Ground wire daisy chain

[Buffy71]

Hi,
I'm wiring up my very first control panel and have what I hope is a simple question.
I have purchased ultimate io board, ultimarc goldleaf rgb buttons and 2 x servostiks. I received 2 ground harnesses, 1 with 2.8mm terminals for the buttons, and one with 4.8mm for the joysticks.
So, I daisy chained all the buttons first, then joined that to the 4.8mm harness to daisy chain the joysticks.
Being only a 2 player control panel, there are lots of leftover terminals afterwards. Can I bunch them up out of the way, or should I simply cut the excess terminals off? If I do cut them off, is there anything special I need to do to the last terminal, i.e do I need to remove 2nd wire, or just cut it off?
Any help or advice will be much appreciated, thanks.

[PL1]

there are lots of leftover terminals afterwards. Can I bunch them up out of the way, or should I simply cut the excess terminals off?

Either way works.
- Bunching them up makes it easier if you decide to change the panel/controls at some future date.  Zip ties, velcro, etc. can help keep the wiring neat.
- Cutting off the excess daisy chain length reduces the chances that one of the extra terminals will flop around and accidentally short to a PCB or one of the other wires.  This is more of a concern with a portable control panel or jam-packed bartop as opposed to a more spacious pedestal or full-size cab.

If I do cut them off, is there anything special I need to do to the last terminal, i.e do I need to remove 2nd wire, or just cut it off?

Nothing special, just cut the second wire.
- If you don't think you'll be changing the controls/panel, you can cut it shortly after the last Quick Disconnect (QD) used.
- If you think you might eventually want to expand the controls/panel, leave several inches of wire after the last QD used.  When it comes time to expand the daisy chain, either strip the wire, crimp on a male QD, and plug that male QD into the new daisy chain or strip the wire and use a butt-splice to connect that wire to a stripped wire on the new daisy chain.   

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/Wiring

QDs: 

Butt splices: 


Scott

[Buffy71]

Hi Scott. Thank you so much for your quick response, I really appreciate it.
I currently have them neatly bundled up, and may expand to add pinball buttons at some stage, so I'll see how they go like this. I'll make sure to secure them clear of any wiring and/or pcb.
The control panel will be going into a full sized cab,  and once installed hopefully no need to open again (unless,  of course I add those pinball buttons )

[PL1]

may expand to add pinball buttons at some stage

If you decide to go that route, here's a list of default VP/FP buttons/keystrokes and some wiring tricks for pinball buttons with a MAME setup.

With Goldleaf (2 terminal) buttons, you'll need to use blocking diodes (second pic) to connect Upper Flipper and MagnaSave to a single button. (no pinball table uses both Upper Flippers and MagnaSave)
- For more details, either search for my old posts containing "MagnaSave" (there are more than 50 of them) or feel free to ask.   






Scott

[Buffy71]

Thanks, I'll be sure to look your posts up if I decide to go down that path.