Very Inexpensive way to light your trackball...

[divemaster127]

I have noticed in some other threads for getting light kits for your trackball, if you are looking for a very inexpensive way to do it, I sell a socket(made by happ) that screws to the botton of any trackball -$1.25(my price) & you can add a colored led from happ-$3.79(my sell price) or purchase from superbrightleds.com. Run 2 wires to you computer power supply & your ready to go & it looks great...Ponyboy(prob can get you these parts), I(divemaster127) have them in stock so for under $6.00 shipped you are ready to go...I know everybody here likes the cheapest route possible, I just thought I would throw this idea out there.
dm

[ahofle]

Do you have any pics of this setup?  The problem with the single LED route (in my experience at least) is that the trackball doesn't absorb the light sufficiently and it ends up on the ceiling.  Still looks pretty good though.

[sWampy]

Does the light pass though a standard white trackball at all?   I always figured you needed a translucent trackball for a light to do anything.

[divemaster127]

I'm running a single socket with a triple blue led, it looks great, I'm military so during the week, i stay pretty busy i will shoot a picture of my cab Saturday & load it on...so you can see the color, I'm just trying to throw a inexpensive idea to you guys. Also to answer a few more questions
1. If you want more light use 2 sockets with leds your still under $10.00
2. You have to have a trans. ball you can get a replacement 3" ball for not much money, these are easy to change.

In my (opinion) happ makes the best usb trackball & the market trends are that happ is the best in the industry, it crushes the betson which I'm going to offer at a lower price point,
a 3" happ ball w/o the light kit will set you back $82.99 for the usb & $63.99 harness version w/the light kit plus shipping.
thanks
dm

[RayB]

I have noticed in some other threads for getting light kits for your trackball, if you are looking for a very inexpensive way to do it...

If you are referring to a certain new kit, I hope you realize that his kit permits dynamically changing colors. That's why it's "expensive".

[divemaster127]

I was just posting different options that people have
thanks
dm

[RickDIII]

& you can add a colored led from happ-$3.79(my sell price) or purchase from superbrightleds.com. Run 2 wires to you computer power supply & your ready to go & it looks great...

I'm going to ask what is probably a totally ignorant question here, and semi-hijack the thread at the same time...oh well, feel free to blast away.     I think I've been reading that for some leds you need to run a (resistor?) in line from your pc power supply depending on which led you use.  Are the 12v triple clusters ready to go without the same constraints? Is it truly just a connect and go kinda' thing?   

I'm talking about these from DM's listing:
TRIPLE CLUSTER LED'S FOR YOUR COIN DOORS OR TRACKBALLS
91-10WB-123Y   Yellow  T 3-1/4 Cluster (3) 12 vdc -$3.79
91-10WB-123R   Red T 3-1/4 Cluster (3)  12 vdc     -$3.79
91-10WB-123G   Green  T 3-1/4 Cluster (3) 12 vdc -$3.79
91-10WB-123B   Blue T 3-1/4 Cluster (3) 12 vdc     -$3.79
91-10WB-123W   White T 3-1/4  Cluster (3) 12 vdc -$3.79


Thanks,
Rick

[divemaster127]

these are just the hook up & go kind, very simple & they work great, the leds at superbrightleds.com are a bit brighter
dm

[Sensei]

I'd be interested in a kit like this.

I've been trying to light my translucent trackball for a while now with varying degrees of success.  I've tried LEDs but I'm afraid I obviously dont know the proper resisters to attach to the 5V line.  They burn out after a little while.

I've also tried just regular lamps but they produce too much heat and the trackball feels hot in spots when you spin it.

I'd be happy with any advice or I'd spit out the 10 bucks for a kit.  (I do think I'd prefer the 3 LED solution though).

[DrumAnBass]

I am using a 3 LED "Lazer" cluster; $2 from SVC, with a clear 2.25" trackball. It is prewired with a standard 4 pin computer power supply molex. Took off the plastic casing and taped the LEDs in place. Looks great to me but I haven't seen any other lit trackballs in person.

http://svc.com/lazerledred.html

[Level42]

I am using a 3 LED "Lazer" cluster; $2 from SVC, with a clear 2.25" trackball. It is prewired with a standard 4 pin computer power supply molex. Took off the plastic casing and taped the LEDs in place. Looks great to me but I haven't seen any other lit trackballs in person.

http://svc.com/lazerledred.html

Great find, do you have some pictures ? I'd like to know how they look. I want to illumunate the cut-out areas (foot place) in my cab (check out this http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=51119.0 to know what I mean). Do you think they are bright enough for that ?

[DrumAnBass]

I will try and take some pix this weekend. They are pretty bright, at least in a dark room. Maybe if you used 2 of the 3-LED modules on each side?

From the looks of your cab however, a cold cathode tube might work better? Or even a halogen under cabinet light with a colored gel on it?

Really nice cab BTW!  I dig it!

[DrumAnBass]

Well I don't mean to hijack Divemaster's thread - in fact if I wasn't such a cheap bastard I would have ordered a real trackball and a "real" trackball lighting solution from him or Ponyboy; or better yet the new RGB trackball from RandyT and GGG. The LED bulb Divemaster sells sounds great and definately more professional than what I did.

I am using a hacked Kensington Turbo Mouse trackball with a clear "sparkly" cue ball that I bought from Paramount Industries. I am sure it doesn't roll as well as a happ or an imperial trackball but I figure it should get the job done and keep my wife from pulling the plug on my project ;-)

So attached are some pix of my cheap lighting solution using the "lazer" LEDs from SVC.com to light up my clear trackball. No idea how well this would work with a happs or imperial... Might not be bright enough - I don't have any experience with them.

But this method does the trick for me! The pix illustrate lit and unlit. It was a pain in the ass to get decent pix because of having to use a flash with my camera...