really bright though.
quick vid of the LEDs on my pins
quick vid of the LEDs on my pins
kidorbit
New member
I used Cointaker's wide angle clear bulbs in the backglass of my F-14 and I think it turned out great. To me it has to be a wide angle as the others show up as excessively bright points in the backglass. The wide angle distributes the light evenly. I like the effect so much I plan on switching nearly all of my backglass bulbs to LED's over the next few months. I tried red and orange bulbs in my Fire backglass with soft white for the horses and it looked awesome as well.
enjoyvelvet
Well-known member
Yea Chris from Cointaker just called me to discuss options for my Back to the Future...pretty awesome. He recommended the wide angle leds for the backglass as well and to try color matching the inserts. Basically I think its going to come down to personal preference...too many choices
