Wiring; Split Coindoor and LED Marquee Wires...?

[RoninEditor]

I'm hoping to wiring my coindoors and LED marquee tomorrow... I'll be the first to say that I'm a total neophyte when it comes to anything involving electricity and/or a current.  I'm looking at this link for coindoor wiring...

http://joelsgadgets.com/CoindoorPage2.HTML

Seems pretty self-explanatory, especially with me having a power supply splitter that I got with my LED marquee light (from Randy).  My question, though, is do I use the splitter to pull power with the red and black wires, then sub-split those into the coindoor and then to the light, as two different chains?  Or do I chain them all together? 

Or is there some other way...? 

[RoninEditor]

Going once...? haha

[protokatie]

is do I use the splitter to pull power with the red and black wires, then sub-split those into the coindoor and then to the light, as two different chains?  Or do I chain them all together?

Maybe the reason why noone replied is that your wording may be a bit confusing.... Are you asking if you should wire them in parallel or serial? I dont think I understand your question.... (for most multiple uses of a power source, parallel is the option you should use)

Please clarify...

[RoninEditor]

Sorry about that... hopefully this will be more clear...

...from my computer's power source there are the various little wires, namely, the red and black wires that I need to wire to the red and black wires from my LED Coindoor lights, and I also have to wire to my red and black wires in my LED marquee light.  So, one originating power source (the computer) and the two 'receiving' (A-coindoor light, B) marquee light).  So my question is, is it okay to just split the wires (one going to the coindoor lights, the other going to the marquee lights)?  Or, do I go from the coindoor lights, in a chain, then up to the marquee light... in one chain.

Hopefully that is a little easier...?  I'd just try it but I'm afraid or frying something. 

[Fozzy The Bear]

Sorry about that... hopefully this will be more clear... 

First of all..... is your Marquee light 5V or 12V ?  are your coin door lights 5V or 12V???
Are they both the same voltage rating???

second... the attached diagram shows series and parallel wiring and the results of it. Ignore the wire colours on the diagram. They are just there to show positive and negative current. They do not nessesarily relate to the wire colours on your devices.

You can see from the diagram, that if you wire them in series the Voltage gets devided between the devices you are connecting.  If you connected 4 devices this way, then the voltage at each device would be 3V.  The other downside to series wiring is that if one device fails they will all turn off, and you'll have a devil of a job finding which one is dead.

Look at the second diagram. This is Paralell wiring. Each device is getting the full 12V from the supply and if one device fails then the others will still be on.

Hope that helps..... Do check the voltage of the devices you are connecting to that supply. Red and black wires out of a PC supply are usually 5V not 12V. Yellow and black are usually 12V.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[BobA]

If you got the power splitter from Randy and the LED marquee light you have to use 12V  Usually a yellow and black wire at the computer end.  Your coin door voltage depends on the lights you are using.  If using LEDs like the article then the 12V will also work and it is wired in parallel with the marquee.

[RoninEditor]

Thanks for the input so far, it's a great help.  I'm pretty decent with wood, pretty solid with computers, but with wiring?  My god, I'm a total dofus, haha. 

With that said, yup, I got the marquee from Randy, thought I remember that being 12v... although it has red and black wires coming from it.  And then I got the (I'm assuming Happ) coindoor LED's when I placed my order with Divemaster.  I have a new over/under from Happ.

So if that's the case, then I just wire everything normally... so you guys think the coindoor LEDs are 5v and the marquee is 12v?

(Again, sorry I'm such a moron with this stuff, it's embarrassing asking these 101 questions.) 

[Fozzy The Bear]

So if that's the case, then I just wire everything normally... so you guys think the coindoor LEDs are 5v and the marquee is 12v?

No, a standard happ coin door will have sockets for wedge base lamps not LED's fitted.
You can get 12V wedge lamps to fit that. It might come with them. They are the most common ones.

Then you have no problem. Just follow the second diagram I gave above.

The wires coming out of your PSU will be (usually) Yellow = +12V Black = -V   Those are the ones you need. It should tell you on the side of the PSU what voltages are on which wire colour.

Don't worry about asking noob questions... If you're not an electrician how would you know. Everybody comes into this world knowing nothing. Better to ask the question and get it right first time than to screw your expensive equipment up.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[RoninEditor]

Thanks Fozzy, this is a big help and I appreciate the understanding.

I actually wired my LED marquee today from the yellow and black wires from my power source splitter and was shocked that it actually worked! haha  So I'm a little more confident for the LED coindoor lights.

Thanks for the diagram too... monster help!