Wiring the i-pac

[czinkula]

I don't know anything about wire so this could be an incredibly stupid post. But... is there a certain type of wire that people commonly use to wire the buttons/joysticks to the I-Pac? I can't seem to find anything on this...

Also what does one use to wire it up without solder?

Thanks!

[slug54]

I used 22 gage stranded wire I got from radio $hack
I used red for the normally open terminals and green
for all the ground wires. This makes checking your wiring a lot easier. I conected everthing together with Quick Connects which I also bought at R$ I think these were
size .250 1/4" but take 1 of your micro switches with you to be sure.  I also recomend grouping your wires in sections
for example : keep all of player 1's controls in a group and wire tie them together , keep the mame controls together and player 2 together. this allows for easy  trouble shooting of wiring problems and removal of controls.
It's almost like building a wiring harness instead of just having wires running everywhere. I tied all the grounds from each group together and used a heavier wire from there to the I-Pac ground. This was definitely one of my favorite parts of building my cab. since my optipac and Ipac are mounted on the underside of my control panel ,once I got it wired I connected it up to my home pc and it was Game On! because of the dozens of hours I spent using it like this I almost didn't get my cab fiinished.

                                  Good Luck
                                     Slug54

[Tiger-Heli]

I used 22 gage stranded wire I got from radio $hack
I used red for the normally open terminals and green
for all the ground wires. This makes checking your wiring a lot easier. I conected everthing together with Quick Connects which I also bought at R$ I think these were
size .250 1/4" but take 1 of your micro switches with you to be sure.  

Agree with 22-gauge stranded and with tidying up the wiring.  .25 Quick Connects will work, although most microswitches are 0.187 tabs, but this size Quick Connect is only available by mail order from RShack or from Happ/Bob Roberts.  (And maybe Ace Hardware or Advance Auto has in stock).  .250 is much more common.

Stating the obvious, but the I-PAC screw terminals don't require solder.

[JustMichael]

czinkula,  use whatever small gauge wire you have on hand that will fit into the quick disconnects.  I used the wire out of a dead piece of cat5 cable.  I had to fold it over on itself  before crimping because of its small size though.

[u_rebelscum]

Agree with 22-gauge stranded and with tidying up the wiring.  .25 Quick Connects will work, although most microswitches are 0.187 tabs, but this size Quick Connect is only available by mail order from RShack or from Happ/Bob Roberts.  (And maybe Ace Hardware or Advance Auto has in stock).  .250 is much more common.

.25 are much more common, but I found .187 in three different RShacks around where I live (I shop at different malls, each with a RShack), and at the local Aces.  So no need for mail order in many places.  Home Depot won't have it (all .25).

czinkula,  use whatever small gauge wire you have on hand that will fit into the quick disconnects.  I used the wire out of a dead piece of cat5 cable.  I had to fold it over on itself  before crimping because of its small size though.

You are supposed to always fold it over (unless you are using way too fat a gauge wire).  With the stronger plastic insulation crimped also, the wire won't break right at the end of the discount crimp