Wedge sockets in older wide-body pop bumpers: the bulb may not clear the cap

The small cleat-mount wedge sockets that suit later, standard pop bumper bodies will physically fit in the older wide-mouth bumper bodies used on many 1970s games, but a normal wedge bulb (incandescent or LED) then sits too high for the bumper cap to go on. Either keep the original bayonet sockets, use a socket without the side bracket, or fit a low-profile lamp such as a flat-top or flexible LED. Some members simply grind or snap off the bulb's globe top, which makes little difference under an opaque cap.

Systems

• Electro-mechanical
• Bally MPU AS-2518-17
• Bally MPU AS-2518-35
• Williams System 4
• Williams System 6 / 6A
• Williams System 7
• Gottlieb System 1

Related tips

• Change pop bumper lamp sockets from wedge to #47 bayonet
• Playfield lamp fuse blows when one pop bumper fires: lamp socket shorting
• Dim or flickering lamp sockets
• Use #47 bulbs, not #44, in EM games
• Gottlieb: lamps dim noticeably each time a coil fires
• One insert lamp dead after nearby work: bad pin in the lamp driver IDC connector

Source: Pinball Repair help group!! (Facebook group)