LED questions

[andrewonawall]

I did a search for "LED" and was suprised to come up with nothing.

I want to use LEDs in by cab to light up the coin doors, trackball, and possibly even more. They are brighter, last longer, and I have been told that that they also use less power but I don't really know if that is true. The problem is that I know very little about them. I have read the oscarcontrols site about the PCB he made for LED lighting; however, I don't have the time and experience to create such a thing.  Is there a product out there that I can purchase that does the same thing???
Additionally, I still don't know what specific lights I need.  I need to know what intensity I need, 1000mcd, 5000mcd, etc???. What about the wave length??? What would be good for a track ball, and would that also be good for a coin door??? About sizes, what is the difference between T-1 and T-1 3/4???  
I am using long translucent buttons too, and thought that it may be a good to use LEDs to light them as well. Wico also sells leaf switch assemblies that have a lamp mount on them, so should I wire up a single LED to light each individual button??? I am worried that if I don't and just have them in the space below the CP, then they won't be bright enough.  
There are many colors available, which I will be using to change the color of the coin slots to corespond with the color scheme of the 4p CP.  But for the translucent controls that are already colored plastic, the track ball and buttons, should I purchase LEDs in the coresponding colors or just stick with the white???  The color LEDs that I have seen always seemed to be a little dimmer than the white, but this may actually be appropriate if the white is so bright that it clearly shines through the colored plastic (again to the issue of brightness).

[JustMichael]

I did a search for "LED" and was suprised to come up with nothing.

Sounds like you tried the Google search link.  I would advise trying the search link at the top of each page instead.  For some reason google doesn't search all the mesageboard pages.

[andrewonawall]

Sounds like you tried the Google search link.  I would advise trying the search link at the top of each page instead.  For some reason google doesn't search all the mesageboard pages.

Nope, I was using the site search from the top of the page.

[HaRuMaN]

LED's last virtually forever... and they consume very little power.  They make high intensity LED's, and it's not hard to power them.  Just apply DC of the right voltage (make sure you get the polarity right) and its on.  As simple as that.

[Industen]

You can find how to wire on my tutorials. Many other things too. Hope this helps  

Speaker Lighting

http://joelsgadgets.com/SpeakerLighting.html

Coin Door Lighting

http://joelsgadgets.com/CoindoorPage2.HTML


Button Lighting

http://joelsgadgets.com/lightedbuttons.html


Power Supply Hack

http://joelsgadgets.com/PopnMusic2.html


I'll do it for you if you really don't know what you are doing

http://joelsgadgets.com/ledhelp.html

[andrewonawall]

You can find how to wire on my tutorials. Many other things too. Hope this helps  

WOW, great site Joel!!! That did help a lot, and it looks pretty simple to do.  Your site solved my color or white bulb question. And the bulb you are using makes things a lot simpler than what I was looking at before with different viewing angles, mcd, and wave lengths. I think that I'll take a stab at it myself, but I still have a few questions.
How many LEDs can be hooked up in a chain to a single Molax connector?
If I wanted to light my translucent buttons, do you think that 1 6-HED bulb positioned a few inches below the specific cluster I want to light would be bright enough, or should I light each switch seperately?

[Industen]

How many LEDs can be hooked up in a chain to a single Molax connector?
If I wanted to light my translucent buttons, do you think that 1 6-HED bulb positioned a few inches below the specific cluster I want to light would be bright enough, or should I light each switch seperately?

I have around 15 LED's in my cabinet and so far have not had a problem. If I do ever I'll just use another power supply to power them. I really wouldn't worry about it,

1 6 HED led will be plenty for a track ball, just postion it so it covers the whole area even.

[andrewonawall]

Great, I'll give it a shot then  

[andrewonawall]

Speaker Lighting

Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you one more thing. Where did you find a clear blue speaker cover? That is really cool!

[Industen]

It's a clear plastic grill that came with the car speakers. The speaker cones are translucent so I put 2 blue 6 HED LED's behind each of them.