Wiring questions

[Zachmeadows51]

Well, just today I have felt the shame of noob-Dom, and before I start, keep in mind the most electrical work I have ever done is changing light bulbs, batteries, and hooking up games/disc players to tvs. With that in mind, I thought I has all the wiring that I needed, but I'm still doubtful of my course of action. I currently have an I-pac 2 and 16 5v led buttons and 2 12v 4-8 joysticks. I've asked my father(a man who knows circuitry like the back of his hand.) if the voltage would fry the I-pac. He says that the pc can handle up to 12v and should be fine, but as I look through the forums, his answer is still unsettling. So I've come here to see the masters and the advance to tell me what routes they would go and how not to fry the system. Also other questions like, should I invest in the PACLED64 to solve the issues. Also my joysticks are different from happy, so would a rotary joystick interface be a safer route to go. Both of those items confuse me, so if you could explain them better, it would help. I'll upload pics so you won't be in the dark about my controls.

[PL1]

Fear not, Zach.  Nobody is forcing you to wear the cone of shame . . . yet.

Your question covers 2 main areas: The encoder (IPac) and LED lighting.

Encoder:
Wire the microswitches in the pushbuttons and joystick to the encoder like this.



Your joystick 5-wire connector looks like it connects to the daisy-chained ground(black wire) and the 4 direction inputs on the IPac.

LED Lighting:
There are 2 ways to approach the LED lighting: Always on (easy way) or switched/animated. (harder way)

For always on, just use a molex connector off your computer's power supply to provide 5v(red/black) and 12v (yellow/black).  These connections can provide plenty of current for your LEDs.



For the 5v circuit connect the .250" tabs that are pointing down on the pushbuttons to the red/black (5v) on the molex.



If the LED doesn't light unplug/turn the LED 180 degrees.


The 2-wire (LED power) connector on your joystick connects to the yellow/black (12v) on the molex.

If you want the button LEDs switched/animated (harder way) let us know -- this is where the PACLED64 or another LED controller becomes useful.
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When you say your joysticks are "different from happy", I assume you mean Happ joysticks.  (Competetition or Super) 

Just wire them as mentioned above and electrically they are the same to the IPac.

If you ARE having problems with your happy joystick, see your doctor. 
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You can learn more about rotary joysticks in the often-overlooked Wiki.


Scott

[Zachmeadows51]

Wow, I didn't see it that way and that makes a lot of sense. That would end the fear of the frying of an expensive interface.lol the only question I am still confused about is my arcade joystick. I think I am grasping most of it. So I have two sets of wires that hook up to the joystick. One that is just black and red and the other has black, red, yellow, ect. If I can understand the color relations in what you told me it makes sense, but then why do I have 2 red and 2 blacks. (Idk if this will help in answering this, but I forgot to mention, the led in the joystick ball changes colors on its own) if I can get that cleared then I'll be golden on the wiring.

[PL1]

So I have two sets of wires that hook up to the joystick. One that is just black and red and the other has black, red, yellow, ect. If I can understand the color relations in what you told me it makes sense, but then why do I have 2 red and 2 blacks.

Wire colors aren't always the same.

When wiring AC circuits, black is usually hot, white is usually neutral and green is usually ground. (Some countries/regions use different colors.)

When wiring DC circuits, red is usually the operating voltage and black is usually ground.

With signal wires, black is often ground, but not always.

Colors are often repeated.  Picture trying to use a different color wire for every input on your IPac.   
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At first, I thought you had an LS-40 knockoff, but now that I look closer, there appears to be an extra 5-pin connector on yours.

LS-40 with 5-pin connector on right for ground and 4 directions.


Your stick has a 2-pin connector (probably 12v for LEDs) and two 5-pin connectors.


Did it come with any documentation or are there any markings like "+", "-", "NO" or "NC" on the board near the connectors?

If not, you can still determine which of the 5-wire connectors is tied to normally open (NO) and which is normally closed (NC) -- only reason I can think of why there'd be 2 connectors, unless one is used to light up the joystick when pushed:

1. Strip a little insulation off the ends of the 5-wire harness and connect the wires to ground(black) and the 4 directional inputs on the IPac.

2. Connect the harness to one of the 5-pin connectors on the stick.

3. Launch WinIPac and set the view to panel mode (shown below) or go to menu -Tools-Test mode (only shows latest/current input)


4. Connect the IPac via USB.

5. When you push the joystick up/down/left/right the blue triangles around the joystick on WinIPac should light up.  Press the arrow keys on your keyboard if you're not sure what you're looking for.

6. If only one of the four directions lights up, unplug the IPac from the USB and try to turn the 5-pin connector over so the red wire end is now where the black wire end was, then repeat steps 4 and 5.  If none of the directions lights up or all 4 light up at once, skip to step 8.

7. Make a diagram so you can remember later which side of the stick is paired with which wire color.

8. Unplug the IPac and change the 5-pin harness to the other 5-pin connector.

9. Repeat steps 4-8.

10. By this point, you should know which connector and orientation works.

11. Just to be sure the LED voltage input isn't tied to one of the 5-pin connectors, plug the 2-pin harness into the joystick, strip some insulation off the end of that red wire, and connect it to one of the open inputs on the IPAC.

***DO NOT CONNECT THE 2-PIN HARNESS TO A 12v SOURCE (MOLEX) FOR THIS TEST.***

12. Move the joystick around and ensure that the input you connected to doesn't light up in WinIPac. (If it does, that 5-pin connector is for LED lighting)

13. Change the 5-pin harness to the other connector and repeat step 12.


Scott