Replacing Fluorescent Tubes with LED strips

I have to say I'm a little freaked out by Gamefixer's comment that the natural colored LEDs badly bleached the packaging of the toys in just a few months.

Those were florescents in the top of a Key Master.
 
I wonder if a uv blocking clear window film in front of any light source led or tube based will slow down the deteriorating effects of the light.

Unless the machines are on for 12-16 hours a day I dont think a collector has much to worry about.

Its us operators that have stuff thats getting torn up.
 
heres an example of the anemic white +6000k tubes (NOT LED's) and what they do in our Key Masters. That box in the upper right used to be dark red.
 

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Wow, I just pulled out the 3 LED strips I ordered 3-4 months ago and tested them tonight with a 12v battery pack.

Those things are really bright! :)

And the color difference between the cool white and warm white is pretty dramatic too.

Andrew, is there a straightforward way of separating the two cool white strips that they shipped me? They're joined with an obvious seam so I could wiggle them back and forth until the boards come apart or I could cut along the seam with a wire cutter but what did you do? I don't want to mess them up. Or my wire cutter. :)



Yeah, just bend them back and forth for a bit, and they'll come apart. I sorta work my way along the seam a little bit at a time, and keep going over it a few times and it will eventually separate.
 
heres an example of the anemic white +6000k tubes (NOT LED's) and what they do in our Key Masters. That box in the upper right used to be dark red.

This is a key (pun intended) reason I am going to put LEDs into my Key Master and crane games. And not replacing those $8.00 u-bend bulbs and the overpriced ballasts. $15 in LEDs is a lot cheaper (and plug in power supplies we have on hand) is a much feasible replacement.
 
Anyone ever just go the route of a LED tube that fits directly into the existing fixture?

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/t8-retrofit-led-tubes-4100k-2-foot/

For $6 and bypassing the current ballast (or they have options to use existing ballast)

They seem similar in nature to the strips but have the light diffusing tube already built and practically plug-n-play

just curious if anyone has feedback?
 
Anyone ever just go the route of a LED tube that fits directly into the existing fixture?

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/t8-retrofit-led-tubes-4100k-2-foot/

For $6 and bypassing the current ballast (or they have options to use existing ballast)

They seem similar in nature to the strips but have the light diffusing tube already built and practically plug-n-play

just curious if anyone has feedback?
I got a couple from Amazon to put into my Bromley Rock 'n Bowl. No issues, was rather simple to put in. The advantage was not having to tie into game's 12v. The downside - since I got the ones that needed the ballast cut out - was having to take the assembly out and open it up to cut and attach wires as needed.

However, for that game, it was a lot easier than putting in LED strips with a power supply or tying into game's 12v supply.

They put out fantastic light - the color matched the existing tubes exactly, so the artwork looks just the same.
 
I got a couple from Amazon to put into my Bromley Rock 'n Bowl. No issues, was rather simple to put in. The advantage was not having to tie into game's 12v. The downside - since I got the ones that needed the ballast cut out - was having to take the assembly out and open it up to cut and attach wires as needed.

However, for that game, it was a lot easier than putting in LED strips with a power supply or tying into game's 12v supply.

They put out fantastic light - the color matched the existing tubes exactly, so the artwork looks just the same.

!!awesome!!
 
Unless the machines are on for 12-16 hours a day I dont think a collector has much to worry about.

Its us operators that have stuff thats getting torn up.

Who would thought that there would be anyone who would have a need for 2708 eproms or 2112 ram chips.

Operators don't keep the same games for 20 plus years running a few hours per day.
 
You're getting flickering from an LED bar?

Check the power supply, and wiring.

The lady across the street spent hundreds replacing her front porch/driveway lights with "high end" LED fixtures... like $100 per fixture. They ALL 3 blink now after two years. The first one that started blinking looks like a freakin' strobe light. The other two are much much faster blinkers... but blink none the less. They started the 2nd year.
 
Here's another use for LED strips:

A location I service has an old Chexx that uses the #89 bulbs.

As everyone knows, the #89 bulbs don't last long in a Chexx. I even mounted
a 12 volt regulator on the bulb housing and the bulbs still turn silver and burn
out after a few weeks (can someone explain why this happens ?).

I cut (5) 4" LED strips from a warm white 5050 super bright roll, wired them in parallel
and stuck them to the dome (the metal housing makes a great heat
sink). They are brighter than the bulbs and the playfield looks great. They've only
been in for 2 weeks but they are the same LEDs I use to light my workbench and
that's been running over 2 years now.

JD
 
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The lady across the street spent hundreds replacing her front porch/driveway lights with "high end" LED fixtures... like $100 per fixture. They ALL 3 blink now after two years. The first one that started blinking looks like a freakin' strobe light. The other two are much much faster blinkers... but blink none the less. They started the 2nd year.

