Best wiring solution

[TheGameAh]

Working on my second cab now.  My first cab went very well, everything is working fine.  Now I'm trying to learn from my mistakes.

On my first cab I took two parallel cables and cut them in half to wire up the control panel.  It worked fine, however the size of the wires were a problem.  They were very small.  During wiring the wire would sometimes come out of the disconnects, and the IPAC wiring block.

I suppose if I wanted to do the same thing with this cable I could just fold the wire a bit, giving the disconnect more to crimp into, but stripping these tiny wires were a pain too.  Anybody have a really good wiring solution?

[unclet]

You can solder 18 or 20 gauge wire to the ends of the parallel cable wires then use the 18 or 20 gauage wires for the quick disconnects and Ipac block wiring.   Seems like a lot of extra soldering and heat shrink tubing though.

[RayB]

Just spend the extra bucks and wire everthing to a JAMMA harness. Then use a J-Pac instead of an I-pac.

[Sylentwulf]

I've never understood using parallel cables, why not just using normal wires to hook everything up like they do in real arcade cabinets?
Is it because of the mess and zip-ties? Frankly I like the mess, makes it look very complicated and that you had to work REAL HARD wiring everything.

[GGKoul]

Use CAT5 cables...

[NoOne=NBA=]

Cat5 cables hook in really nicely to the I-pac, and SOLDER on really well to every type of controller out there.

I've never understood the appeal of quick-disconnects, especially for people who are building "permanent" control panels.
I'm staring at a 3/4 used roll of solder that I bought for $3.19, that has "quick disconnected" more wires than I'd probably like to remember.

[rsoandrew]

I just used what ever type of wire I had laying around. Everything from 14 gauge to 22. Although it's overkill for what you need, I think I liked the 18 gauge the best. Easy to strip/crimp and work with.

I also used a sharpie to "stripe" the player wire.

I cut open a parallel cable and thought that it would be neat to have all the different wire colors but, while probably electrically suffcient, damn that wire is small. It'd be a pain to work with.

I thought about using cat 5 but I really didn't want to deal with solid wire. Although you'd probably never open the CP enough, breakage could be an issue.

[NoOne=NBA=]

If you cut patch cables (which I did for my modular panels), or use patch cable roll stock, the wire is (22-24 ga) stranded.

[RayB]

I've never understood the appeal of quick-disconnects, especially for people who are building "permanent" control panels.

Well, even the most "permanent" of control panels can require some work some time down the line, and trust me, it's way more convenient to just take the whole panel off and take it to your work bench.

~RayB

[BldnACab]

I used a RS232 cable cut it in half and used a 12 Position European Style Terminal Strip http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=274-679 .

I really like these strips better then the Dual row barrier strips. The wires are thinner on the RS232 cable, but they stay attached very will in the European Style strips

BldnACab

[danny_galaga]

for my two cents i used 25 core data cable (dont know the proper name for it). its a small gauge (same size as telephone wire) but stranded. i soldered to the switches and joysticks. it is small, but its not brain surgery! In australia, you can buy the stuff for about a dollar a metre at dick smith electronics. thats 25 different coloured pieces of wire a metre for a buck! two is more than sufficient. you cant go wrong...
you can see more of it on my page:

     http://dannygalaga.com/mame.htm

dan.

[Doc-]

I like the CAT 5 solution - particularly if you want to remove or swap items.

Here's my solution:
   http://www.beersmith.com/mame/wiring.htm

[RayB]

Wow Doc, I really like that solution. Makes me reconsider my plans for a non-swappable CP...........

[GGKoul]

I've designed my modular panel coping doc's wiring.  And it's very easy to do.  I used db25 cables before.  But the db25 wiring or very small and makes wiring a pain.  As they each sliding out of the connectors.

Hope this helps.
-GGKoul