NEO GEO Evolution (EVS-1) - Experimenting with DIY trackball

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Fursphere:
I know it sounds silly, but how much amperage are you pulling through that single cable? That's one of the single of pulling more than a cable can handle... the connection points are where the most resistance is... and resistance = heat.

PL1:
Glad you caught that before it got any worse, BadMouth. :o

A strong possibility is that the scorched power-cable hot contact was worn, slightly bent open, dirty, or corroded.

Any of those conditions could result in a high-resistance connection.

The high-resistance connection will dissipate some of the power passing thru as heat.

The heat will cause the metal to expand slightly and/or corrode faster, which leads to a higher-resistance connection.

The vicious circle continues until the connection causes an electrical fire.

This is why you always want clean, corrosion-free, mechanically-solid and low-resistance (<2 ohms) power connections.

Scott

DarakuTenshi:

--- Quote from: BadMouth on January 13, 2014, 10:59:29 pm ---Oh and if you missed it in the everything else subforum, the cab has had a faint burning smell which has gotten worse recently.
Turned out to be this:

Unsure of the exact cause, but it was probably the cable. It was an old random pc power cable that was laying around.
I ordered a new 14 gauge one with a 15A rating and a new power inlet. If you smell a faint burning smell, don't wait to track it down!

--- End quote ---
Dude that freaks me out. That is the same way I was going to hook mine up. I even have an old PC cord that is sitting and ready to be plugged in. I'm glad you posted this here.

Minwah:

--- Quote from: DarakuTenshi on January 14, 2014, 08:52:43 am ---Dude that freaks me out. That is the same way I was going to hook mine up. I even have an old PC cord that is sitting and ready to be plugged in. I'm glad you posted this here.

--- End quote ---

That's how I do my cabinets too. There's nothing wrong with doing it like this assuming nothing is faulty, and the socket/plug/cable can handle the current draw.

Glad it got noticed before something caught fire...

BadMouth:

--- Quote ---Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.
--- End quote ---

sigh.

No pics, but hey it's an update. (maybe I'll add a pic of the hacked fightpads when I get home....as if nobody has seen one before)
Maybe it will push me to wrap this thing up.

Here's some rambling:

Pixelhugger finished the Marquee and main part of the CP. I'm still waiting on the back part, but will probably go ahead and get the stuff I have printed so the final CP top can be made and controls mounted for the final time.

I'm in the process of remapping everything in my cab to the hacked xbox360 fightpads.
This is primarily for better compatibility with newer Steam games.
The keyboard encoder is still in there with a single button connected for ESC.

After getting about halfway through, I must say that keyboard encoders probably are still the best choice for most people.

When I hacked the fightpads, I hot glued the switch in the d-pad position.
Well, it turns out that Limbo and Locolomito's games only use the left analog stick.
So I pick out the hot glue, change the output to LS, and start remapping again.
Everything works fine until I get to Makaron. It can't use analog sticks for digital directions.
Even if I switch back to the D-pad (which I probably will), it can't use the triggers for digital inputs either and my sixth button is RT.
That messes up Marvel Vs Capcom 2. My computer falls short of running some important games full speed in Demul, so I'm stuck with Makaron.
So it's the autohotkey scripts or xpadder workaround, where no workaround was required before.

Things aren't perfect in Steam land either. As said earlier, the d-pad didn't work in Limbo.
Two of my games (castle crashers and NBA2k14) require the left trigger.
I only put 7 buttons on the cab, so I don't have an LT button.
Castle Crashers requires LT for block and can't be remapped if using an xbox360 controller. ::)

While I hate the default MAME keys for the first four buttons, the keyboard encoder still enjoys the most compatibility with the widest variety of emulators.
The x360kb workaround that allows you to use a keyboard for steam is actually superior to an original controller for the games that don't allow you to remap the controls.

I won't be switching back though. I like the modern, high definition widescreen fighting games too much.
I can finally play Injustice on my cab without using any workarounds and the buttons displayed onscreen match my button labels.
The Steam games with simpler control schemes are pretty much plug and play. No time spent testing various workarounds trying to find one that works.
There are also a lot of games on Steam that have issues with the control scheme for multiple local players. Both can't use the same keyboard, or only one can use a dinput controller. The only thing that just works every time is xbox360 controllers.

On the flipside though, I'm having to go back and apply workarounds to older emulators that worked just fine with the keyboard encoder.
It's just trading one set of workarounds for another. If not running newer PC games, I'd stick with the old tried and true keyboard encoder.

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