Question about pinball LEDs

LUCKYMAN

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I have a gorgar I wanna change all the lights to LEDs

unfortunately they don't make gorgar light kits so I assume I have to just order as many lights as I need

my question is , most of the solid lights are 44 6.3

do I need lights that blink fir the blinking lights? Or can I put 44 LEDs in them? These lights are 89 I think
 
First - have you seen/played a machine fully equipped with LED's? If not, go online and watch a few videos, or better yet, view one in person. LED's are not for everyone, and they often look much worse than the standard bulbs. Read up on how LED's behave; they look quite a bit different - the "temperature" of the light is often different, although newer LED's come in "warmer" shades.

The main thing to notice is that when used with feature lamps, you'll see flickering from the LED's when active, due to the nature of how lamps are activated in a pinball. Feature lamps (such as the ones that come on to count up bonus) are strobed - they are turned on/off very, very quickly. With a standard bulb, this isn't noticeable, but with LED's, this flickering is often quite noticeable.

With older Bally/Stern games, you can purchase an aftermarket lamp driver board to avoid the flickering, but I'm not aware of such an option for Gorgar.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=ULTLDB


If you only want to use them in behind the backglass, or for GI (general illumination) bulbs, not as big of a deal.

There are also newer varieties with reduced flickering that may work better for you - example:

http://www.pinballcenter.eu/english/product-informations/noflix-advantages/pinball-led-noflix.html

I'd suggest ordering 5 or 10 of these, putting them in an area, turn out the lights, and see what you think before going all out and ordering 100+ LED's.

To answer your question - for the flashers (#89), flasher versions of the LED's are available as well; you wouldn't just stick the #44 equivalent LED's in those areas.

Personally - I've seen a few games where they look ok - and many where they look really, really bad, and really detract from the game. Think before you leap.
 
Well said Sprout. I couldn't agree more!

I saw so many blinding pins this weekend at PATZ! Made the games unplayable unless you wore sunglasses ;)
 
Some games just look incredible with them though. I have never seen Gorgar with leds installed to give an opinion on, but at the MI pinball expo this weekend I saw a Black Hole with leds and a Tales From the Crypt with them as well and was blown away.
 
Some damn good advice there. I 'thought' I liked LEDs...really like them. I used a few in my WH2O and MB..I bought about a complete kit for my FGY. Then I bought a WPT the had ALL the lights LEDs and I must say..I don't like it at all.

I think LEDs do have their place with pins...just pick and chose your battles
 
you've got to test and try to see what you like. i'm a fan of LEDs being used in the inserts on the playfield.

i've LED'd up a few pins...other ones, i won't touch with LEDs. it's all how you want your game to look. you cannot please everyone. i've never done full LEDs on any pin. and i won't.

in my advice, i wouldn't use LEDs behind a gorgar glass. it's going to give you too much "spot" lighting...unless there's something new i haven't tried yet, and i've tried every LED that's out there from pinballlife, cointaker, and some other sources. i prefer "colored" normal bulbs behind some Bally backglasses...so i'd throw clear and a lot of red 44 bulbs on a gorgar.

plus the LED flicker as mentioned: classic pinballs (1977 through 1989), i guess, really show a lot more flicker than you'd expect. but i am guilty of using a few LEDs in my strikes and spares.


i would never buy a premade kit, though. good luck.
 
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I'm not a fan of LEDs--most games I've played with them have a definite strobe effect that makes following the ball harder, and many have flickering. Plus most 'white' LEDs are blue-white as opposed to incandescents, which are yellow-white. This can make a real difference depending on color if the inserts.

For Gorgar's bg, I think LEDs may be good for the blue background, maybe not so much (assuming 'white' LEDs) for the red character lighting. I just took out pretty much all the LEDs that were installed in a Royal Rumble I just got, but kept them (LED bulbs and flashers) in the backbox b/c the translite is primarily blue so it looks good. (Although the dispersion of these 3-led bulbs is weaker than the original incandescents.)
 
ok well heres the deal.. I changed all the lights in the head unit to LEDs... Now they are not as bright as the regular 44 bulbs, but there is no more heat, so i have come to a conculsion to use the LEDs in the head cause thats where the PCBs are which wont be so much heat in the head of the unit. As for looks, they are not as bright but i think it still looks GREAT!! Also with having 30+ year old paint on the glass, this will minumize flaking!!

as for the playfield im using regular 44 bulbs. Using both type bulbs looks AWSOME!!!!
 
I just got done installing led's in the playfield of my Williams Blackout (very similar to Gorgar obviously) and I have to say I love it. I used the white super brights from Cointaker for Gi and matched all the insert's color with super brights. Only the 4 green multiplier inserts have ghosting, and it isn't near noticable enough to bother me, and I'm pretty picky. I like and really prefer the whiter light of the leds, which don't look blue at all like I'd heard complaints of.

Obviously this is a personal preference, and I prefer led's. Next up will be a mixture of warm super brights and white superbrights in the backbox.
 
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