IPac won't light up 12v lamps?

[Brad Lee]

I was messing around today with my coin door lights (12v lamps, not leds) and conencted one end to my 12v power, the other to P1B7, figuring it would light the reject on the side I conencted instead of being just solid-on

Didn't work

It did cause the lamp to glow very dimly, and when I pressed the matching -lock key it got a tiny bit brighter, but nowhere usable

Now I just need to remember to get a few extra 5v superbright led's wheneever I order them

[SirPoonga]

1, use the led header on the ipac.
2, that header is 5v
3, if you want 12 volt you will need relays.

[anthony691]

Why don't you just use the Molex power from the PC?

[rampy]

Why don't you just use the Molex power from the PC?

I think he's trying to get them to blink, but i'm not sure why...

*shrug*  be careful, I'd hate to see you fry your ipac because you like blinkey lights. =P

rampy

[_Iz-]

I was messing around today with my coin door lights (12v lamps, not leds) and conencted one end to my 12v power, the other to P1B7, figuring it would light the reject on the side I conencted instead of being just solid-on

Didn't work

 

You're very lucky you didn't cook the IPac! Take sirpoonga's advice, you need to use a relay to use the ipac to trigger lights connected to 12v. The relay will isolate the 12v circuit from the ipac.

Or, use 5v superbright led's - there was another post on this board that dealt with exactly that, I think the post was by oscar...

[SirPoonga]

I think he's trying to get them to blink, but i'm not sure why...

For any atari game.

[rampy]

I think he's trying to get them to blink, but i'm not sure why...

For any atari game.

no duh... I was questioning why the coin door return lights in specific... atari games didn't do that =P

*shrug*  not that doing things different is wrong, just used to the coin return lights as solid and like lighting up the "start" buttons...

I dunno...

rampy

[Carsten Carlos]

For any atari game.

By the way (getting slightly OT) - is it only me or doesn't Xevious blink at your MAME, too?

Somehow it pi**es me off as this is the only original controlpanel I own, and of course if has these Atari-cone buttons I wanna use on one of my still to make panels.

So I damn sure that Xevious has to blink, but it doesn't?  

[SirPoonga]

CC, I can't test, for some reason the leds on my new keyboard don't blink!

Also, digdug should blink too, I brought that up at mametesters.

[Brad Lee]

no duh... I was questioning why the coin door return lights in specific... atari games didn't do that =P

*shrug*  not that doing things different is wrong, just used to the coin return lights as solid and like lighting up the "start" buttons...

I dunno...

rampy

For alternate CP's I have in the works that may not have led P1/P2 buttons, also I've been playing a little bit with scripts in AdvanceMenu that allow you to light certain leds at certain events..

It's more of a what-if, I just punched em back to the GND for now

I know I should be more careful sometimes- when I moved my boards last time and rewired everything, NOTHING worked. Figured it was a ground problem and I was right. My leads going to GND and +5V were reversed. Since then I check it twice before connecting it

[SirPoonga]

I think he's trying to get them to blink, but i'm not sure why...

For any atari game.

no duh... I was questioning why the coin door return lights in specific... atari games didn't do that =P

*shrug*  not that doing things different is wrong, just used to the coin return lights as solid and like lighting up the "start" buttons...

I dunno...

rampy

Some games used to blink the coin door.  You may not have noticed as you really don't look at them.

[MameFan]

Be aware that light bulbs pull A LOT of current for what they do.

That's why Midway cocktail tables had to have additional fuses and windings on the transformer to supply voltage to the 4 extra bulbs (2 behind each control panel) to light the backplanes.   A normal Midway upright only needed to light 2 coin door ones.

Be they 12V or 5V, be aware that even if you connect them through a relay (as would be good) they will still pull a lot of juice from your power supply.  If your power supply is low in power output (specifically amperage) you can cook your supply or devices connected to it.

As others said, it is amazing you didnt fry the ipac connecting the light bulb..

The best comparison is... Try to run a 2 celled AA battery flashlight, and then take the same two batteries in a remote control. Run them continiously...see which one stops working first.... It'll bee the flashlight by a long shot!


To use light bulbs, you need to have:
- Enough spare amperage from your power supply
- Run separately from any logic circuits (otherwise you will send too much current thru the small traces leading to the circuits, overheating and melting them if not the circuitry)
- Ideally place an appropraite amperage (3-4 A?) fuse inline with the bulb to protect from overcurrent/frying the supply.


Otherwise, buy some of the "superbright" LED's that are out and are so cheap.  They too may pull more current than many things, but a whole lot less than an incandescent light bulb.


BTW--All the Atari (and clone, eg Xenenophobe joystick fire) buttons that are cone-shaped/lighted have LED's in them.  Lower amperage than incandecents, but not a low as more modern LEDs and certainly a lot less light output than even regular LEDs, let alone superbrights.

Good luck with your lighting

[Carsten Carlos]

CC, I can't test, for some reason the leds on my new keyboard don't blink!

Also, digdug should blink too, I brought that up at mametesters.

If you get Xevious confirmed -maybe you could bring it up at mametesters next time, too?!    No idea who at mame I should contact with it -don't wanna know who many people out there wanna contact the mame-staff for silly stuff!

[StephenH]

Some ideas to power +12V lights:

1) Get a 12V transformer from radio shack.   Just make sure the amp rating exceeds the lights.

2) Connect to the +12V of your PCs power supply.  I beleive it is the yellow wire from the disk drive connector.

3) See if you have old adaptors laying around from discarded equipment (toys, answering machines, etc) that produce around 12v

4) If you want the PC to control the lights, you need either a relay or a MOSFET circuit, that converts a 5V (or 3.3V signal to a 12V output).

[seaner]

YOu could also just use some transistors to drive the 12V.
ULN2003 darlington arrays are great for this sort of thing.
TTL inputs, open-drain outputs.
The relays may get annoying with all the click-clack ?