Wiring the LEDWIZ

[zanna5910]

I've read a bunch out there and am fairly certain I understand how to wire the actual rgb's and led's to the led-wiz itself, but have a few questions in tapping the PC power supply for the power I was hoping you guys can help me out with.  These are probably stupid questions to some and are easy answers.... hopefully.

I basically plan to wire 9 LEDs and 12 RGBs to one ledwiz.  P1 and P2 buttons will share for each button, P1 and P2 start and coin will share, and 5 extra leds individually.

1. I looked into my pc and dont see any extra molex connectors coming out of the power supply.  Does this mean I'm outta luck?  Do I need to open up the power supply?
2. Assuming there is one inside the power supply, how do you actually wire into the molex?  Do you just connect a female to it and remove the yellow and 1 black wire and wire that directly to the LEDWIZ?
3. Assuming there isn't an extra molex power coming out, do you pull it off something else or do you need an external power supply?  Is so, what should I get?
4. Where does the inline fuse go?  How do you do this?  I assume I need about (~720ma (RGBS) + ~200ma (LEDS) = 1000ma fuse?)
5. The 9 LEDs are spectralite 12V LEDs.  Can I use the same molex 12V in the molex to bank power these seperately?  Is this "regulated' DC 12v as the GGG site says?

Thanks everybody, and any pics would be super helpful!

[DaOld Man]

To answer #1, you can get splitter cables that allow you to unplug one device (hard drive or cd), and plug this in, giving you an extra molex power IDE connector.

Link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812198025

To answer #2, you can buy a female molex connector that will plug into this splitter, or just cut the male plug off the splitter and wire directly to the yellow and a black wire. Be sure to tape the red and the other black, but not together, to keep them from accidental touching something.
The ide wire voltage are as follows:
Yellow= +12 VDC
Black= ground
Black= ground
Red= +5VDC
The two blacks are the same, so it doesn't matter which one you connect to.
#1 answers #3, I think.
#4: If you use an inline fuse it will go on the yellow wire (if you are using 12 VDC), or the red one (If you are using 5VDC).
It will wire between the power supply and the led wiz.
#5, not sure what you mean about banking separately, but yes, the 12 VDC on the PC power supply is regulated.

[zanna5910]

To answer #2, you can buy a female molex connector that will plug...

#5, not sure what you mean about banking separately, but yes, the 12 VDC on the PC power supply is regulated.

Thanks so much, that is soo helpful!
#2 - wouldn't that be a male to connect to one of the female ends?

By #5, i mean  you have the option to supply voltage to each bank on the LEDWIZ (1-9, 9-18, etc etc).  Can I supply the 12VDC to a specific bank and put my 12V leds on that bank, and also supply other banks the 5V for the RGBs?  Can I use the same molex to supply one bank the 5V from the red wire and another the 12V from the yellow wire?

[DaOld Man]

You will need the same type plug that is in your hard drive now, (made into the hard drive, not unpluggable, unless you have a sata drive, Im talking strictly IDE).

As for the led wiz, I think GGG (grooveygamegear.com) has wiring diagrams, and Randy (a member on here) is more than happy to help you, or at least he has always seemed eager to answer my questions.

[zanna5910]

Thanks, I got most of the wiring in place, just waiting on some splitters and whatnot to show up.

1 more question though:

The spectralite button LED's seem to be prewired into the holder in the button, does it matter which side is positive and negative?  Can I just hook it up either way?

[PL1]

The spectralite button LED's seem to be prewired into the holder in the button, does it matter which side is positive and negative?  Can I just hook it up either way?

Almost all LED buttons need to be connected with the correct polarity to work.

Test the LEDs before you install them to be sure all the LED holders (red part, front center) are oriented the same way in the socket. (black part, right side)



If the LED doesn't light up, unplug the LED holder, turn it 180 degrees, and plug it back in.   

I usually orient the LED holders so the negative lead connects on the same side as the large black plastic tab on the socket. (black tab goes with black ground wire )


Scott

[zanna5910]

If the LED doesn't light up, unplug the LED holder, turn it 180 degrees, and plug it back in.   

I'm sure I'll be doing this a few times!  I just wasn't sure if there was a way to determine which was positive and negative on the led piece (red in the middle) without just plugging it in and testing it.  Usually there is a long and short wire, when its all in-cased and wrapped up, its hard to tell.

