Common Lamp Info Listing -- Version 1.0

by Bill Ung <ung @ filenet.com>

This is a listing of lamps commonly used in pinball games, along with specifications such as voltage, amperage, MCSD (see below) and life expectancy in hours.

MCSD is a measurement of luminous intensity. It stands for Mean Spherical Candelas (formerly known as MSCP or mean spherical candlepower) and is the total light output from a lamp measured in all directions. It is equal to the total visible energy emitted by the lamp, measured in lumens, divided by 4*pi (~4*3.1415927).

The idea behind this file is to list alternative lamps based on a particular application. Most folks know that you can replace a #44 lamp at .25 amps with a #47 lamp at .15 amps if you want your game to run cooler. But what if you wanted a brighter bulb? Or if your original bulb was a #555? What are your alternatives then? This file attempts to answer those questions.

Lamps are grouped by voltage and base ... this is designed to assist the reader in finding bulbs with the same base and voltage, but varying other characteristics. Inside of each group, lamps are sorted by amperage, followed occasionally by MCSD. Flashlamps do not have a measurable MCSD and are not specified here.

Within each group, the "standard" lamp is normally marked with a "*" next to it. These are lamps I know are commonly used in games. A number of groups indicate a "standard" lamp with a "+" symbol, these are lamps commonly available from pinball parts dealers but are not known to me for sure as to their usage (they may be jukebox lamps for all I know). I included them here for completeness anyway.

Speaking of completeness, if there is a bulb type you are looking for that is not included in this file, please Email me at ung @ filenet.com. Include as much information as you know about the bulb type and I will add it to the file. In particular, we are missing a significant amount of information about the commonly used #906 bulb. If anyone can provide that information, it would be greatly appreciated. As always, credit will be given where credit is due.

Bill Ung
ung @ filenet.com.


Lamp # Volts Amps MCSD Life Base
43+ 2.5 .50 .50 3,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1302 6.3 .04 .08 5,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
755 6.3 .15 .33 2,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
267 6.3 .15 .33 5,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1847 6.3 .15 .38 5,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
47 6.3 .15 .52 3,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1866 6.3 .25 .65 5,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
44* 6.3 .25 .90 3,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
239 6.3 .36 .67 5,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
238 6.3 .50 2.0 2,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
240 6.3 .36 .67 5,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1810 6.3 .40 1.40 3,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1855 6.3 .80 3.60 3,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
                
159 6.3 .15 .34 5,000 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
447 6.3 .15 .52 3,000 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
555* 6.3 .25 .90 3,000 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
                
40+ 6.3 .15 .52 3,000 Miniature Screw (E10)
46 6.3 .25 .90 3,000 Miniature Screw (E10)
                
1129+ 6.4 2.63 21.00 200 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)
                
455* 6.5 .50 FLASH 500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9) [FLASHLAMP]
                
55+ 7.0 .41 2.00 500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1896 7.0 .50 2.20 1,500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
                
63* 7.0 .63 3.00 1,000 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)
                
51+ 7.5 .22 1.00 1,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
                
912+ 12.8 1.00 12.00 1,000 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
920 12.8 1.20 10.00 1,200 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
921 12.8 1.40 21.00 500 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
                
89* 13.0 .58 6.00 750 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)
                
906* 13.0 .69 ???? ??? Wedge (W ?.? x ?.? D) (???)
                
67* 13.5 .59 4.0 5,000 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s) {1}
97 13.5 .69 4.0 5,000 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)
                
57+ 14.0 .24 2.00 500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
431 14.0 .25 2.70 250 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1895 14.0 .27 2.00 1,500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
257 14.0 .27 FLASH 500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9) [FLASHLAMP]
293 14.0 .33 2.00 5,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
                
161 14.0 .19 1.00 4,000 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
158 14.0 .24 2.00 500 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
194* 14.0 .27 2.00 1,500 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D) {2}
168 14.0 .35 3.00 1,500 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
193 14.0 .33 2.00 7,500 Wedge (W 2.1 x 9.2 D)
                
53+ 14.4 .12 1.00 1,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1445 14.4 .135 .70 2,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
                
1829 28.0 .07 1.00 1,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
757 28.0 .08 .62 7,500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1820 28.0 .10 1.60 1,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1864 28.0 .17 3.00 1,500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
313+ 28.0 .17 3.50 500 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
1873 28.0 .20 3.00 7,000 Miniature Bayonet (BA9)
                
301 28.0 .17 3.00 500 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)
1251* 28.0 .23 3.00 2,000 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s) {3}
303 28.0 .30 6.00 500 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)
623 28.0 .37 6.00 1,000 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)
                
1683* 28.0 1.02 32.00 500 S.C. Bayonet (BA15s) {4}

Note: The last two groupings are broken apart because although the base and voltage specifications are similar, the physical glass bulb of the #1683 lamp is significantly larger than those of the #1251 group.

  1. Used by F-14 TOMCAT on the playfield.
  2. Used by WHITEWATER (and maybe FISH TALES) on top of the backbox
  3. Used by Pin-Bot and Cyclone (I think)
  4. Used by HIGH SPEED (and probably F-14 & HS2) in the beacon light


The other file I'd like to see, but haven't the slightest idea where to begin, would be a similar file about pinball coils: size, voltage, relative strength and number-of-coils (flipper coils typically have two coils in one). If anyone has the knowledge to put together such a file, I'm sure it would be much appreciated!!!


Editor's Notes