Flicker-free marquee for Sega cabinets

[nem]

Great idea that. Will have to buy some of those adapters.

[nem]

I should've done this ages ago. No more flickery marquee, no more screen interference.

blast_city_led_marquee.jpg

Best of all, it costs next to nothing. I spent under ten euros in parts.

Thank you mufunyo for the idea!

[Cycl0ne]

oh wow jus tstumpled upon this thread.. really nice idea.. had the same idea but mine was too complicated (rewiring for 220v).

So i just buy the 110v leds and solder the fuse into the adapter? Any links to where i can buy fuse & Adapter? The tube i seem to get from ebay correct?

[Asure]

You don't need the fuse, adapter or starter or even the HV transformer/ballast. These LED tubes take 100-240AC and just work.

I used one in a 220V LED TL in my Naomi like i wrote on page #9 and suggested the 120AC types for other candies. There is no need for a starter or HV transformer/ballast, those will just burn AC power for doing nothing.

This image should clear up any remaining questions:


Or Click if the image does not show.

Depending on your preference, get either cold (white light) or warm (yellow-ish) light for your cab.
I found the warm yellow-ish light more suitable for the red strip/reflector combo in my Naomi, but that's personal.

[nem]

That's right you don't need the fuse. However, if you want to return it to stock for some odd reason, in mufunyo's example (and mine) you just need to reattach the wires back to the ballast, and away you go.

[Asure]

It turned out to be impossible to get the fat neon replacement tube at a decent price in the EU. That's what got me started on replacing the thing at first

I kept the ballast in the coin box, the rest of the wiring is still there.

I don't think I'll ever restore this to FL lights.

[mufunyo]

So i just buy the 110v leds and solder the fuse into the adapter? Any links to where i can buy fuse & Adapter? The tube i seem to get from ebay correct?

You get the fuse ("LED starter") supplied along with the LED replacement tubes, you just have to bust open the plastic holder and cut off the fuse legs. Both the tube and the socket converter can be found on eBay.

Asure is correct, you can wire it up without a fuse, but I personally don't want to modify the wiring to bypass the ballast. I'd rather keep it original in case I ever decide to sell my cabinet; the fuse is a cheap and simple solution.

[nem]

If you want to keep all the wiring original, yes. I'm planning to keep the ballast and original starter, but just bypass the wires around them and connect them straight to the G13 socket.

Asure is correct, you can wire it up without a fuse, but I personally don't want to modify the wiring to bypass the ballast. I'd rather keep it original in case I ever decide to sell my cabinet; the fuse is a cheap and simple solution.

Change of heart?

For the record, the wires are soldered to the ballast. Just unsolder the leads from the ballast and then solder the leads together. Put some shrink tubing or electrician's tape over the connection and bob's your uncle. No unnecessary cuts, everything can be restored to original spec in 5 minutes.

[mufunyo]

Change of heart?

You can find multiple changes of heart in this thread. I initially planned to replace the magnetic ballast with an electronic one and keep the original fluorescent tube - when finding a matching ballast proved too difficult and expensive I briefly considered getting a new tube with matching electronic ballast, but it turns out none of them are 110v compatible, so I finally decided to go the LED route which lead to figuring out the fact that a "LED starter" is just a fuse, and finding the socket adapter which allows a completely solderless and reversible modification, in the end better than I had initially hoped.

[Moonwalker]

Change of heart?

You can find multiple changes of heart in this thread. I initially planned to replace the magnetic ballast with an electronic one and keep the original fluorescent tube - when finding a matching ballast proved too difficult and expensive I briefly considered getting a new tube with matching electronic ballast, but it turns out none of them are 110v compatible, so I finally decided to go the LED route which lead to figuring out the fact that a "LED starter" is just a fuse, and finding the socket adapter which allows a completely solderless and reversible modification, in the end better than I had initially hoped.

I am planning to LED mod my New Net City. My bulb works fine and flicker free, but the starter changes the convergence because I have the screen in Tate and it is getting too close to the tube. So I would like to change it only because I need to get rid of the starter.

I checked around a lot and am not really sure how to proceed.

As far as I understand the LED starter is not magnetic and will not have any effect on the picture, right?

I would like to keep everything stock including the ballast, so I would like to ask you for help please.

Since the machine is japanese and I use a stepdown converter the LED needs to be 100v compatible right? This is the first problem for me to find in Europe.
Next it needs to be compatible to work with ballast, which is the next problem. As far as I understand there are different types, but I do not know how to differentiate.

