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LED replacement for Flo tube in a Sega Star Wars Trilogy

Andy B

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Joined
Oct 6, 2014
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Location
Hull. England.
Anyone know if there is a straight LED replacement for the fluorescent tubes you get in older Sega/Stern machines?

Have a dead tube (or could be the starter I guess) in the Sega Star Wars Trilogy I am working on. Would prefer to swap it out for LED but looks like it’s running off 110v and is a T12 type and for life of mecan’t find something that fits the bill.

Is a F20T12CW tube.

Or is it simpler just to find somewhere to tap off 12v and stick some LED tape on the dead tube?

Thanks

Andy
 
My old STW had a unique mod??
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Which didn't actually look too bad, well a lot better in the flesh than this photo.
IMG_2911.JPG

I did manage to install a "T8 600mm 2ft 8W LED tube light 4250k in natural white frosted", from Amazon in my Rolling stones might be worth a try?

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You have to be careful with sega and stern games. Like you said they use a 110v tap off the transformer. I advise you to run the tube off 230v (open the switch box and parallel up the black and white cables with the black and white cables that go to the fluorescent.

Then rewire the lampholder so a L and N go to the left holder. One cable will be connected already. Remove the starter out the circuit.

Then stick in the new LED tube (that does not work with the ballast - there are two types).

I always wire like this as the ballasts do fail quite a bit in these, even with LED tubes.
 
My old STW had a unique mod??
View attachment 139746

Which didn't actually look too bad, well a lot better in the flesh than this photo.
View attachment 139747

I did manage to install a "T8 600mm 2ft 8W LED tube light 4250k in natural white frosted", from Amazon in my Rolling stones might be worth a try?

View attachment 139748

View attachment 139750
Thanks but think I’m gonna the wiring to the cabinet switch and cutting out the ballast and starter alltogether.
 
You have to be careful with sega and stern games. Like you said they use a 110v tap off the transformer. I advise you to run the tube off 230v (open the switch box and parallel up the black and white cables with the black and white cables that go to the fluorescent.

Then rewire the lampholder so a L and N go to the left holder. One cable will be connected already. Remove the starter out the circuit.

Then stick in the new LED tube (that does not work with the ballast - there are two types).

I always wire like this as the ballasts do fail quite a bit in these, even with LED tubes.

Thanks Phil, gonna go this route.
 
I've used these before on a Simpsons and a Star Wars.
 

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I've used these before on a Simpsons and a Star Wars.
Oh and you have to bypass the ballast. This also comes with a LED starter, effectively a fuse but it swaps out for the starter that will be currently in place.
 
Oh and you have to bypass the ballast. This also comes with a LED starter, effectively a fuse but it swaps out for the starter that will be currently in place.
Thanks for the tip. I ordered a similar one from Ebay which bypasses the ballast and connects straight to 240v which I tapped off the cabinet wiring post on/off switch but pre transformer :)
 
Hey do you mind doing photos as you go?I have one to do as well!
Will do. I hacked in to the wiring coming out from the on/off switch before it gets to the transformer. Once the LED tube arrives and I test it works I'll send photos of what I did at the switch end and what I did at the backbox end.
 
Cut the black and white wires coming from on/off switch, out of box in bottom of cabinet.

Screw the wires coming from the on/off switch in to a terminal block (in).

Take a 2 metre extension cable and screw live and neutral wires of that in other side of terminal block (out) - note, black wire coming out of box is live.

Also in to the out side of the terminal block screw the black and white wires going to the transformer (the ones you just cut).

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At backbox end you’re bypassing the ballast and existing starter completely - make sure you get an LED that can connect straight to mains and not one that needs a starter otherwise you will need to buy a 240v starter as one in it is 110v.

So remove wiring that goes from starter to tube holder so all you have are the red and black connections at one end of the tube holder. Connect these via terminal block to live and neutral in your extension cable - red is live. Sorry I had already wrapped insulation tape around the connector by time I remembered to take photo but you get the picture (well I guess you don’t but it’s brown wire of extension cable to red wire of tube holder. Blue to black).

Tube has + and - symbols on the end so you put the tube in the right way round!



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