Wow, it’s been way too long since I updated this thread. (WARNING - long post incoming)
Started on the electronics. Figured I’d mount the larger items first, started with the computer.
Bought some picture mounting hardware and managed to get three of them on there before it started to get dicey with interfering with electrical components.
Next was wiring up the 120V outlet. Used 16 gauge wire, 0.187” quick disconnects with shrink tubing to keep electrical insulation in place.
Crimped the quick disconnects on the power cord of a power strip that I bought as well
As I have quite a few LED strips I wanted to keep the wiring clean, so I used a Euro Terminal block, but this one was cool cause it includes conjoined spade heads and saves you some work and trouble:
Ran power from the +5V and 12V from the arcade power supply I got at Paradise Arcade:
This way I now have 4 additional terminals to connect the wires to for each voltage (ground up top in black, and positive in red).
Next was wiring some Molex disconnects like I did for the joystick in my small box. Again used Molex pins and matching housings by crimping the male and female pins:
Here are the upper LED, and Disc LED cabling neatly zip tied with connectors near the top (hard to see):
The zip ties behind the monitor will be replaced with velcro strips so I can easily remove them. Speaking of which these are attached to these guys:
They are cool double side taped plastic squares with holes to feed the zip ties to. Bob turned me on to the them and they are very handy.
Quick aside, whenever I need to do soldering work I was always finding I didn't have enough hands to hold the piece, and the soldering iron and apply the solder. This pickup has been a God send.
Here’s the LED wiring coming into the
Euro EDIT: Standard terminals:
Those are insulated 18-22awg spade heads that have a very different crimper than the others:
Anyway the red wires are for power, the black for ground and the green are data lines that get fed to the Arduino Uno (one picture up):
To test the LED’s I needed to break down and remove the tape from the acrylic inlay. There was residual residue from the contact cement where it met the acrylic. I used some canola oil to wipe it off (most people don’t know that this works well with most adhesives). However I should have used rubbing alcohol as it dries on it’s own.
Close up of the residue:
Cleaned up nice though:
Lite em up:
I plan on using these subtly, and in frequently, soft glows and occasional movements, not bling it out.
Here’s a quick animation so you get the idea:
Lastly after some time I got the monitor rotating in the cabinet for the first time. I actually had to go back and refer to my tutorial in the Automated Projects thread because it has been two years since I got this thing moving (damn time flies). Glad I did that because there were a few things that I couldn’t remember. I even needed to spray a little WD40 between the magnets and the VESA mount to make it spin smooth
Here she goes:
Going to continue to work on the software and LED programming while I can, and cleanup this wiring mess.