Finally I know the measures, it is T8 G13 60cm.

Could you please help me out? Is everything correct so far? Do you know where I can get the bulb?

Thank you very much and have a nice day

[mufunyo]

As far as I understand the LED starter is not magnetic and will not have any effect on the picture, right?

Correct. The LED "starter" is just a fuse that completes the circuit to the LED strip.

Since the machine is japanese and I use a stepdown converter the LED needs to be 100v compatible right? This is the first problem for me to find in Europe.
Next it needs to be compatible to work with ballast, which is the next problem. As far as I understand there are different types, but I do not know how to differentiate.

Correct, it will need to be 100-240v full range. You can also get products designed for the US market (so 110v) but they may be harder to get internationally than a universal 100-240v LED tube. If it doesn't include an "LED starter", it won't work with a ballast, and they expect you to remove the ballast from the circuit and wire the tube socket directly. If it does include an "LED starter", it is made to work with a ballast and original starter socket. If the "starter" is the wrong socket, you can simply snip off the fuse with a pair of wire cutters and insert it into a socket adapter, and screw that into your starter socket. This is what I did, because the "LED starters" included with most of these LED kits aren't the same starter socket as candy cabinets use.

Finally I know the measures, it is T8 G13 60cm.
Could you please help me out? Is everything correct so far? Do you know where I can get the bulb?

That all makes sense, yeah. I got mine off eBay, but you could try Aliexpress or other international sellers. In European markets almost everything assumes 240v/50hz so like I said above, universal products sold from China are probably a better bet here.

[cools]

Isn't the ballast a magnetic field source?

[mufunyo]

Isn't the ballast a magnetic field source?

Presumably only if it's being loaded, but I'm not an electrical engineer.

[Moonwalker]

As far as I understand the LED starter is not magnetic and will not have any effect on the picture, right?

Correct. The LED "starter" is just a fuse that completes the circuit to the LED strip.

Since the machine is japanese and I use a stepdown converter the LED needs to be 100v compatible right? This is the first problem for me to find in Europe.
Next it needs to be compatible to work with ballast, which is the next problem. As far as I understand there are different types, but I do not know how to differentiate.

Correct, it will need to be 100-240v full range. You can also get products designed for the US market (so 110v) but they may be harder to get internationally than a universal 100-240v LED tube. If it doesn't include an "LED starter", it won't work with a ballast, and they expect you to remove the ballast from the circuit and wire the tube socket directly. If it does include an "LED starter", it is made to work with a ballast and original starter socket. If the "starter" is the wrong socket, you can simply snip off the fuse with a pair of wire cutters and insert it into a socket adapter, and screw that into your starter socket. This is what I did, because the "LED starters" included with most of these LED kits aren't the same starter socket as candy cabinets use.

Finally I know the measures, it is T8 G13 60cm.
Could you please help me out? Is everything correct so far? Do you know where I can get the bulb?

That all makes sense, yeah. I got mine off eBay, but you could try Aliexpress or other international sellers. In European markets almost everything assumes 240v/50hz so like I said above, universal products sold from China are probably a better bet here.

Fantastic, thank you very much!

[LarsVegas]

Philipps tubes worked fine here in Germany with my blasts. I took out the starter socket and put a wire there. You have to unsolder then take a wago clamp. So you can always build it back. Some tubes didn’t work, there are different types. Just take the ones with a dummy starter.

[Moonwalker]

Philipps tubes worked fine here in Germany with my blasts. I took out the starter socket and put a wire there. You have to unsolder then take a wago clamp. So you can always build it back. Some tubes didn’t work, there are different types. Just take the ones with a dummy starter.

Great, thank you.

[mufunyo]

I took out the starter socket and put a wire there. You have to unsolder then take a wago clamp. So you can always build it back.

To each their own, I prefer the option of leaving the cabinet original. I would end up losing the bits I removed and put aside and wouldn't be able to restore it back to stock

[Pete]

So far so good with what was originally said on AP before the post was edited led tube no starter on oem ballast.

No idea on the led tube brand "cools" would know.

[cools]

Generic Chinese tube, Pete. The shipped price was so low I just gambled, after searching for ages.

Screenshot_20230816-134021_Fennec.png

And yes, aliexpress comes up in .NL for me on mobile no matter what I do.

[Pete]

Well it works great I bet if you paid double on a place like Ali express they would just send you the cheaper one anyway.