Coin door lights question

[okmike87]

I'm planning on using a couple of 12v car dashboard lights as my coin door lights.

Is it perfectly safe to hook these up to the 12v power coming out of my computer? Don't want to fry the power supply or anything like that, so wanted to get some input from you cats on this.

(I am planning on using the wires that would normally be used for an extra harddrive.)

Mike

[Sasquatch!]

I'm no electrician, but I don't see why it wouldn't be okay.

If it matters, I put superbright LEDs in my coin door, and they're technically sold as automotive bulbs (for taillights, I believe).

[quarterstringer]

An alternative recommendation that I got from this board is to use Lazer LEDs. They were cheap, don't use alot of power and last a long time. I used a blue one to light up a trackball and a red one for the coin door.

[Bgnome]

I'm planning on using a couple of 12v car dashboard lights as my coin door lights.

Is it perfectly safe to hook these up to the 12v power coming out of my computer? Don't want to fry the power supply or anything like that, so wanted to get some input from you cats on this.

(I am planning on using the wires that would normally be used for an extra harddrive.)

Mike

the only problem i can see is if you have enought current available.  ive heard 12v incandescents can draw quite a bit of current and put a fair amount of load on your psu

[okmike87]

An alternative recommendation that I got from this board is to use Lazer LEDs. They were cheap, don't use alot of power and last a long time. I used a blue one to light up a trackball and a red one for the coin door.

Quarterstringer, did you hook yours up to your PC power?

[quarterstringer]

Yes, it was simple because the LED came with a Molex connector. I did have to splice in a couple feet of extra wire to reach the coin door.

[JWJr]

My coin door uses four 6V lights, so I just wired 'em to a USB connector and plugged 'em in.  -JW

[okmike87]

Yes, it was simple because the LED came with a Molex connector. I did have to splice in a couple feet of extra wire to reach the coin door.

Quarterstringer, did you use just one of those LEDs to light two coindoors?

[quarterstringer]

My coin door only has one light. I bought the single LEDs for $1.79 and it was enough light.

[okmike87]

My coin door only has one light. I bought the single LEDs for $1.79 and it was enough light.

My previous question was worded like I am retarded. Sorry about that.

What I meant to say is did you light more than one coin reject button with one LED?

[quarterstringer]

No, you'll probably have to buy two separate LEDs to light up 2 rejects.

[okmike87]

No, you'll probably have to buy two separate LEDs to light up 2 rejects.

So with two LEDs, can I hook them up in parallel to the computer power supply?

[okmike87]

No, you'll probably have to buy two separate LEDs to light up 2 rejects.

So with two LEDs, can I hook them up in parallel to the computer power supply?

I'm so useless with electricity, I am replying to my own posts...

I guess this would be a perfect solution to hooking up 2 of the LEDs:
http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/4pinpowsupmo.html

[Ken Layton]

You are perfectly fine to use either #194 or #161 dashboard lamps. Each lamp draws a quarter of an ampere so wiring two in parallel would be a draw of only a half an ampere from your power supply. Modern commercial arcade games use two #194 lamps to light up the coin entries and they are usually wired to the game's switching power supply.

[LeedsFan]

I'm interested in this too.  I'm converting an existing Jamma cab and I've isolated the game board power supply. But it seems a shame to not utilise the light that's already in the loom for the coin door. I agree LEDs are better, but I may as well use what's already there.

How would I wire this into the 12V supply for a second hard drive? Do I just splice the red and black wires from the block connector? As per original poster, I'm not too hot on computer electrics.  

[dmish82]

I'm interested in this too.  I'm converting an existing Jamma cab and I've isolated the game board power supply. But it seems a shame to not utilise the light that's already in the loom for the coin door. I agree LEDs are better, but I may as well use what's already there.

How would I wire this into the 12V supply for a second hard drive? Do I just splice the red and black wires from the block connector? As per original poster, I'm not too hot on computer electrics.  

I just got done w/ my coin door switch and light wiring this weekend. I picked up 4-12V auto lights from ACE Hardware for about $5 (4 coin slots for my 4 player arcade) and a 100-ct pack of female disconnects for $6. The best route to go is to get what's called a Y-Adapter, which plugs into an existing power connector on your computer(the one with 1-yellow 1-red, 2 -black wires) and splits it into 2 connectors. This way, you are NOT hacking up your existing cables(you may need them down the road). Then what you can do is cut the yellow wire(+12V) on one of the new connectors from the Y-Adapter and cut one of the black wires(Ground). Then, cut roughly a 4" section of wire(used as a jumper wire) and crimp one end of this wire with one end of the yellow wire from your supply into ONE female disconnect. Now crimp the other end of the 4" jumper wire into another female disconnect and now you have 2-12V connectors(1 to go on one contact of one light and one to go on one contact on the other light). Now do the same for the ground and connect one to one light and the other to the other light. Now your lights have power and you still have a power supply connector remaining from the Y-Adapter to connect to your hard drive. Good luck.

[subzero23]

If I have blue coin slots, should I use the white or blue LEDs? And should I use 4 or 6 Led-heads?

[whammoed]

If I have blue coin slots, should I use the white or blue LEDs? And should I use 4 or 6 Led-heads?

I prefer the 4 led cluster.  6 is a little too bright.  I also prefer colored led for the coin slots, brings out the color more.