Joystick lighting-Tropical mood light substitute

[Bloviator]

Rookie mistake.

I was planning on using Acrylic rings and "tropical mood lights" from Paradise Arcade Shop to light my joysticks, but I only bought 4 of them months back for my test control panel, to make sure I was capable of doing it.  They have been out of stock for months, so I contacted them and they said that they had them made 8-9 years ago and did not intend to have any more done.

So now I'm trying to find other options for the slots I have already cut out without having to make too much modification.

The simplest thing would be to find some similar sized (10mm) pixel boards that I could wire myself, but the only ones I can find are of the addressable variety.  I can't seem to find any that are directly wired to the individual RGB led's like the tropical mood lights were.  Does anyone have any idea where I can find these?  I've been through many pages of leds on various sites with no luck. 

These are some of the alternative addressable ones I have found:

https://www.amazon.com/BTF-LIGHTING-WS2812B-Heatsink-10mm3mm-WS2811/dp/B01DC0J3UM/ref=pd_ybh_a_12?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PXBJVKA2X1YSBPR8DPCC

A more complicated alternative might be to use a Ultimarc Nano-LED which can run WS2811 protocol addressables, but the ones I am finding are 2812B.  It sounds like the protocols might be similar (or even essentially the same?).  Has anyone tried this type of thing, and whats the latest on the Nano-LED playing well with LED Blinky, including in combination with a PacLED64 which will be running my button LEDs.  I'll check with Andy directly, unless he comes across this here.

Thanks

[ditchdoc68]

I’m in the same boat as you. Should have ordered more than I need. Did you happen to find any more or find a replacement? If you did could you let me know? Thanks.

[nitrogen_widget]

I think I remember these.
Google machine found reference to pele rings.
Are those them?

also on this forum someone made their own.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=153792.0

[Bloviator]

I could not find any of the Non addressable chips anywhere to even consider making my own, so I ended up making a string of similarly sized addressable led boards, controlled by an Ultimarc nanoled.  It seems to be working, so far.  I am also using 2 pacleds64s and they are all working together and running with ledblinky, although I have not tried to do any individual custom programing with it yet.

I make it in 3 sections, for easier maintenance and assembly, and joined them with screw caps.  I found solid wire to be by far easier to work with than stranded.  I used 22g but tested some with 24 which I am guessing would be ok for this number of buttons and length of run.

I bought a sheet of 100 so I could practice.  I recommend keeping them partially attached together so you can hold them with some "helping hands"  while soldering.  Hands free magnifier was invaluable.  Not sure I could have done without it.  I put a good amount of solder on each of the 6 attachment spots first.  then did the individual wires one by one by touching the tip of the wire and the solder spot at the same time, and sliding the wire into place.  The second row I did with the bare wire already partially bent to make it easier to get over the top of the first row, making sure there was plenty of gap and no bridging.  Also making sure the plastic jacket does not melt and cause a bridge.

I am kind of making this up as I go along, so anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong:

The first LED 5V connects directly to the power supply.  The power supply ground connects to both the Nanoled ground and the ground of the first LED (I connected those 3 wires with a screw cap).  The Nanoled data pin connects to the first LED "Din" (there is only one active data pin on the Nanoled).  All other LEDs connected in order after that.  Longer runs could potentially need an additional 5V boost inserted somewhere along the line, but I have no idea how to calculate or estimate that.

I ended up doing some initial testing with a Arduino to make sure everything was working.

Practice:



First row attached:



Second row attached:





project link:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,163631.0.html

[Bloviator]

Finished my project a while back and have been doing plenty of testing

The Ultimarc Nanoled is working well with the addressable LEDs for the joystick lights.  It is for the most part playing well with LEDBlinky, however, occasionally all of the lights at the end of the chain will get stuck ON after exiting a game and can only be reset with a computer restart.  I do not think I have a short or bad connection.  It occurs starting at different LEDs in the chain and does not seem to be from specific games.  It usually only occurs after numerous games.  Most sessions, it never happens.

I considered looking into an update of the Nanoled, but am reluctant to try to fix what is only minimally and occasionally broken.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,163631.0.html