High Speed Pinball light Modification, thoughts?

Teknotoyz

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So I'm starting down the road of modifying the High Speed beacon light.
I don't have the proper size red cover anyway, and why on earth did Williams choose red??



I thought this would be cool, curious on thoughts?
Anyone else ever do this?
I have seen LED flashers, but something is always cool about rotating beacons.
Might add LED's too, but I think it's gonna be too much.
 
don't shorten it, shows us a video with the whole thing mounted.

The LED beacon/flasher mod sucks IMHO. That original police topper would be so cool!!!
 
don't shorten it, shows us a video with the whole thing mounted.

The LED beacon/flasher mod sucks IMHO. That original police topper would be so cool!!!

Got two problems with the full length bar:
-Space is the first issue, shortened it will hang about 3-4 inches past the sides, long it's 10-12 inches over each side.
-Power is the second issue, that 5th spinner is a concern. The fuse is blown in my DMM, so I haven't measured the current yet. I have to stay under 10 amps 12vdc to do this mod with the supply I have. Buying a bigger supply isn't an option for me right now.
The really nice touch is that the power supply I have has a remote input for power, so I should be able to do this without relays.

The video is without the center spinner running, so it's still a pretty sharp looking light.
I have a LED flasher as well, but I'm not sure if I'll be using it or not.
The red dome shown on the machine is way oversized and really isn't an option to use.
I have $30 in the light bar, can't remember what I have in the supply as I got it so long ago.

I am also considering a hookup to a real traffic light to sync with the light in the game.
 
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So I'm starting down the road of modifying the High Speed beacon light.
I don't have the proper size red cover anyway, and why on earth did Williams choose red??

Mine's getting a little sketchy at startup, so I've been thinking of replacements as well. On the color, it's a state thing. In NY, blue lights are volunteer firemen. Red is strictly police and regular fire vehicles.

I like the red and blue, but I think the real deal may be a little overpowering. Just the original can be rough in a darkened room.

But what about these, one on each corner, run by a relay?

http://www.target.com/Red-Party-Police-Beacon-Light/dp/B0002VB01K
http://www.target.com/Blue-Party-Police-Beacon-Light/dp/B0002VB00Q

Might be something better or cheaper out there, but you get the idea.
 
So I'm starting down the road of modifying the High Speed beacon light.
I don't have the proper size red cover anyway, and why on earth did Williams choose red??



I thought this would be cool, curious on thoughts?
Anyone else ever do this?
I have seen LED flashers, but something is always cool about rotating beacons.
Might add LED's too, but I think it's gonna be too much.

There's a original red beacon light cover on EBay right now if you decide you want the original look of your pinball back.
 
There's a original red beacon light cover on EBay right now if you decide you want the original look of your pinball back.

I appreciate the heads up, I still struggle with the original/modify, but I figure someone else can put it back in the event I sell or get hit by the beer truck.
I will not be cutting anything, so "original" can be restored easily, no pinball machines will be harmed!
The new light is shaping up to be a pretty sweet addition.

That is awesome! Cheap too! Any pics of it working/mounted?

Took me a week to get the machine working (mostly) but it at least plays now.
Now for some pictures of the bar (full size) sitting on the machine head.
I still plan on removing the clear center section to make the bar shorter.
The video shows it working, I'm running it off a side supply just to demo.



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6 months later... the pinball machine works.... but I sold it...
SOOOO... gotta get the light bar on for the new owner.

Really bad that an idea takes this long to make happen.
Worked on the light bar tonight stripping off all the un-needed lights.
Will shorten the bar this week to remove the center clear section.

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Finished!!!!

Well, finished the machine last night (finally!)
Just in time to deliver it to it's new owner this morning.

I really regret not shopping it and doing this mod sooner.
HS is a truly enjoyable pin when it is working well, and I didn't have it working well until I got it shopped and inserts leveled (they were really raised up!)
But, TAF came and others had to go, this was one of the casualties.


Overall, the light install was reasonably easy to do, I had to rewire the supply voltage to the topper, the old one used 26v AC and the coil I used to power the supply for the lights was 12v DC.
Simply tapped into the 12v circuit and used it to supply the 60 mA for the relay.
I did install a large 12v supply to power the lights, needed about 10-15 amps of 12v DC to run the 4 spinners. These are the original police bulbs too... super bright!!
The original roof mount worked great to attach the bar as well.
I was worried it would blind the player, but it is out of the line of sight when your watching the playfield and it really brings the police chase feeling alive!

I would recommend this to anyone that wants the machine to look a little less aged and doesn't mind mods.
Cost was $35 for the used light bar (bargain bin price), and $26 for the power supply and $5 for a relay.




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I like the concept, and think it looks better than the original, but at the same time would like something a bit cleaner if I had one of my own.

Lower profile, a bit better blend into the cabinet. But the idea is awesome, no doubt about it.

Almost makes me want to get a HS, and do some of those old roof mounted sirens too.

-Hans
 
I like the concept, and think it looks better than the original, but at the same time would like something a bit cleaner if I had one of my own.

Lower profile, a bit better blend into the cabinet. But the idea is awesome, no doubt about it.

Almost makes me want to get a HS, and do some of those old roof mounted sirens too.

-Hans

LOL, price drove me as a new red dome was $40, the bar was $35.
I was somewhat limited by the (my) requirement to shorten the bar.
There were 6-8 to choose from the day I bought it, but this one fit the bill best.
I didn't want some behemoth that was way wider than the head.

Another thought, the back box key is on the top of the machine, lower profile wouldn't let you access the keyhole.

Where did you find the light bar that you used? I really would like to do this to mine.

Well, I got damn lucky honestly.
I was at a Hamvention Flea Market in Dayton, OH. (Ham Radio show with Flea market)
Basically an electronics flea market of mega size.
On the last day people were packing up and stuff was selling at bargain prices so as not to haul home.
The light bars were spread out across an entire parking space, I just asked what the best they could do was.
The guy had all kinds of police gear for sale.


NOW... Off-Topic
I got some LED stop light lights too... 12" diameter with the red/yellow/green lenses.
Wire these guys to sync to the High Speed lights and you have a BLAZING light show!!
I'll likely post them in the for sale section soon.
I won't need them anymore as the pin is now gone..... :(
 
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I really want a High Speed Pin.
:-(

I can't blame you, I'm addicted to mine and play it nearly every day!!!


I wish I had to know how to work new wiring for a police light, I've got a friend who modifies police cars as his business, he could probably hood me up with some sweet new stuff!!!
 
Hell ya! High Speed is my favorite since it came out back in 86'. Its the only pin we have at the moment. I dont think I'd do this light bar thing on mine unles it was alot cleaner design. Good idea though.
 
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