Wiring

[Jawn]

So I'm going to be wiring around 14 buttons and 2 joysticks to an ipac. The issue is, I have no idea what to get for wire, and or where to get it. A little help here? Thanks 

[drventure]

For buttons, 24 or 26 gauge wire is fine. I use solid core (not stranded). You'll likely want to get some crimp on female spade plugs (for plugging onto the male tabs on the buttons), but some folks like soldering instead.

Note sure where you're located, but Frys, radioshack, etc will have it.

If you look, make of the home improvement shops (Home depot, Lowes) etc will too, and usually cheaper because they sell bigger spools of it.

I believe knievel said he found "doorbell wire" at home depot that was cheap and solid core.

You may want to pick up a few different colors, or at least black and "something" so you can keep the hot sides easily separated from the ground sides.

[gwjrabbit]

I used nothing but network cables. It's a bit thin for the crimps, but i haven't had a connection fail yet.

[mwong168]

I used nothing but network cables. It's a bit thin for the crimps, but i haven't had a connection fail yet.

I started out using network cable cause it is color coded which makes keep tracking on both ends easy and the blue sleeve helps keep things organized.  It was also cheap to use and I had box of it since I use to make a lot of network cable before.





Lately I have been using just regular 22-24 gauge wire and the advantage to that is you can make each wire the exact length without any extra slack.





I was so picky about my pinball cabinet wiring that I used about 40m of wire.  Here is a picture of the quick disconnets you want to get.



For American style aka HAPP/iL you will need .187 and for Japanese style aka Sanwa/Seimitsu you will need .110.  Hope this helps!

[92greenyj]

another vote for network/cat5/6 cable. I used this recently on a Jeep related wiring project and it was perfect for wiring up my switch panel with. JKeeps things looking nice and neat. And I do suggest soldering your ends. Best way is crimp, solder, heat shrink

[Jawn]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it looks like network cables are the winner for now.

[Pitman]

Ok...

Just for testing I plugged the i-pac into my comp, striped a strand of cat5e cable at both ends then screwed down on the ps/2 i-pac one end to 'Start' and the other to a button.

I then opened notepad and pressing the button didn't register any 1's e.g. 1111111111

Maybe it's not regeresting because I am also using a usb keyboard

[BobA]

Did you attach a ground to your button?  When you say strand I assume one wire.

[Pitman]

I didn't actually connect the ground (I take it that it's a dealbreaker?) I just attached one strand to the ipac and one to the pushbuttons switch (tried both metal prongs on the switch also)

[BobA]

If you do not have a ground your switch cannot complete the circuit and it will not work.

[Pitman]

Ah good, after checking it out a little more that kinda makes sense seeing how the ipac handles the grounding, thanks.

I'll have another play tomorrow.

[mikev43]

I'm having a problem with wiring.. looks more specific to ground.. here is what's happening.. I hook up the ipac (i got the ve version) and only up down left right and button 1 work.. if I take the ground off of the left switch from joystick and put it on button 2 it works but not sure if any others work at this position.. if I put it on 1a/1b like for shift/pause etc.. only those two work.. I think I tested each with the ground to make sure they at least register.. what am I doing wrong?  I went over it 10 times now.. everything is sequential with two wires starting from left on joystick (one is to ground) and the other goes to right, then up down button 123456 then 1a1b..  I'm using some old rj11 (telephone cable) and it seems to work.. maybe it's a resistance issue??  I could re wire it all with cat6 but I really don't think that's the issue since I have gotten 5 buttons to work with the rj11..

Any help would be much appreciated.. I'm really going crazy here.. I'm so close I can taste it.. hehe

quick update... i re wired all with cat6 and now up/down/left/right button 1,2,3 and 4 work.. 5-6 do not and neither does 1a/1b.  it seems more and more like wiring and will go back and check again.. any tips?

[BobA]

Are your grounds connected to the COM or common and all the inputs to the ipac connected to the N.O. contact on your switches?   Also test the continuity of your grounds if you have daisy chained them and may have an open in the chain.

[wongojack]

Digging up this thread because I have a question about testing the continuity of my ground wires.

I have a multimeter and am familiar with how to set it to test for cont, but I'm just above virgin status with this stuff.  If I am testing wires that are already connected to multiple ground connectors, where do I put the probes to test?  Can I touch "black" to the ground connected to the iPac (I'm also using an iPac) and "red" to the ground I'm concerned about?  Can I just work my way back through the chain this way?

