Fluorescent to LED Conversion

[Youk]

Howdy,
Back again with some questions regarding converting my Bellco machine from fluorescent to LED. I'm having trouble trying to figure out the voltages, there is a 120v to 24v transformer in the machine by the hopper, and it appears all the lights (other than the fluorescents) are running on 24v. When I put a meter on the ends of the fluorescent tubes when they are lit, it pegs the meter, way over 240v, and I've tried it with 2 different meters! So I have no idea what voltage it really is, or how to bypass the circuitry to install 24v or 12v LED strips. Any suggestions? Thanks,
Youk

[compirate]

There's a ballast somewhere near the light that takes machine voltage and ups it for the lamp. Find that and see what it's getting from the machine.

[Youk]

Thank you for the response. Yes, I've tried to locate the balasts, there doesn't appear to be anything near the lights or in the door, but I did trace the wires back to a harness that connects to a good sized silver box, which many other wires and harnesses plug into, which I haven't dared to crack open yet, as I have a great running machine and I'm afraid to screw something up. I'm going to try to dig into it further this weekend to see what I can find. Thanks again!
Youk

[takethecastle57]

https://www.amazon.com/Machine-WENIC...silk_at_search


Just find the two wire connector that come from the fluorescent tube power supply to the machine and unplug it then install the leds and use the USB power supply that the above gives you .

and biscuits

[Youk]

Thank you for the info, but this is a 2001 Bellco Regal, there's no USB in sight as far as I know.

[takethecastle57]

These come with a two prong 120v ac to 5v dc USB output power supply so you just have to put a small 120 v ac power strip somewhere in the machine.

[Youk]

I get what you're saying, basically run independent wiring and LED lights. I may have to resort to that, but I would like to tie the new LED's into the existing wiring if possible, as the fluorescent lights currently do blink on and off at times when you hit certain bonuses, which is kind of neat, and I would lose that if I wire it independently.
Like I've said before, I'm no electrician, but I'm pretty logical, and I just can't figure out the voltages. There are no ballasts that I can find anywhere in this machine, and I've been all through it. I've seen pictures that others have taken of other Pachislos, pointing out the ballasts, that look like small silver boxes mounted on the door, I have none of those. They are not in the inner cabinet either. When I try and trace the wiring back, it is tied into a harness that plugs into various circuit boards along with a lot of other wires,
All I know is that the small little wires (by the way, they are not 2 wire, but 3 wire, a +, a - and a ground) that plug into the circuit board that holds and lights the bulb, are carrying 240 plus volts, and I don't know where it's getting that kind of voltage, plus, I think it may be DC instead of AC, which AC is what is running all the other lighting, is that possible?
Anyway, just reaching out to anyone that may have gone through this same issue and can give me some advice.
Thanks again,
Youk

[SuspicousSodaFountain]

I get what you're saying, basically run independent wiring and LED lights. I may have to resort to that, but I would like to tie the new LED's into the existing wiring if possible, as the fluorescent lights currently do blink on and off at times when you hit certain bonuses, which is kind of neat, and I would lose that if I wire it independently.
Like I've said before, I'm no electrician, but I'm pretty logical, and I just can't figure out the voltages. There are no ballasts that I can find anywhere in this machine, and I've been all through it. I've seen pictures that others have taken of other Pachislos, pointing out the ballasts, that look like small silver boxes mounted on the door, I have none of those. They are not in the inner cabinet either. When I try and trace the wiring back, it is tied into a harness that plugs into various circuit boards along with a lot of other wires,
All I know is that the small little wires (by the way, they are not 2 wire, but 3 wire, a +, a - and a ground) that plug into the circuit board that holds and lights the bulb, are carrying 240 plus volts, and I don't know where it's getting that kind of voltage, plus, I think it may be DC instead of AC, which AC is what is running all the other lighting, is that possible?
Anyway, just reaching out to anyone that may have gone through this same issue and can give me some advice.
Thanks again,
Youk

Could we have a pic of the label? its likeley the lights near the reel window are dc but ones that have ac are static. Will follow closely since this is interesting

[Youk]

Hello, thank you for your response, I was beginning to give up on the situation. Which particular label do you want a picture of?

