Whitewater...Lighted flipper buttons done, and how to do it

Joe Grenuk

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Dec 28, 2011, 11:42:07 AM12/28/11

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One of you guys made the good suggestion that I should light the
flipper buttons on the WH20 I recently restored and posted, so, I did.
Pics are here....the last three in the album...

https://picasaweb.google.com/107859728471809685570/WH2002?authkey=Gv1sRgCOurjvyTjMOtzwE#

I used two pop bumper light sockets with wires, and transparent
(clear) flipper buttons from PBL, and 555 Super Flex Blue LEDs from
Cointaker. Total parts cost, about $8.

Tapped into the coin door wire harness for 6v from the coin entry GI,
using a black and a yellow wire. To get there, I pulled back the black
sheath over the wiring, tapped into the Black and Yellow wires, heat
shrinked them to insulate. Pulled the black sheat back up to cover
that work, and secured with a zip tie. Could have tapped into the same
6v on the lower left connector on the coin door interface board just
as well, but, I wasn't in the mood to build a new connector, or
doubling up on the existing IDC connector.

Ran the wires up to the left button and attached to the wires on the
socket. I ran another pair of wires from the left socket to power the
right button light.

Covered all that with black shrink for a clean look. Installed the LED
so that it touches the threads on the flipper button.

Ran the right wires underneath the lockdown receiver over to the right
side socket, covering all the exposed wire with black heat shrink for
a neat look.

Note that I removed the pal nuts. The holes on my game were tight
enough so that the button was in the cabinet pretty firmly, but I put
a dab of hot glue on the button to make sure it stays snug. The pal
nut reduced some of the lighting effect, so I left it out. It still
looked good with the pal nut on, just slightly less bright. On the
glue, it's reversible, and since there is no outward pressure on the
flipper button, I'm not concerned about it coming out of the game.

Also, since there was quite a lof of light coming up from between the
cabinet and the playfield from the LEDs, I put some black paint on the
top threads of the flipper button to block out probably 3/4 of the
light that was coming up.

As some say on RGP, "Walla!"

I

radmac

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Dec 28, 2011, 11:51:59 AM12/28/11

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Great pics of your game. That game looks awesome!

On Dec 28, 9:42 am, Joe Grenuk <jgre...@aol.com> wrote:
> One of you guys made the good suggestion that I should light the
> flipper buttons on the WH20 I recently restored and posted, so, I did.
> Pics are here....the last three in the album...
>

> https://picasaweb.google.com/107859728471809685570/WH2002?authkey=Gv1...
>

addamb

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Dec 28, 2011, 12:09:16 PM12/28/11

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Nice write up. Thanks!!

--
addamb
This USENET post sent from http://rgparchive.com

Bill Heatherly

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Dec 28, 2011, 12:10:11 PM12/28/11

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Joe,
Do you do your own restoration work? I saw your Kings & Queens and
now this one and they are beauties.
Bill

TunaSled

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Dec 28, 2011, 12:19:05 PM12/28/11

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Am I missing something? Beautiful game, excellent work, but I see no flipper buttons. Last 3 photos are of the lower playfield underside...

vid1900

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Dec 28, 2011, 12:23:57 PM12/28/11

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TunaSled;1850243 Wrote:
> Am I missing something? Beautiful game, excellent work, but I see no
> flipper buttons. Last 3 photos are of the lower playfield underside...

Same here.

--
vid1900

Pinballed

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Dec 28, 2011, 12:28:31 PM12/28/11

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good call...I see no evidence of what he's posted about...must have
made a mistake and shown the wrong pics I guess. Oh well.

Joe Grenuk

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Dec 28, 2011, 12:45:06 PM12/28/11

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Sorry, I messed up...they are there now; last three pics.

And yes, Bill, this was all done by myself, except the clearing on the
original PF. I did the repair work and sent it out to be cleared.

Joe

TunaSled

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Dec 28, 2011, 12:54:53 PM12/28/11

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Ah yes, there they are. Good touch. Great use of the Cointaker posables. Those things are a charm.

addamb

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Dec 28, 2011, 1:02:06 PM12/28/11

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Looks great!! I've got some translucent red buttons on their way, i know
what i'll be doing when they get here!!:D

--
addamb

JahBarron

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Dec 28, 2011, 1:29:32 PM12/28/11

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I'm generally a purist, but this looks totally radical, Joe. I love it.
Great job!