Is it better to test for resistance or voltage rather than continuity if I suspect a weak or iffy connection along the way?

[Ed_McCarron]

Digging up this thread because I have a question about testing the continuity of my ground wires.

I have a multimeter and am familiar with how to set it to test for cont, but I'm just above virgin status with this stuff.  If I am testing wires that are already connected to multiple ground connectors, where do I put the probes to test?  Can I touch "black" to the ground connected to the iPac (I'm also using an iPac) and "red" to the ground I'm concerned about?  Can I just work my way back through the chain this way?

Is it better to test for resistance or voltage rather than continuity if I suspect a weak or iffy connection along the way?

Either/or.

Set your meter on ohms (resistance.)  Touch one probe to the ipac ground/common, and work your way out along the daisychain.  You should see close to 0 on the meter.  If you suddenly see infinity/open/overrange (depends on your meter -- whatever you see when one probes hanging in the air...) then you know the problem is between where you saw the open and the last known good connection.

You can work it the other way and use voltage -- set for a 20 voltish scale (or autorange, again, depends on the meter) and place the red on positive 5v.  Any output should do it.  Then, start at common with the black.  You should see 5v.  Work your way out -- when you no longer see 5v, that means the ground is open between the tested connection and the last working one.

Two different ways of reading the same thing, basically.  Only difference is that on resistance, the meter is supplying the voltage.

[wongojack]

Thanks very much for the response.  It takes a bit of effort to get my control panel off, so I have to do it this weekend (superbowl plans permitting)

I have a very detailed and possibly stupid follow up question:  When I'm testing the various contacts, do I have to touch the probes to bare wire?  So in other words, do I have to unscrew the connector on the iPac ground and pull the ground wire out and touch to that bare end, leaving it still connected to the iPac?  Can I touch the probes to the outside of the plastic around the wire instead.  I'll attempt a simple diagram:

       Pos0
     BLACK HERE                       Pos1   Pos2                                 Pos3   Pos4         Pos5
___    |                                     |      |                                       |       |              |
iPac | |                                     |      |                                       |       |              |                                       
  -----*-==================--*-|--*--==================--*--|--*---=====*=====
____|                                        __|___                                      __ |___
                                        NO  \| Sw1 |                               NO \| Sw2 |                                         
                                        NC  \|_____|                               NC \|_____|


= is insulated wire
- exposed wire
* is where I touch the probe

So in the above diagram If I touch Pos1, that will tell me the resistance between Pos0 and Pos1 and it will NOT test the connection to ground on switch 1- correct?  If I touch Pos2 it will test the connection on switch 1?  If I touch Pos4, it will test the connection on both switch 1 and switch 2?

Can I touch insulated wire and get an accurate reading or do I have to touch bare wire?  For example, can I touch Pos5 and expect to get an accurate reading?
                                                   

[Ed_McCarron]

       Pos0
     BLACK HERE                       Pos1   Pos2                                 Pos3   Pos4         Pos5
___    |                                     |      |                                       |       |              |
iPac | |                                     |      |                                       |       |              |                                       
  -----*-==================--*-|--*--==================--*--|--*---=====*=====
____|                                        __|___                                      __ |___
                                        NO  \| Sw1 |                               NO \| Sw2 |                                         
                                        NC  \|_____|                               NC \|_____|



So in the above diagram If I touch Pos1, that will tell me the resistance between Pos0 and Pos1 and it will NOT test the connection to ground on switch 1- correct?  If I touch Pos2 it will test the connection on switch 1?  If I touch Pos4, it will test the connection on both switch 1 and switch 2?
                                                   

Yes.  As long as the switch is not conducting (open), it won't interfere.  If you touch pos 4, it'll test 3, 2, and 1, all the way back to 0.

Can I touch insulated wire and get an accurate reading or do I have to touch bare wire?  For example, can I touch Pos5 and expect to get an accurate reading?

 

Oh, wait, you were serious?   

Touch the probes to something metal and shiny.  Insulation does just that -- insulates.

[clutch]

Touch the probes to something metal and shiny.  Insulation does just that -- insulates.

 

[wongojack]

I finally worked through this and was able to effectively measure resistance from the iPac ground connection.  I put the red prob right in the slat in the screw that holds the groud wire in place on the iPac and then touched the black probe to various connections on the switches.  I was able to identify the weak spot(s) and then fix them up.  Thanks for the responses and hopefully my stupid questions will help someone else.