Use LED lamps?

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Use LED lamps?

Postby 5 cent player » Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:44 pm

Has anyone experimented with LED lighs in your (Jennings) machines?

Any information good or bad?

I have thought about trying some of the LED's used and sold by the pinball folks due to the heat issues with standard filament lamps.
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Re: Use LED lamps?

Postby mechanic » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:29 pm

A good thing for you if you keep the machine for yourself but if you try and sell it with LED bulbs you may find buyers balking at having non original equipment. As for me if I seen those style bulbs in the machine I'd deduct $150. just for the aggravation of having to change all those bulbs
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Re: Use LED lamps?

Postby Yarder » Sun Feb 25, 2018 2:02 pm

Yea, you could warm your lunch on my Jennings once the lights have been on for a while.

If I were to swap out to LED bulbs, anyone have a stock number?
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Re: Use LED lamps?

Postby Major Kong » Thu May 17, 2018 5:32 pm

My Star Chief ran unbelievably hot with the incandescent bulbs. I have changed them out for LEDs (easy) and am very pleased with the results. Runs cool now. I have noticed some have a minor strobe effect, guessing non rectified a/c. (Will look to replace those). I found an online pinball machine supplier, but have now sourced the bulbs at the local flea market. If you do this modification, you might want to pay attention to the bulb temperature (meaning shade of white) behind the white plastic on the “Chief” it has a yellow tint (these are the strobey ones). Wondering if the a/c hence strobe save me from polarity issues.
Tom 8)
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Re: Use LED lamps?

Postby TFA » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:02 am

I all depends what you're dealing with.

And yes, it saves you some money on the power bill (i.e. you can run your Jennings chief at 5 watt instead of 50 watt. And saves you having to replace a bulb every now and again as they fail. Quality LED's lasts for a very long time. But then again, they are obviously more expensive to buy. So it sort of evens out in my experience. So that wouldn't be my primary consideration.

Fact of the matter is that any type of plastic casing, signage, shielding or any type of painted glass doesn't do well with heat over time. An old school bulb running hot (as their do), will over time damage the paint job on glass panels (drying out, until it starts flaking) and make most plastic brittle.

So if you really care about preserving the machine for future generations, you really should consider replacing any bulb with LED lights, if you plan to have it turned on several hours each day. (Obviously in a way that doesn't damage the original wiring or sockets, so that you can always "roll back".). That way it's a win/win as far as i see it.

Of course there are some cases where the old school bulb gives a certain light, or has a certain function that you can't replace with LEDs. But apart from that...

On newer machine > 1960s (Sega, Aristocrat, etc). I wouldn't even care about preserving the old wiring, transformers, etc. I would just replace it all together - especially if their already in rough shape. That doesn't take away from those machine in my opinion.

But each to each own. Puritans may disagree :)
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Re: Use LED lamps?

Postby JPCass » Sun Sep 02, 2018 8:43 am

I also collect antique lighting, and deal with issues of how to appropriately light lamps and fixtures using LED bulbs that come as close as possible to original incandescent bulbs - including early carbon and tungsten filament bulbs that cast a more yellow light than even modern incandescent bulbs.

If you hunt, a lot of LED bulbs are available, including in miniature base sizes, with "warm" light output rather than the characteristic bright white. If necessary, it's also possible to buy amber gel sheets as used in theater lighting "cans," to use to convert LED light to a cast more typical of incandescent.

Heat causes all sorts of problems, including damaging sockets and wiring, plus bulbs that require less frequent replacement mean less wear and tear. LEDs are generally considered to be more cost effective, but even if they're a wash in some installations, the advantages of reduced heat output and maintenance definitely make them worthwhile.
Restored Mills 5c Extraordinary "barn find", long gone - now restoring 1934 5c Extraordinary Gold Award with original World's Fair reel strips
Restoring early Mills 5c Firebird (large coin view window)
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Re: Use LED lamps?

Postby MONTI » Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:23 am

Well I guess I am a Puritan as I like the original look of the bayonet bulbs and considering these slot machines like the ones pictured below had sat in a casino environment on for 24 hour periods for many years, many, many years, I don't believe that heat is an issue for the plastic lenses on the lower castings!
Granted, I have seen some of these lenses that were in bad shape but I believe that cause was due to the unknowing slot casino floor porters using the wrong chemical for cleaning the slot machines on the casino floor and of course when the lights were on which brought about damage & discoloration to the lenses over a period of time!
Personally witnessed this during my time working in the casinos in the 60's!
Even in a home environment where one might leave them on for 24 hour periods as a night light, so to speak, nothing can replace the original look of the standard bulbs!
IMHO!

MONTI

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