5 volts and IDE cables and LEDwiz power considerations

[DaveMMR]

Three questions, one post.  I need a little help for peace of mind before I get knee deep in wiring my panel:

1) I wired up a couple of 40-pin IDE headers to connect removable panels to both an iPac and the OptiPac.  I know there are a couple of 5v connections required on the Optipac.  Can the thin wires of the IDE cable handle the 5v connections or do I have to use a connection with thicker wires?* 

EDIT: I think I just realized the RGB LEDs run 5v through the same sized wire...   

2) I'm using a couple of LED-Wizes on my main panel along with an RGB LED for each button and the trackball.  Assuming I'm using 2/3 of the inputs on each LED-Wiz, will the USB power be adequate for lighting or do I have to run power off my power supply (which brings me back to the concerns in my first question)?

3) Lighted start buttons: would I be better off wiring them through the iPac or the LED-wiz for full functionality?

I appreciate any help on this matter.  Thanks!

*In case you're wondering why I'm using IDE headers: I was originally going to make multiple panels rigged up with LEDs, thus the need for more individually wires.  I have since abandoned that idea since I'm concentrating on a single panel being used 99% of the time with additional panels used for that occasional unique control setup - without blinkies.  However, I already had the headers wired up so....

[Green Giant]

1)  Not exactly sure since I use gpwiz's, but I would assume the ide cable can handle the 5v.  You will not be drawing much current at all to power the ipac and optipac since they are essentially a mouse and simple open-close switches.

2)  With the led-wiz's, you will need to power them through the power supply.  It is very easy to do.  Just get a power extension from radio shack or fry's so you don't have to hack up your actual power supply.  Then you can hack up the extension, run some cables from it, think I used 20 gauge, and attach to the ledwiz.  I am powering two ledwiz's lighing up 17rgb leds for a total of 51 inputs.  I have two wires from my power supply, ground and 5v, powering both ledwizs. 

3)  For the start button, use the ledwiz if you have extra spots on them.  Just make sure and use mala as your frontend.  With either of the mala led-wiz plugins, you can designate specific led's to be always on in any color for start and exit buttons.

[DaveMMR]

Thanks for the help.

Just to clarify a few points:

1) I'm assuming the power that's drawn from the USB for the 5v connection on the Optipac can run safely through to the panel through the IDE cable wires? 

2) One of the reasons I asked the first question is mainly for this question.  If I'm running power off the power supply, I would have to deliver it through the IDE wires (or make a seperate connector), which is why I was concerned about the load.   No one let should their kids plan for swappable panels with multiple LEDs.  It's just painful.   

3) Plenty of inputs left (I had to get a second LED-wiz for only 6 extra inputs - grrr).  But do the start buttons behave like the arcade (flash when coin inserted) on certain games?  I haven't checked my LED lights when running MAME lately and I don't know if that feature is still implemented.

[Green Giant]

The 5v from the usb should be plenty of power for the optipac.  Though the encoders seem to be massive with so many buttons coming off them, they require almost no power to run. 

If you are planning on using the ledwiz, you will need power off the power supply. 
Check out this sight to see what you need.  http://www.blakesmame.com/power.htm  You just run some extension wires off the 5v and ground connection to the ledwiz.  Why exactly would you be running the power through ide wires to the ledwiz?  You will just need two wires from your power supply to the ledwiz.  Then from the ledwiz you can send them out to all the leds.  On my panel I used quick disconnects on the power wires from the ledwiz to make my control panel easily removable.

As for flashing the lights on the coin insert.  I think some people who are developing the plugins had talked about this, but it hasn't been implemented yet to my knowledge.

[DaveMMR]

I know I can power the Optipac with the USB port and I know powering the LED-wiz off the power supply will yield better results.   But keep in mind I'm swapping panels and they are connected to the main components (iPac/Optipac) through IDE cables. 

Now, the LED-wizs are unique to one panel only.  In an effort to avoid having too many connections, I was wondering if a connection from the power supply to the IDE Header through the IDE cables and back to the LED-wiz(es) on the swappable panel was safe.  See diagram:

{LED-WIZ}------{IDE Header}-------------{IDE Header}----------{PS}

(The red dashes are 22 Gauge wires - or 18 and the regular is the IDE wires).

Simplified, can the PS current (5v) safely run through those regular dashed lines?

[Green Giant]

The thing I don't get is why the ide headers for the ledwiz.  The only thing you will need from the power supply is two wires to power the ledwiz.  I understand ide for the leds, but each led will just have a small current.  The cumulative current powering all the leds will be large for a single wire off an ide header. 

{LED-WIZ}------ --------- {PS}

I have my panel removable for travel by making the power cables to the ledwiz removeable.  I used one of the extension cables seen here http://www.blakesmame.com/power.htm .  I cut off the end of it and ran some cable off the red and black wires.  These wires are pretty long so they can go from my computer ps to my control panel.  At the end of the wires I stuck some quick disconnects so I can plug and unplug the cables.  From the other side of the disconnect I have two wires from each cable, one for each ledwiz, running to the two ledwiz cables.  If you want some sort of fancy connector, you could go to radio shack and pick something up, but I wouldn't recommend ide cables.  The gauge is too small to handle the current draw from 32 leds.

Take a look at my crappy drawing to see what I mean.

[DaveMMR]

The thing I don't get is why the ide headers for the ledwiz. 

It's not for the LED-Wiz per se.  I wanted all attaching and detaching to be handled with one IDE plug and one USB plug, tops, which is why I'm trying to avoid extra connections (adds to confusion if I'm not around to whip would be panel swappers into shape).   I suppose I'll have to add a simple "power" plug, perhaps with a Molex.

Thanks for your help!