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Where to buy classic Stern/Bally lamp sockets


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E-120-127 the long type with 1 lead for connection, the base is soldered to ground wire. 8abba5fba9a86f8fecbbf04f8d26afcf.jpg

 

Aussie retailers don’t seem to have them, Bay Area Amusements do for $US2 ea. Where is the best/cheapest place to get them, I’ll probably buy 50-100.

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E-120-127 the long type with 1 lead for connection, the base is soldered to ground wire. 8abba5fba9a86f8fecbbf04f8d26afcf.jpg

 

Aussie retailers don’t seem to have them, Bay Area Amusements do for $US2 ea. Where is the best/cheapest place to get them, I’ll probably buy 50-100.

 

PSPA have several options may have extra tabs, just cut them off

https://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/catalogsearch/result/?q=Socket

As for somewhere cheap your outta luck there sockets are expensive considering there are heaps in any game

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here you go - http://homepinballrepair.com/index.php/repair-pinball-lamp-sockets/

 

that will give you enough idea to get you started

 

use a little file or the dremel to clean well before you try and solder them. you will need a fair bit of heat

 

i use a dremel an a 443 on the inside, then a small file to clean. i usually just move the wire from the tab to the end instead of adding a jumper.

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so @onetaste, the lamp socket you have is cosmetically fine?

but the globe doesn't stay lit, say is intermittent?

two reasons for this,

1. the ground is failing

2. the supply is failing

yes removing the supply wire from the tab to base will fix that part, and lightly file/sand the base and 'tin' (add a small amount of flux and solder) to the supply part of the globe base and then solder/join the supply wire and adding a little solder if need be.

when doing the ground you should IMO remove the zinc plating on the leg/housing where you plan to join the wire, with a fine file of some sort and 'tin' it also.

keep the soldering iron tip, same temp as before, no need to turn it up, on the filed area for aprrox 15 seconds to allow for heat dissipation then add the solder and you should see it 'flow', not ball up.

if it doesn't flow the base metal is not hot enough yet and/or it is contaminated, which is where flux can help but looks crap when done.

better to have a nice clean surface and use a low flux solder, again only IMO.

this is/can be done with soldering iron at around the 300 degree C mark

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here you go - http://homepinballrepair.com/index.php/repair-pinball-lamp-sockets/

 

that will give you enough idea to get you started

 

use a little file or the dremel to clean well before you try and solder them. you will need a fair bit of heat

 

i use a dremel an a 443 on the inside, then a small file to clean. i usually just move the wire from the tab to the end instead of adding a jumper.

 

Thanks Doug for the linky. I haven't seen this website before and it's got a heap of useful knowledge.

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Thanks Doug for the linky. I haven't seen this website before and it's got a heap of useful knowledge.

 

 

ill take a couple pics of some i have fixed tommorow if i remember.. i find on 77-79 era its the worst.. have to basically do nearly all of them.

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ill take a couple pics of some i have fixed tommorow if i remember.. i find on 77-79 era its the worst.. have to basically do nearly all of them.

 

I like to just replace the early Ballys with Gottlieb or Williams ones myself. The Gottliebs just seem to be better quality while the Williams with the diode just seems to have helped the tabs not spinning.

 

The Williams just need the diode cut out, swing the tabs to line up and solder the two tabs together. You can now use them as if they were Bally parts.

 

If for any reason I can't swap the original, I have found you can remove the socket and put it base side down on a vice, use a phillips head screw drive inside the socket where the base of the bulb goes and hit the screw driver gently with a hammer tightens up the factory rivet used to hold all the parts together will tighten.

 

The trick is hitting it gently as the tabs are separated by small insulating washers, Bakelite I think is the material they are made of and you hit to hard, you can crack the washer.

 

A socket that you can spin the tab easily is a prime candidate for the hammer method as being able to spin the tab indicates the connections will be loose.

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Brilliant, thanks, boys.

 

I have a Nine Ball with a plate that holds maybe 35 lamps. For about $100 I can buy a new 555 plate and bulb holders to replace it. Would you go the new 555 solution or do your fixes to the original?

 

Personally I would make a new board like a "new 555 plate" only don't even bother with lamp sockets, just solder LEDs direct to the plate and mount the extra resistors required to run LEDs so they don't flicker on the plate as well.

 

The 555 sockets as with the 44 BC sockets themselves can be problematic and it seems to me, why even other using sockets when most people are using LED equipped light bulbs anyway these days?.

 

The whole socket idea was so blown light bulbs could be quickly changed but LEDs last so much longer so I see no reason why not just solder in the LEDs and be done with it and all the problems sockets can create will go away not to mention the actual cost saving.

 

Yes, if you wanted to change LED type or colour you would need to unsolder the LED and solder in a new LED but there are major cost savings as well such as bare LEDs are a couple of cents each when bought in bulk VS dedicated pinball socketed or wedge LED bulbs are at least 40c each and the cost of the sockets are about $1-$2 each.

 

Just my thoughts.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks everyone, there is a lot of gold in this thread.

 

I much prefer the look of incandescents on old machines so I’m going to have a crack at repairing the existing bulb socket plate in the nineball. As for my other games, rather than buy new bulb holders at $3 a piece i can now repair them.

 

That meta-search engine is really handy, had no idea that existed.

 

Finally, really cool idea re soldering LEDs straight in. Will the resistor stop the ghosting or is there something else we can add to the circuit to do this?

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