Volcano button brightness

[chiLLbiLLy]

Ok, I really need to take a basic electronics class, as I need to understand this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  Anyway, I've got a couple of Atari red led cone buttons from Ram Controls and I've hooked them up to my ledwiz using 220 ohm resistors, but they seem somewhat dim to me and not near as bright as those "back in the day".  Could just be my memory, but if I were to switch to a 330 resistor, that would just make them dimmer, correct?

Of course, I've only been able to test them with the basic ledwiz test program, so I don't know if that utilizes the maximum brightness setting or not...

[Franco B]

Yes, if you increase the resistance the voltage will drop and the LED will not be as bright.

How did you know to use a 220Ω resistor? It does sound a little high.

If you wanted to test the full brightness with the resistors you are currently using you could just temporarily hook it straight up to +5v (presuming you are outputting 5v from the LED Wiz)

[TheShanMan]

LED's will blow if you apply 5v directly to them. They are designed to have a specific voltage drop with not much variance. You could try going slightly lower on the resistor value but be aware that the lower you go the higher the chance of you blowing the LED. I don't recall if they have standard LED's in them that are easily replaceable (probably), but if so you could also try going with a high output LED. Radio Shack even has them.

[Franco B]

I did mean hook it up to the 5v with the resistor attatched i.e. not using the LED Wiz, sorry if I wasn't clear on that.

Did the documentation say what value resistor to use? If not I'm sure Dave would tell you.

Hold the press....

Just had a dig and found [this] thread which says a 330Ω resistor is used to bring the voltage down to 2.1v

If that is the case then they will be even dimmer than they are now.

Probably best to clarify with Dave to make sure.

[chiLLbiLLy]

To answer your question, after reviewing various posts about led cones, there didn't seem to be a real consensus on using 220 or 330 ohm resistors, so I took a chance and went with 220.  Thanks for confirmation that switching to 330 would only make them dimmer.

So...I decided to take Shanman's advice and see how easy/hard these Ram Controls volcano buttons were to take apart.  Ages ago, I had tried to get some older volcanos to work, which turned out to have blown led's and they were incredibly difficult to try and remove.  But as for Ram's buttons, nothing could be simpler.  For those that don't know, the cone is easily removed by pressing in on the tab, through the hole on the side of the switch, then pulling up on the cone.  The LED (which happens to be red, btw, instead of the older ones I tried, which were opaque white) is soldered to the two terminals on the bottom of the switch.  Just push those terminals in and the led pops out from the top.  Pictures below.

So now, I guess I can just get some white or red buttonblaster led's from RandyT, solder them to the posts (after removing the existing led's, obviously) and then wire them up, using the resistors that RandyT includes.  Surely those buttonblasters will be brighter than the stock red led's.  I just wonder which might shine better through the red lense...a white or a red led.  Hmmmmmm.

 

[whammoed]

I just wonder which might shine better through the red lense...a white or a red led.  Hmmmmmm.

Using the same color led as the lens is almost always better.  White LEDs tend to wash out the color of whatever they are lighting.

Are you using these in a brightly lit room?  I would think anything brighter than stock would have an annoying glare.  In pictures/videos I've seen of these buttons they seem plenty bright...as in a nice glow.  Haven't had a chance to play around with the ones I have but may tonight.

[chiLLbiLLy]

Well, believe it or not, I'm using them in a completely darkened room and whether I'm using them with or without having my other buttons lit up, they still seem way too dim.  But, the good thing about having easily removable stock LED's is that I can just simply wire up a superbright and stick it in there (there's just enough room to route the wires through the post holes) and then see how it looks.  I won't solder to the actual posts, until I'm sure it'll work.  Heck, I could probably get away with never soldering to the posts, but the led might bounce around or rattle in there, if I don't.

[yo1dog]

I use this LED resistor calculator. It is quite helpful.

[RayB]

You wired them in parallel right? not in series?

[chiLLbiLLy]

Oh geez, now I'm doubting my wiring...even after reading tons of posts.  Anyway, here's how I've got them:

I've got 2 LED-Wiz boards.  The player 1 start volcano is wired to the 1st board and the player 2 start volcano is wired to the 2nd board.  For each of these, the resistor-laden wire is wired into the X5V port on the LED-Wiz and the other wire is screwed into a single empty port, also on the LED-Wiz.  Have I got this right?   

[TheShanMan]

"In series" means one end of the resistor should connect to one end of the LED, and then the 2 remaining ends should connect up to the power source (led wiz). That's what you want.

[Franco B]

Oh geez, now I'm doubting my wiring...even after reading tons of posts.  Anyway, here's how I've got them:

I've got 2 LED-Wiz boards.  The player 1 start volcano is wired to the 1st board and the player 2 start volcano is wired to the 2nd board.  For each of these, the resistor-laden wire is wired into the X5V port on the LED-Wiz and the other wire is screwed into a single empty port, also on the LED-Wiz.  Have I got this right?   

Doesn't sound right to me.

The -cathode leg of the LED (with resistor attached) should terminate in one of the LED ports. The +anode should be attached to the power source (X5V or whatever)

I'm suprised your LED lights at all at the moment.

[chiLLbiLLy]

Yeah, I'm not really sure how they were still lighting up either, but regardless, I went ahead and got some red buttonblasters from RandyT.  After a few trial soldering attempts (I'm still trying to perfect my skills), I finally got them soldered to the posts, installed and wired the proper way (resistor wire to led port/other wire to X5V port).  Very pleased with the results...not too bright, IMO, but not near as dim as the original led's.  But, then again I'm willing to concede that it was probably all just me, trying to compare stock lit volcanos to my other brightly lit buttons.  Now they all seem to be on more comparable levels.