I usually orient the LED holders so the negative lead connects on the same side as the large black plastic tab on the socket. (black tab goes with black ground wire )

Good suggestion

[DaOld Man]

If you have a digital multi meter with a diode checker, you can use that to determine the led polarity.
Touch meters probes to the led terminals, if it lights (may be very dim) then the red probe is on the positive terminal, black probe on the ground terminal. If it doesn't light, swap the probes.
Also, you will show a voltage drop on the meter, if it is connected correctly to the led.

[zanna5910]

In case anyone reads this later...

On further inspection of the LED and its casing, if you look at the LED casing and the wires wrapped around the terminals, you can distinctly tell that one is longer than the other and thereby wrapped around more of the LED casing clip than the other.  The longer is your power, shorter wires to the WIZ.

[MTPPC]

..
#4: If you use an inline fuse it will go on the yellow wire (if you are using 12 VDC), or the red one (If you are using 5VDC).
It will wire between the power supply and the led wiz...

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but this is said in a bunch of threads and it's not right. The Ledwiz provides a ground path for the circuits it controls. To properly protect the ledwiz, you need to have a good ground shared with the controlled items' power supply and 400ma fuses on each of the active ports.

The "power bank" connections only provide a protection diode for feedback from the coils of relays, contactors, knockers..etc

How does fusing the power supply to the ledwiz protect anything? The 5VDC from USB is limited to about 500ma IIRC before the computer cuts it off. In fact, I've decided to forgo protecting the ledwiz completely. I just hope the coils on my relay boards never short out. BTW, I'm using ledwiz for force feedback and 5 RGB flashers in my galaxy cabinet.

[RandyT]

How does fusing the power supply to the ledwiz protect anything? The 5VDC from USB is limited to about 500ma IIRC before the computer cuts it off. In fact, I've decided to forgo protecting the ledwiz completely. I just hope the coils on my relay boards never short out. BTW, I'm using ledwiz for force feedback and 5 RGB flashers in my galaxy cabinet.

Simple, a dead short will pull a lot more current from the supply line than is being used by 32 LEDS.  Basically, it's fire protection.  If you have a number of high current devices, it would make sense to separate the circuits and protect with more fuses where necessary.

[MTPPC]

How does fusing the power supply to the ledwiz protect anything? The 5VDC from USB is limited to about 500ma IIRC before the computer cuts it off. In fact, I've decided to forgo protecting the ledwiz completely. I just hope the coils on my relay boards never short out. BTW, I'm using ledwiz for force feedback and 5 RGB flashers in my galaxy cabinet.

Simple, a dead short will pull a lot more current from the supply line than is being used by 32 LEDS.  Basically, it's fire protection.  If you have a number of high current devices, it would make sense to separate the circuits and protect with more fuses where necessary.

Doesn't the typical PC powersupply being used already have a 5 or 10 amp breaker in it? I also don't understand what you mean by a "dead short". Am I incorrect in my understanding of the function of the power bank connections? Certainly there cannot be any failure of the ledwiz that would make use of a redundant overload protection provided by an inline fuse of the same rating as the PS breaker.

Maybe I am just misunderstanding either how the ledwiz works or how any fuse greater than a 400ma Fast blow could protect the device from damage.

[RandyT]

Doesn't the typical PC powersupply being used already have a 5 or 10 amp breaker in it? I also don't understand what you mean by a "dead short". Am I incorrect in my understanding of the function of the power bank connections? Certainly there cannot be any failure of the ledwiz that would make use of a redundant overload protection provided by an inline fuse of the same rating as the PS breaker.

Maybe I am just misunderstanding either how the ledwiz works or how any fuse greater than a 400ma Fast blow could protect the device from damage.

Like I said, "fire protection".  Consider that a fuse is a thin piece of wire which vaporizes when too much current is pulled through it.  Fuses have a protective shell, which makes that event safe.  If you have a thin wire going to one of your devices, and there is an accidental short (or similar malfunction of the device), you would be pulling 5 or 10 amps through that thin piece of wire before the breaker blows.  But what will happen before that, is the thin wire will glow and burn through (or get very hot), creating a possibly very bad situation.  By limiting the current with a fuse to a much lower level, you can potentially avoid this situation.  Theoretically, the driver would probably burn out before anything very bad happens, but that is not it's function.

Usually, fuses protect the supply, your house and maybe even your life, not the device being connected.  They will also likely protect the LED-Wiz.

Safety first.