Whats the best way to wire?

[apu95]

ive almost finished building the main cabinet, which looks....decent. a couple of measuring errors here and there make it look like a work of art or something . i also finished buying and configuring the new pc to go in it (Celeron D 2.8 ghz, winxp pro, 256 ram, Geforce 4 MX420, 80 gb....it cost total $750 cdn. yeah yeah i know i know, why so much, well, i also wanna use it as an mp3 jukebox and dvd player and stepmania cab as well).

anyways, im going to get started on the wiring of said cabinet. i have an IPAC2 that came with cables and everything. my keschun is, whats the best way to wire the cables to the metal contacts on the microswitches? i tested out one button using the simple pass-thru-hole-and-twist method, but i didnt like it much. would soldering be better? or something else?

thx,
Apu

[whammoed]

Soldering works great but if you need to switch some things around or replace something it can be a pain.  Quick disconnects are what most people use.

[apu95]

quick disconnects?
how do those exactly work?

[whammoed]

you crimp them to the wire then slide them on the contact of the microswitch

copy and paste this link:
http://www.gamecabinetsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=43-1229-00&Category_Code=MP


Edit by moderator: fixed URL

[danny_galaga]

except for testing, do NOT use the method you described!! that path will lead to frustration as different joints alternately work/dont work. quick disconnects are also called spade terminals. you would use female spades. these push straight onto the terminals of your microswitches. the spades are crimped onto the wire with crimping pliers

[wj2k3]

[SirPeale]

you crimp them to the wire then slide them on the contact of the microswitch

copy and paste this link:
http://www.gamecabinetsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=43-1229-00&Category_Code=MP

Those are some seriously expensive QDs!  See my .sig for far cheaper QDs, shipping included.

[Lilwolf]

They aren't all that bad...

Its just that you sell them for a great price...

[MinerAl]

If the buttons came from Ultimarc they are probably 1/4" spades so you'll need .25" (6.35mm) female QDs.  If you got the buttons elsewhere (Happs) they could be 3/16" so you'll need the .187" (4.7625mm) QDs.   Measure the spades on your buttons before ordering any QDs, or you'll be unhappy with the results.

If you can't wait for your QDs to be delivered, and you have .25"s you can find packs of 10 in the automotive aisle at your local Whatever-Mart.  That pack of 10 will cost about what Peale charges for 100 though, so it might be worth the wait!

[vader]

I picked up a box of insulated QD at home depot for like 7-8 bucks for 100, the same ones pictured on a previous post.

[paigeoliver]

Both common arcade QD sizes are also available at just about any auto parts store. Cherry brand switches use .187 ones, while some of the import switches use .250 ones.

My harnesses are always rather custom, as I always end up using both kinds of switches.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I soldered Cat5 cable to all mine.
It's already bundled, color-coded, and makes it really easy to "clean everything up".

[LJHalfbreed]

No-One: Best frickin' idea ever... That's how I hooked my 4 player CP together.... I have a ton of multicolored cat 5 cable. Just got red, blue, green, and yellow, cut it to fit, crimped on QD's, and I was good to go. For the joysticks, I just twisted each pair together before crimping. Everything was neat and tidy, easily color-coded and marked, and just looked... professional, I guess. Add in some wire clasps/hold-downs/ties, and you're good to go. Only problem I ran into was trying to daisychain all those buttons together for the ground... *sigh*...

-LJ

[NoOne=NBA=]

I used keystone jacks to hook up each because my panels are modular.
The color-coded wire really helped because I KNEW that all my joysticks were wired identically, and would be interchangable.

I only used ONE wire from each bundle for ground, and just soldered it to the ground connector on all the switches.
That left me 7 wires per bundle to hook up sticks/buttons.

[LJHalfbreed]

Ah... gotcha... my 'frankenpanel' is set up for 4 way play on everything up to PSX. Since PSX has a whopping 10 buttons in 'digital mode', that meant I'm running 14 lines from 'somewhere' with grounds to each switch. I was just amazed at how easy the 'hot wire' connections were compared to daisychaining the grounds together. (I went with a series setup instead of a parallel setup... stupid, I know, but it looks nicer in my demented head).

-LJ

[fredster]

Soldering is probably a superior way of connecting the wires IF you are good at it and you don't make a mistake.

It's the cheapest way too.  It takes about the same amount of time but if you make a mistake, you have to rework it.  If you aren't good at soldering, well, you might have a time with it.

Spades are good, but you have to practice at that too.  You have to get the wires pretty good.  You may find that if you make a mistake you can fix it pretty quick.  But you will no doubt screw up some spades while you are doing it.

Spades can come off and give you some problems down the road.  Soldering will stay in place but you have to unsolder to fix it and that can be a pain when it's in place.

My first arcade repair/conversion I used spades.  Now I usually solder it, but it took some practice.

[danny_galaga]

im a solder man too. and i used data cable. there was some 25 core stuff on sale at the local shop for less than a dollar a metre!! cant go wrong.

initially i thought that it might be better to use crimps in case i needed to swap things around. but i was confident with my set-up so i soldered it. i havent had to undo even one joint. all the wires and switches ended up where i wanted them...

[paigeoliver]

Soldering is very nice until you have to repair it, at which point it becomes sucky.

[danny_galaga]

Soldering is very nice until you have to repair it, at which point it becomes sucky.

but mine will last forever so i will never have to repair it. i reckon maybe ill have to change the glass top maybe every ten-fifteen years but thats it  

[NoOne=NBA=]

I've never had any trouble swapping stuff around that I soldered.

Once the iron is hot, I can completely unsolder an entire joystick in under a minute.

I would bet I can solder UP a joystick in less time than most people here can crimp on a set of quick disconnects.

The big sell point for me though is that I STILL have about a quarter of a $3.19 roll of solder left.
That one roll has done numerous swappable CP's, all my modular stuff, 3 years worth of labwork and projects at school, and a bunch of different projects over the past 10 years or so.