wiring things up

[darkmanx]

first let me say i am *brand* new to wiring things. i have looked over many sites trying to figure some things out. first, what gauge wire do i use (for NO, and for COM)? i have seen many people say different things and offer conversion charts and whatnot......i just want to know what i need. i am using an i-pac and happs pushbuttons/joysticks. Also, should i solder the wires onto the microswitch terminals or just twist them on? (i assume solder but im new so...) last, how do i daisy chain the ground wire? i mean...is it one wire or actually 2 wires on each connection...i know im not wording this very well =\ but... would this be right?:

--- = wire, O = ground terminal, * = solder

--------------------*O*-------------------------

or, would i twist the 2 ground wires together and solder them on as 1? thanks in advance for any help!

[Lilwolf]

The wire I used was a Cat5 network cable.  Worked great for me.  You don't need much since no power is really run throught it.

As for daisey chain'n ground.  Just send the ground to the button, then from that buttons ground to the next and so on.  You don't have to do it, but it makes sense most of the time.  Also, remember breaking the ground will break all buttons along that line.  So its nice when you want to disable a group of buttons at once (you break the ground once for all of them)

last DON'T SOLDER, go and get the clips that fit on them.  They are 4 bucks for 100 at ace hardware.  (ps, they are sold more for cars).

[darkmanx]

ok thanks, i was dreading the soldering part...im sure i could do it but since there's a better way that wont risk damaging my components im all for it. what are these clips called? (so i know what to ask for)...i have seen alot of people say to use 22 gauge wire, think that will be good? thanks much,  now i can get started as soon as im off work  

[Jonathan_the_Red]

As far as daisy chaining the COMmon leads... I first crimped a .187" quick-connect to the end of a spool of wire, then (without clipping the wire) attached it to the COM at what would be the end of my chain. I then ran the wire to the next switch in the chain, clipped it (leaving a little bit of slack) and stripped the end. Then I stripped the end of the (now shorter) spool of wire, twisted the two stripped ends together, crimped a quick-connect on both wires and attached it to COM. Repeat. After attaching to the last COM, run the remaining wire to the terminal block (or the I-PAC in your case, I guess, if you're not using a terminal block), clip, strip, and screw in.

The last pic on my site (of the underside of a joystick) shows the daisy-chained commons

[miked]

I used a similar type of connection. I daisey chained all the buttons to a terminal block. The reason I did it this way, was that if I had a poor connection to one of the buttons, I cound simply detect the specific ground wire. I used 3 Terminal blocks, one for all of my Misc. buttons "Player 1, continue, pause.... " The next Terminal block I wired the Player 1 joystick, and the 6 buttons, ....."  I also used insulated quick-connect, with 22g wire.