[SuspicousSodaFountain]

Hello, thank you for your response, I was beginning to give up on the situation. Which particular label do you want a picture of?

The one that has 2 wires + fround to 4 wires (this is a normal pachislo flourescent system)

[SuspicousSodaFountain]

the data label on said box (id expect 2wire in since all the metal is usually grounded) will tell me what i need to know to help

[Youk]

Here are some photos of the inner workings, the thin orange, green and brown wires are the wires that directly feed the fluorescent lamps.

[SuspicousSodaFountain]

theyre dc flourescents. dont touch till they die.

[Youk]

Okay, thank you! Why shouldn't I touch them now, and what should I do when they do die?

[SuspicousSodaFountain]

Okay, thank you! Why shouldn't I touch them now, and what should I do when they do die?

you shouldnt touch them now because stuff within the machine can be fragile. When they die you should look for replacements or custom fab led replacements.

[Youk]

I see, that's exactly why I was reaching out for advice, as the machine runs flawlessly, and I didn't want to screw anything up unnecessarily. All of the fluorescents are the 1/4" diameter skinny bulbs, 10 1/2" long with metal tips instead of pins, that snap into clips. The reason that I wanted to convert to LED was that one bulb is burnt out, and I can't find any replacement bulbs, so I thought that I could just tie into the existing wiring and place some LED rope or ribbon lighting in the same area. Any suggestions?

[SuspicousSodaFountain]

I see, that's exactly why I was reaching out for advice, as the machine runs flawlessly, and I didn't want to screw anything up unnecessarily. All of the fluorescents are the 1/4" diameter skinny bulbs, 10 1/2" long with metal tips instead of pins, that snap into clips. The reason that I wanted to convert to LED was that one bulb is burnt out, and I can't find any replacement bulbs, so I thought that I could just tie into the existing wiring and place some LED rope or ribbon lighting in the same area. Any suggestions?

Before screwing with putting in a rope kight, id reccomend seeing what voltage is used. If possible, find a dc converter for said voltage to like 24v and put in a led strip.

[Youk]

Yes, that's part of the problem, I can't figure out the voltage directly to the bulbs, every volt meter I touch to the contacts pegs the meter to the max, and I'm not an expert in electronics, which is why I'm trying to be very careful not to screw anything up. I'm not familiar with a DC converter, but yes, every other aspect of this machine appears to be 24v, other than the fluorescents. Any suggestions on how to find out the existing fluorescent voltage, and/or a DC converter?

[SuspicousSodaFountain]

Yes, that's part of the problem, I can't figure out the voltage directly to the bulbs, every volt meter I touch to the contacts pegs the meter to the max, and I'm not an expert in electronics, which is why I'm trying to be very careful not to screw anything up. I'm not familiar with a DC converter, but yes, every other aspect of this machine appears to be 24v, other than the fluorescents. Any suggestions on how to find out the existing fluorescent voltage, and/or a DC converter?

did you try different ac voltage ranges?

[Youk]

I have 2 different meters, one is pretty simple to use, it has lights that light up starting at 24v AC and goes up to 240v AC. When I use this meter on the fluorescent fixture, it lights up all the way to 240v, tells me it's DC and says it's a dangerous voltage. The other meter measures both AC and DC, but I'm pretty confused on how to use it, it's pretty complicated. Anyway, it sounds like you're right, it's probably DC, but where does the DC come from, I only see one transformer that takes the incoming 120v from the wall and steps it down to 24v to run the machine? There must be some circuitry in the electronic boards that the wires are coming from that is doing it, and that's beyond my pay grade. Like I have said before, there are no ballasts in the machine that I can find, otherwise it would be pretty simple to just bypass those.