Bally paragon- bulbs back glass

[Dotteddown]

Hi everyone,
I’ve had my pinball about a few weeks now and I love it
One thing I’m considering is swapping the bulbs in the head to protect the back glass as they don’t heat up.
Is there anything like for like that you can replace with on the market without flickering or other issues ?
Thanks I’m advance

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

If you want to keep it original incandescent then historically people have used #47 bayonet in the back box to reduce heat - they draw less current and run cooler than the usual #44.

 

[Dotteddown]

If you want to keep it original incandescent then historically people have used #47 bayonet in the back box to reduce heat - they draw less current and run cooler than the usual #44.

Hi mate, thanks for reply.
Are these an easy swap ? I would like to keep the original colour if possible.
I have no idea what a #47 bayonet is so please excuse my lack of knowledge it’s my first pin

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Hi mate, thanks for reply.
Are these an easy swap ? I would like to keep the original colour if possible.
I have no idea what a #47 bayonet is so please excuse my lack of knowledge it’s my first pin

#47 lamp 10 pack - Pinball Heaven

#47 Equivalent to #44, but draws less current, 150mA (rather than 250mA for the standard #44) Not really good for newer games but on older games as it draws less current it is less likey to do damage to connectors/backglasses. TEN PACK

www.pinball.co.uk

Bayonet describes the lamp style.

Easy straightforward swap .

 

[Dotteddown]

Awesome thanks

 

[AlanJ]

Or go LED - Most of the bally backbox insert lamps are GI - General Illumination, so they on all the time, so easily replaced with LEDS. The beauty of LEDs is you can use coloured bulbs.

However, the controlled lights (the ones that go on an off depending on what's happening in the game,- e.g. High Score To date, Tilt, Game over, etc. ) are more tricky to replace with Leds. Why? Led bulbs draw very little power - typically 20ma, compared to 250ma for a #44 bulb. The current drawn is so small the lamp driver board fails to 'lock on' and so the led will flicker badly. There are solutions to this (they all basically involve drawing more current via a resistor in parallel with the LED).

 

[astyy]

I'm not sure how many forum penalty points are awarded for putting LEDs in a Paragon

 

[AlanJ]

Ha ha - mine is full of em

 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

If you go for LEDS, choose Warm White (do not try to color coordinate) to match the tone of that fantastic art

 

[steve brum]

We need to un led Xenon as it just doesn't work with leds . Do approve of using in static backbox lamps as drastically reduces heat and you can be clever with some of the colours

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Seen so many LED rainbow puke horror shows in back boxes - tread carefully.
I personally think older games should remain incandescent. You also have to remember you will generally have them switched on for far less time than in commercial environment - so overheating is really less of a worry.

 

[AlanJ]

We need to un led Xenon as it just doesn't work with leds . Do approve of using in static backbox lamps as drastically reduces heat and you can be clever with some of the colours

What Issue do you get with the LEDS in Xenon ?

 

[astyy]

@Dotteddown it's interesting that you raise this question, are you seeing signs of damage to your backglass? If so the priority really is to secure that, search for posts mentioning Krylon Triple Thick. The enemy of these backglasses is typically extreme changes of temp caused by storing in unheated sheds etc, caused by the paint layer and glass expanding at different rates.

 

[steve brum]

What Issue do you get with the LEDS in Xenon ?

The chase lights strobe all over the place and the feature lamps are out of sync. I'm happy to have leds in the GI

 

[Dotteddown]

Or go LED - Most of the bally backbox insert lamps are GI - General Illumination, so they on all the time, so easily replaced with LEDS. The beauty of LEDs is you can use coloured bulbs.

However, the controlled lights (the ones that go on an off depending on what's happening in the game,- e.g. High Score To date, Tilt, Game over, etc. ) are more tricky to replace with Leds. Why? Led bulbs draw very little power - typically 20ma, compared to 250ma for a #44 bulb. The current drawn is so small the lamp driver board fails to 'lock on' and so the led will flicker badly. There are solutions to this (they all basically involve drawing more current via a resistor in parallel with the LED).

Wow thanks for that Alan explained well and makes sense I like the led idea

 

[AlanJ]

The chase lights strobe all over the place and the feature lamps are out of sync. I'm happy to have leds in the GI

Weird - Std lamp driver boards in that game, probably need anti flicker resistors adding.

 

[Dotteddown]

If you go for LEDS, choose Warm White (do not try to color coordinate) to match the tone of that fantastic art

Noted

 

[Dotteddown]

Seen so many LED rainbow puke horror shows in back boxes - tread carefully.
I personally think older games should remain incandescent. You also have to remember you will generally have them switched on for far less time than in commercial environment - so overheating is really less of a worry.

The heat don’t really bother me but just thought it may help save the art work it’s really good

 

[Dotteddown]

Hi mate,
The artwork luckily is as good as you’ll find so hence the question trying to preserve it.
You could see the scorch marks on the plastic which made me ask too

@Dotteddown it's interesting that you raise this question, are you seeing signs of damage to your backglass? If so the priority really is to secure that, search for posts mentioning Krylon Triple Thick. The enemy of these backglasses is typically extreme changes of temp caused by storing in unheated sheds etc, caused by the paint layer and glass expanding at different rates.