Led Button Wiring for mame cab.

[sham69]

Hi,
I am putting some finishing touches to my mame cab that I have been tinkering with for the past 7 or 8 months.
I decided a while back to use some led buttons mainly just for 1 and 2 player, exit, pause etc not the actual action buttons.
I thought this would be pretty straight forward so gave it a go yesterday.
Here's what I did.

I used my 1 player button to start.
I used some spare ground wire that I had from the harness that I got from my ultimarc ipac.
I took the power from my pc using the red wire (+5 volts), joined it with the harness wire and conencted it to the button using the quick connects (already on the wiring).
I got nothing?
I tried grounding it and still nothing.
What am I doing wrong?
I bascially just want 4 buttons to stay lit the whole time (1player, 2 player, exi and pause)
Do I need software to get them to light?
Can someone suggest the best way to do this please?
I got the buttons on ebay with the leds already attached.
I was thinking of trying some electric ice buttons if I get my current setup working.
Any help/advice appreciated as I am not good at electrics at all.
Thanks
Sham.

[surface tension]

Sham

Do the LEDs already have an integrated resistor... does it say "5V" on them?

I'm sure you would have noticed them glowing too bright (though not for very long!) if they weren't ready to go.

So, you are connecting 5V to one contact on the LED and 0V to the other, right? Did you try swapping them round too?

[sham69]

Not sure about the resistor to be honest, will have to check when I get home.
I first tried the 5v to the contact and it didnt work so decided to try the ground aswell (read somewhere that I don't need to use the ground) and still nothing.
Tried swapping them around aswell.
The wire I am using is jioned in a few places so could be that.
I am going to try again when I get home.
Thanks for the reply I will check the resistor thingy..
Sham.

[surface tension]

I'm not sure where you read about not needing a ground, but conventional current must flow from +V ot 0V. You will need two connections per LED.

Remove all links in the cable and locate the LED/switch by the power source. Build up a little confidence with how it works, then you can get building/wiring.

If you are attempting any wiring, then a multimeter is extremely useful. With your current setup, you'd have been able to check that joined wire for continuity, as well as look for 5V across that wire and ground. You'll be able to pick one up for under a tenner.

[BobA]

You say you got LED buttons.  Can you say what type they are so we know what contacts and wiring is used on them.

[sham69]

Sorry I was a bit vague.
I got them on ebay, they have 2 connectors on them and had a microswitch attached when I bought them with the usual NO, NC and Common.
find picture attached...
Thanks all for the help.
Sham.

[BobA]

Cannot tell what button by your pictures maybe someone else has seen them.   Without any other info I can guess that they have 2 terminals for the light (LED).  If you do not get them to light with 5V and ground (try both ways if no luck in one direction).  They might be 12V lights (different resistor). 

[sham69]

Thanks all for the replies and advice.
I will try your suggestions once I get a chance and report back.
I can't see a mention of 5v on the button or led anywhere so not sure if I will need a resistor.
Thanks all.

[Franco B]

Couldn't you have posted some bigger pics? 

Are they Ulimarcs Ultralux buttons?



If so they are availiable in 5v or 12v versions. Was there no documentation with them or info in the ebay listing?

If they are not Ultralux buttons I would guess that they have resistors in them already by looking at them. They 'should' be 5v or 12v too.

Try them with 5v first. Connect your red lead to one LED terminal and the black to the other LED terminal (NOT the microswitches terminals). If it doesnt light switch the leads over. If it still doesnt light (or is very dim) then do the same thing but with the yellow 12v cable and black ground.

Once you have them working you will need to wire them in parallel to your PSU.

Also, on a side note, make sure that your PSU is outputting power. If it is a ATX PSU you may have to short the green sense PS ON wire and the black ground wire next to it from the main motherboard header other wise the PSU may not turn on. This is a 'safe guard' to stop the PSU turning on if the header is not connected to the motherboard.

You can either splice the two wires together or make a wire jumper to connect them like this:



You can insert the jumper from either side.

[BobA]

If your buttons are made for a specific voltage they typically will have the proper resistor inside.   If there is no resistor and 5V or More is applied the LED may flash brightly once and not work again.  My guess is still 12V with the resistor inside since you got no light at 5V.

[Franco B]

12v is my guess too but I wanted to make sure he is using the right terminals on the LED/switch and that the PSU is outputting power. It may still be 5v if he is using the wrong terminals or the PSU isnt giving juice.

If you can, use a multimeter to check the output from the PSU.

Once you have verified that you have power I would try the 5v first using the correct LED/switch terminals. If you have no luck with that then they must be 12v so use the yellow 12v.

To make sure you are using the right terminals remove the microswitch from the bayonet fit LED holder. That will leave you with the two terminals you need to use (the two on the LED holder).

[sham69]

thanks again for the replies lads.
Don't think bigger pictures would have helped as there is no marking anywhere on the button or the bayonet, there is the usual marking on the microswitch.
I got no instructions or info on the buttons, I saw them cheap on ebay and jumped on them without knowing much about them.
Should have done some research first I guess...
I might be still ok though. I will try the 5v first and take it from there.
Cheers.

[sham69]

I don't believe it.
The 12volts worked.
Its really bright and looks great, thanks guys.
I don't know what I would do without this site..

[BobA]

Glad to hear you got it working.   

[Franco B]

 

Glad it worked out for you 

[sham69]

Sorry guys, need some more advice.
Now that I have this working, how difficult would it be to buy some electric ice buttons and get them lighting.
I was looking on the groovy game gear site and they sell the buttons and the leds seperately.
Is it a big deal to install the led's in the buttons?
Would I need extra stuff or would they be setup like the ones I have working at the moment.
Thanks again.

[BobA]

The electric ice buttons have a hole for the LED to press fit into.   Buy the LEDs from GGG and the resistor is supplied to connect to 5V.  Note this is 5V not 12V that works with your current buttons.

[sham69]

Thanks BobA,
So it would be easy enough even to an amateur like me?
The buttons I got are grand for admin, player 1, exit etc but not for action buttons as they are flat.
I like the curved buttons (not sure what you call them) for playing games so want to get some that light up.
Cheers for the reply.