--
JahBarron

Pinster68

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Dec 28, 2011, 1:28:02 PM12/28/11

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jgrenuk;1850222 Wrote:
> One of you guys made the good suggestion that I should light the
> flipper buttons on the WH20 I recently restored and posted, so, I did.
> Pics are here....the last three in the album...
>

> http://tinyurl.com/cqgfjb5

That was my suggestion Joe, and might I say it's a perfect compliment to
your previous efforts. Nice work!

Brian

--
Pinster68

Bill

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Dec 28, 2011, 3:27:22 PM12/28/11

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Great work Joe! thanks for sharing.

Bill

KD

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Dec 28, 2011, 2:56:20 PM12/28/11

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Beautiful !!! Like it alot,Just ordered my parts to do the same
thing,Thanks a million for posting and sharing.

THE COUNT

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Dec 28, 2011, 6:27:43 PM12/28/11

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I have clear buttons on my Dirty Harry and t had thought about doing
this. This thread gave me the inspiration to do it. I did it this
afternoon and it looks awesome. I used some black electrical tape to
block the light from shining up. Just a little piece over the pal nut
(which I kept) that sticks out did the trick.

--
THE COUNT

Chris Hibler

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Dec 28, 2011, 6:29:29 PM12/28/11

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On Dec 28, 10:42 am, Joe Grenuk <jgre...@aol.com> wrote:
> One of you guys made the good suggestion that I should light the
> flipper buttons on the WH20 I recently restored and posted, so, I did.
> Pics are here....the last three in the album...
>

> https://picasaweb.google.com/107859728471809685570/WH2002?authkey=Gv1...

Awesome Joe. That blue theme gives it a cool look. I'm sure Bryan
Kelly would love it, bumbles and all. :-)
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

addamb

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Dec 28, 2011, 6:38:07 PM12/28/11

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THE COUNT;1850463 Wrote:
> I have clear buttons on my Dirty Harry and t had thought about doing
> this. This thread gave me the inspiration to do it. I did it this
> afternoon and it looks awesome. I used some black electrical tape to
> block the light from shining up. Just a little piece over the pal nut
> (which I kept) that sticks out did the trick.

Nice!! How much does the pal nut dim the light? When i do it i don't
want it to be so bright that it consumes the game when you walk in the
room. Obviously with the flex LED you can adjust it to the personal
liking anyways, but i was thinking with the pal nut still on it may dimm
it just enough.

--
addamb

THE COUNT

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Dec 28, 2011, 6:45:31 PM12/28/11

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Oops, forgot to add the link to the picture.

http://tinyurl.com/cg6t8t4

I didn't take the pal nut off and try it. It was plenty bright with it
installed. I used PBL's 3 LED's that I take apart and turn into flex's
by extending the leads and gluing them back together. It isn't
obnoxiously bright but it's very noticable. The only thing I can say to
watch out for is PF and apron clearance, it's close on DH :)

--
THE COUNT

mark spencer

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Dec 29, 2011, 5:29:50 PM12/29/11

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Look's Great .. I Might Do my BSD and FH ...

jbrady65

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Dec 30, 2011, 11:06:28 AM12/30/11

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Not trying to steal your thread, and looks awesome BTW...I just bought
WH2O and WHERE do I get get white boulders? That looks great!!

--
jbrady65

EZ SLEEZE E

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Dec 30, 2011, 11:42:18 AM12/30/11

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Run them off the GI and you'll get the same on off pattern of the
game. Wire is cheap.

addamb

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Dec 30, 2011, 11:56:37 AM12/30/11

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EZ SLEEZE E;1851350 Wrote:
> Run them off the GI and you'll get the same on off pattern of the
> game. Wire is cheap.

Hmmmm, good idea!! :) The extra load won't be an issue? (I'm guessing no
since they are LEDs, but it's worth asking)

--
addamb

Mike Gervasi

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Dec 30, 2011, 5:55:34 PM12/30/11

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Wow..that's one beautiful machine.

KD

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Jan 2, 2012, 2:02:28 AM1/2/12

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On Dec 28 2011, 9:42 am, Joe Grenuk <jgre...@aol.com> wrote:
> One of you guys made the good suggestion that I should light the
> flipper buttons on the WH20 I recently restored and posted, so, I did.
> Pics are here....the last three in the album...
>

> https://picasaweb.google.com/107859728471809685570/WH2002?authkey=Gv1...

Thanks again Joe for the pics and explanation of this mod.
I just completed it on my White Water and am thrilled with it.
Take Care,Kirk in Colorado

Simon

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Jan 2, 2012, 4:51:13 AM1/2/12

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Like it :)