Control Panel Wiring

[Crimsons]

Hi. I purchase an old working JAMMA arcade machine awhile back. I have attempted to convert it to a mame machine. I purchased a JPAC and and an ArcadeVGA as well. The condition of the machine however was quite ordinary so I put new artwork, t-molding, marquee, fixed the cabinet, and have placed new joysticks & push buttons. I however have not wired the control panel. I have left this to last as it "appears" to be the most "daunting" task.

I know I am very close to finishing the cabinet but my lack of electrical skills makes this a bit of a challenge. The existing wiring in the cabinet is confusing at best, so I was hoping to start from scratch.

What I am hoping to find out is:

1. Is this as "scary" as I am making out ?
2. If not, Is there a good tutorial available for me to follow the process of wiring without preferably getting myself electrocuted ?

[fjl]

I have not tried the j-pac but if its like the I-Pac(which I have also not tried) it seems all you need is two wires to each switch, that being button or joystick. One for ground which is shared with all switches and a defined wire connected to the other end of each switch.

I was originally going to connect everything by hacking a USB controller. The Logitech Dual action to be exact but it seems everyone swears by the I-Pac. So I'm gonna go with that when I get my cabinet started.

[Encryptor]

Take a look at the links below and they may clear things up for you. You are not going to get electrocuted wiring your control panel. There isn't any voltage or amperage there to speak of.

http://spystyle.arcadecontrols.com/01/index8.htm

http://webpages.charter.net/rbecker5/plans.html#wiring

Hope these help.

Encryptor

[SirPeale]

If your cabinet is JAMMA wired already, you should be able to just plug-and-play.

[Tailgunner]

Bob Roberts has a chart showing where all the wires should go on a JAMMA harness. As the others have said, all the grounds for the control panel get daisy chained together and the rest of the wires go to the NO (Normally Open) terminals on the button/joystick's microswitches.

Excepting the monitor, as long as the cab isn't plugged in you can't get electrocuted. Except maybe if you're wiring outside in a thunderstorm.

[Crimsons]

Peale, The cabinet is JAMMA ... but I removed the existing buttons & joystick so I have to re-wire for the new buttons & joystick. The existing wires were just soldered on.

Thanks for the tips. I guess the most confusing thing is seeing all the wires I guess I just need to break it down individually and have a go.

Is the ground daisy chained together to all the COMMON terminals of all the microswitches, and each wire from the JAMMA directly connects to the NO (Normally Open) ? Or am I way off ?

Thanks for all the help

[CheffoJeffo]

Sounds like you are on the right track.

RE: COM/NO ... yep.

One wire at a time ... it may be tedious (I did a panel last night), but it isn't scary.

Be careful with cutting wires from the harness to length (which some people do to make wiring look pretty) before testing. I always screw up at least one pair of connections and if I had cut to length, I would be SOL.

Cheers.

[Crimsons]

Thanks

[Crimsons]

I just competed all the wiring Thanks very much for all the help. Before I plug the machine and give it ago, I will double check all the connections. I just wanted to find out whats the worse that would happen if i completely stuffed up the wiring eg. the ground wiring ?

The below statement says i should be safe from electrocution cause of low voltage ... I hope So could i damage any components etc ?

Thanks

[Encryptor]

The only thing I can see that you could possibly damage is the keyboard or mouse port on your pc's motherboard but I believe that you would have to have your wiring completely out of whack and hosed to do that. While not indestructible the ports are fairly robust.

I'm not sure which encoder you're using. Just make sure you don't have any voltage going to any of the switch inputs.

Encryptor