Blog

A trend that started back in the mid/late 80s was putting indicator lights above the playfield (usually on a sign or plastic mold) with colored rubber caps on them (often called bulb condoms). A classic example is Fester’s chair on Addams Family: a yellow bulb on one side to indicate that a mansion award is ready, and a red bulb on the other side to indicate that multiball is ready. When we upgraded these games to LEDs, it was a little disappointing that the colored LED replacements all had a white dome. They looked sad and dull when unlit. Of...

The situation is this: you’ve installed LEDs into your early solid state Bally or Stern machine, and now some inserts have started blinking even though they’re supposed to be solid. What now? Blame the LED technology of course! The voltage isn’t consistent at the socket and LEDs bulbs will unfortunately dim instantly (rather than an incandescent, which took so long to dim when the voltage dropped that you didn’t notice a thing). This is similar to the problem of ghosting (link to ghosting post), which happens when an unlit bulb flickers subtly. But thankfully, Comet Pinball can come to your...

Do you have a bulb that is just a little too bright when you catch a direct glimpse of it? Or perhaps it is casting an unwanted halo onto some playfield plastics? Grab a sheet of sandpaper and get rubbing! This easy technique uses something you’ve probably already got around the house. We prefer 1500 grit, but different ratings will work too, each producing a slightly different look. Usually it’s just the top of the lens on the bulb that is creating the problem, so start there and see how it comes out. Some lighting enthusiasts out there love doing...

The situation is this: one or more of the controlled lights (usually the light under an insert on the playfield) in your machine is dimly lit or flickering just a little bit, even though it should be completely turned off. What do you do?!? We call that "ghosting", and it happens because there is just a little bit of voltage at the socket. This extra voltage wasn’t a problem for incandescent bulbs, which took a bit of time, and a lot of voltage to start getting bright. However, LEDs can turn on and off instantly, and will illuminate with much less...

What are the benefits of converting to LEDs in your pinball machines? There are a ton of benefits that make it more than worthwhile to switch from incandescent bulbs to LEDs in your pinball machine. But first, let’s get this out of the way… Are incandescent bulbs bad for pinball machines? Answer: definitely not. Prior to 2013, all pinball machines were designed with only incandescent bulbs in mind. They work like a charm, but traditionally these machines were designed to be put on location, make a lot of money in a short amount of time, and then be replaced with...