Pinball Upgrades:
This page has ideas for upgrading your stock pinball machine with better
parts or custom modification (mods). Many of the ideas are just links to other
pages where collectors or companies have already published cool mods.
Upgrade #1 - Replace the florescent tube in Stern pinball machines
with a DirectLED FL bulb
Stern pinball machines use a florescent tube to light the backbox.
The tube requires a ballast and starter which are both common failing
parts on location machines that have been on 24x7. In addition, the
ballast generates a lot of heat and is located right beside the boards
in the headbox. Instead of replacing a failed tube, starter or ballast,
consider replacing the light with a DirectLED FL bulb. This LED based
replacement doesn't require a starter or ballast, produces more light,
and uses less energy (7 watts instead of 17 watts).
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The replacement takes only about 10 minutes, requires only a minimum
wiring change, and just a couple of tools (wire cutter and wire
strippers).
You can find detailed instructions here
and can buy the
DirectLED FL 2' bulb at
http://www.earthled.com/. Use coupon code "arcadestash" to get 10%
off your order.
Upgrade #2 - Replace the backbox lights in your Williams/Bally WPC or
WPC-95 machine with LEDs
The lights in the backbox on most Williams/Bally machines from the
1990s are on all the time, generate quite a bit of heat, and also
contribute to issues with the general illumination (burnt connectors,
etc). A quick upgrade is to replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs. My
current LED of choice for the backbox comes from
Paradise Arcade -
the 555 LED replacements. These are bright and have a reasonable
color (just a little cool compared to standard bulbs). Have a suggestion
for a better LED? Send me email.
Pinball Mods:
Tron: Legacy Mods:
Tron mod #1 - Upgrade the Recognizer with LED lights
Check out this mod on
Kimball's
Pinball's that adds LED lights to the Recognizer - I'll add some
pictures from my Tron:LE soon, but I definitely recommend this product.
It was easy to install, looks great, and makes the Recognizer much more
visible.
Tron mod #2 - Upgrade the mini-Tron arcade game with an LCD screen
Add an LCD screen to the mini-Tron arcade game that plays the attract
mode. Instructions for this mod can be found here (a kit is also
available):
http://pinhacks.com/showthread.php?tid=65
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