Yup, being on too long will do that. I'm guessing she has them on all night?

These LED's would last longer if two things were done.

Their power supply's suck! They are just good enough to supply the LED's with the correct voltage and current. When the supplies break down they start passing AC into the LED's. Not good for the LED's. Thats likely what your neighbor is seeing.

Better heat sinks. You wouldnt think it but LED's create A LOT of heat. Not as much as a normal might bulb but enough to melt plastic. If they were given better heat sinks they wouldnt burn up as fast.
 
burn
out after a few weeks (can someone explain why this happens ?).

Vibration. Watch that score keeper as people play that game. That thing is moving. Maybe not a lot to us but imagine the filament inside the light bulb being shaken around.

Is that DC voltage up there? I dont recall.

When Bally was using regular light sockets in their games I used to put diodes inline with the bulb socket. A normal bulb running on wall current will vibrate the filament back and forth 60 times a second. Eventually that vibration will break the filament. A single diode cut that cycle by at least half the speed so the bulbs would last longer. We went from changing bulbs every 6-8 months to changing them every 3-4 years.

At some point Radio Shack sold a flat pack diode that you would put in the fixture before you screwed the bulb in. Same results as the in line diode.
 
I even mounted
a 12 volt regulator on the bulb housing and the bulbs still turn silver and burn
out after a few weeks (can someone explain why this happens ?).



This typically happens when the bulb is getting more voltage than it's rated for. The higher current 'boils' the filament, and it vaporizes, and the metal condenses on the glass.

If you accidentally put a 5V bulb in a 12V socket, you'll see this pretty quickly. The bulb will burn very bright for a while, then burn out and the glass will be silver.

If it's happening slowly, I'd guess you're likely still somehow getting too much voltage on it. See if there's any extra AC riding on the DC.
 
This was my original thought. The #89 bulbs are spec'd for 13 volts, the
actual voltage up there was around 15. I installed a 3 amp 12 volt regulator
and the bulbs were getting 12 volts but still would turn silver, just not as
fast.

I think I'm going to go with the vibration theory a couple posts back.

JD

This typically happens when the bulb is getting more voltage than it's rated for. The higher current 'boils' the filament, and it vaporizes, and the metal condenses on the glass.

If you accidentally put a 5V bulb in a 12V socket, you'll see this pretty quickly. The bulb will burn very bright for a while, then burn out and the glass will be silver.

If it's happening slowly, I'd guess you're likely still somehow getting too much voltage on it. See if there's any extra AC riding on the DC.
 
Yup, being on too long will do that. I'm guessing she has them on all night?

These LED's would last longer if two things were done.

Their power supply's suck! They are just good enough to supply the LED's with the correct voltage and current. When the supplies break down they start passing AC into the LED's. Not good for the LED's. Thats likely what your neighbor is seeing.

Better heat sinks. You wouldnt think it but LED's create A LOT of heat. Not as much as a normal might bulb but enough to melt plastic. If they were given better heat sinks they wouldnt burn up as fast.

I believe they are on sensors so yeah, on all night, off all day.
 
On a whim, I decided I'd put in a warm white LED tube to replace the broken florescent tube in my PC10. I happened to have two LED tubes that I had originally gotten for my Rock 'n Bowl but were the wrong size - they happened to fit the mount in the PC10 cabinet.

So, without any real planning to do so, I went ahead and took off the front marquee, removed the transformer and starter, and clipped in two wires. Plugged in the tube, and it looks great. (Found out I'm going to need a new marquee, since mine has a lot of scratches in the art.. but hey, at least it's back-lit now!)
 
OK, I finally hooked one of the LED strips up that Andrew mentioned way back in the beginning of this thread. My guinea pig was my "Arcade Classics" vertical MAME cabinet because it was easy getting 12V up to the marquee area (I tapped some wires feeding a cooling fan that I'd added) and if the light somehow horribly bleached the marquee then I could easily order another one.

This isn't a perfect comparison because in the 1st picture with the original fluorescent tube, part of the tube is covered by the LED light strip so it's a little dimmer than w/o the LED strip being in the way. I included the AD marquee next to it for comparison.

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The second picture is the cool white LED strip. The LED light strip is much brighter than the fluorescent tube so I angled it up at about a 20-30 degree angle so not as much was shining on the marquee and that did the trick.

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I kept the original marquee light fixture in there and just zip tied the LED strip to it. It is secure enough that it'll never come off even if shipped but loose enough that I can adjust the angle of the LED light strip and it should stay at that angle unless the cab is really banged around in shipping. And if years from now someone really wants to go back to the original then they can just cut the zip ties and unplug the 12v line I ran up to the marquee area (connected with .062 connectors).

What do you guys think?
 

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