.: Creature from the Black Lagoon EL strip mod
Feb 26th, 2005

I was looking for a way to add a bit more lighting to the playfield of my CFTBL pinball, but I also wanted to maintain the 50's look to the game.  So, I started looking around at what I could do to add to the lighting just a little without taking away too much from the theme of the game, or maybe even enhance it a bit.  I had already installed pop bumper lights (ala the Korn), and that is an excellent improvement to the game.  [BTW, for you Creature owners out there, this is definitely a worthwhile mod and I certainly recommend it!]  Anyway, I was still looking for a bit more overall playfield illumination, so I kept looking.

One night it hit me: EL strips!  These are commonly used in PC case mods and come in various colors.  The best features of these are that they are less than 1/32" thick (very important, keep reading...) and they are also available with a self-adhesive backing so they can be attached right to the sides of the cabinet above the playfield.

Examples of typical EL strips

I wanted to install the additional lighting on the sides of the cabinet just above the playfield, so this is why the light strips need to be extremely thin.  If they are too thick, then you won't be able to raise the playfield!  Since the EL strips are so thin, they can stick right to the sides of the cabinet and not interfere with the playfield when you raise it.

Now that I found the lights I wanted to use, the next step is to figure out how to wire them into the cab.  Right from the start, I knew I didn't want them to be on continuously, so wiring them direct to a 12VDC source was out.  During the "suspense" sequences in CFTBL, the playfield illumination dims significantly (start multi-ball, shoot the slide for the "M" in FILM, and so on).  If these lights stayed on when the rest of the illumination when out, I thought that would look pretty lousy and appear to be too much of a "hack job".

Okay, the G.I. lights I wanted them to match up with looked like G.I. string #5, which is the lower playfield illumination circuit because they are on most of the time except during certain sequences .  Hmmm, that's 6.3VAC, and the inverter on the EL strips wants 12VDC.  So I need to control the lighting from the 6.3VAC illumination circuit, but power them from a different 12VDC source...  Enter, the RELAY!

I found a relay at Mouser (p/n 655-K10P-11A15-6) that had a 6VAC coil, that should work perfectly!!  This will let the 6.3VAC circuit control  the 12VDC source for the EL inverter.

After thinking about connecting the relay to the cabinet wiring a bit more, I realized that I didn't want to connect directly to the playfield wiring because that could be a hassle when raising the playfield.  But, that coin door interface board looks like a good spot!  :)  Fortunately, the coin door lights also dim at the appropriate times just like the lower playfield illumination.  And it also has a 12VDC source, bonus!  Below is a schematic of what I ended up doing.  Note that you do not use the #1 & #2 lugs on the relay.

Click on image for larger picture

You'll notice the capacitors I added in the above schematic.  I added those because the EL strips turn on and off pretty harshly, just like an LED, without them.  That definitely doesn't match the way all the other incandescent AC lights on the game flash, they have a much softer on/off.  The caps I used were just some that I had on-hand, I robbed them out of a GO7 monitor cap kit that I had on the shelf.  I experimented with different capacitance values, but this combination seemed to match the game lighting the best.  Below is a pic of the cap board I made up that has pigtails to go to the relay and the inverter.  The inverter comes with a standard 4-pin Molex connector like you would find on PC components such as hard drives, cd-roms, etc.  I had an old PC power supply harness in a drawer, so I cut off one of the connectors and wired it to the board:

Enough about the wiring and details, here's a few photos of the installation:

click on an image for a larger pic
In the photos, the camera picks up the EL strips almost like an aqua color, but they really look like a neon green.  I guess if I was better photographer, they would look more true-to-life.  :)
Here's a 37sec WMV video of the EL strips.  In the video the game is in attract mode so you only get to see a little of the blinking effect, you don't get to see the true dimming effects like when Multi-Ball starts. .: Click here for the VIDEO (2.4MB) :.

Overall, I believe this is the coolest mod I've done to my Creature, although I also really like the Korn's light up jet bumpers, too!  I have also painted the chase & bowl lamps green, as well as the Start Movie flashers.  The plain white Start Movie flashers are just blinding in low light, so a little green window paint on the bulbs softens them up a bit without dimming them.  There are a few more modifications I plan to do to my Creech when I get time, but I'm very happy with this one.

I think one of the coolest things about this mod is that the neon effect really enhances the game's 50's theme without overpowering or distracting from the gameplay, IMO.

I had to purchase (2) EL strips w/ an adhesive backing and the relay for this project.  The capacitors, wire, connectors, perf board and other hardware I already had , so figure on adding a couple dollars if you don't already have those components on-hand.  The EL strips can be purchased cheaper from various online retailers, but I chose to buy them locally.

* not including shipping                  

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