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Replacing X-Arcade Buttons With LED Buttons

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njay:

Hi All,
as my cab is build around the x-arcade i just cant swap out the whole thing.

but i want to use ledblinky because it sounds awesome to see lit up buttons.

my question what do i need to order?

do the led buttons fit in the x-arcade? how can i power them?
also do i need the led-wiz? 

Regards,

Nick

Larock:

Hey

They have a complete led kit with everything you need here:

http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/products/chromeledwiringkit.htm

They also sell modified tancksticks with this kit installed so im sure the buttons will be a perfect fit

http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/products/xarcademodtankstick.htm

Franco B:

That kit uses the Pac Drive and Ultralux buttons. I wouldnt recommend the Pac Drive and I havent heard the best things about the Ultralux buttons. (Review [Here])


--- Quote from: njay on July 21, 2009, 04:55:03 am ---my question what do i need to order?

--- End quote ---

(Ignore the LED controller section and anything about RGBs if you only plan on having your buttons lit permanently.)

LED controller(s) - either [PacDrive] or [LED Wiz]. I would go for the LED Wiz as you can vary the intensity of the LEDs for fade etc effects. The PacDrive simply has on/off outputs. If you want to light the buttons with a single colour LED you would need one LED Wiz, If you wanted to go RGB on 'all' the buttons (eight per player + start and pinball buttons) you would need two LED Wiz's as each RGB uses three ports of the 32 available ports.

LEDs - Either single colour or RGB. GGG stocks good quality [single colour and RGB LEDs] You can get them cheaper elsewhere (ebay etc) but the quality may not be as good as Randys. A word of warning, if you source your own RGB LEDs make sure you buy the common anode version as the common cathode version will not work with the LED Wiz. If you are using RGBs GGG stocks the [RGB-Drive] boards. They are available in a few versions but the top spec one includes a mounted RGB pre wired with resistors and a two foot 4-core cable that you can simply hook up to your controller. They are a  good idea if you are not to keen on lots of soldering.

Buttons - Most buttons can be lit in some way but most people seem to use either [GGG's Electric Ice], [GGG's NovaGem] or the ['Happ' style translucent]. All of these buttons will fit your X-Arcade.

Other bits - If you are soldering up LEDs etc your self you will need a soldering iron etc, solder, wire, heatshrink, your LEDs and appropriate resistors + a load more stuff I'm probably forgetting.


--- Quote from: njay on July 21, 2009, 04:55:03 am ---do the led buttons fit in the x-arcade?

--- End quote ---

Answered above.


--- Quote from: njay on July 21, 2009, 04:55:03 am ---how can i power them?

--- End quote ---

If you are just lighting LEDs to be switched on all of the time then I would just run a 5/12v cable from your PC into the X-Arcade. You can buy a molex splitter cable and tap into that to save butchering your PC wiring if you want to avoid that.

The LED Wiz can light 5v LEDs using the power from its USB connection. However it has a limit. You need to work out how much current your LEDs are likely to draw if they were all on full intensity. USB has ~500mA available but I wouldn't draw over 400mA personally. If you do need to draw more than 400mA (which is often the case) you would need to send a 5v feed to the LED Wiz to increase the available current. You can do this the same way I described above.

Note:This is presuming you are using 5v LEDs, if you are using anything higher then you will need to supply the LED Wiz with the appropriate power and possibly use the bank select feature if working with more than one voltage.


--- Quote from: njay on July 21, 2009, 04:55:03 am ---also do i need the led-wiz? 

--- End quote ---

It should be answered above but if you want to use lighting effects and get your buttons to light up when playing games then yes you do.

Hope that is of some help :)



njay:

wow what a good explanation just what i needed thanks

i won't be soldering myself that much my skills are lacking in that department.

as i see with the illum buttons the microswitch has three connectors on it two of them for the button press and the third is for the led power?  i looked at the ultimarc website and it seems daisy chaining the buttons for the led power seems to the trick.

if i understand correctly if i want a single button to get one color and i want to wire up the whole x-arcade i need only one 32 connector led wiz right? and if i want multiple colors per button i need more then one wiz?

so i would need to:

1. replace every single button at a time in the x-arcade and use the exisiting wiring
2. daisy chain power to all the buttons and then to the led wiz which itselfs runs with usb to my pc
3. mount the led wiz inside the x-arcade , and run some power from a molex inside the controller
4. i guess the usb connection makes my pc know i have a led wiz connected right?

thanks for all the help

this is my list from GGG:

 Electric ICE™ Lightable Horizontal Pushbutton
- Microswitch E-Switch™ (Like Cherry™) 
 

 $47.84

Blue ButtonBlaster™ LED 
 

 $7.84
 LED-Wiz™ 32-port USB Lighting and Output Controller
- Device Number 1 (Use if FIRST or ONLY device of this EXACT type) 
 

 $44.95
 
 
Sub-Total: $100.63

am i missing anything? what i understand is that i put the led in the button then but on the microswitch which will power the led when connected?
 
   
ow yeah what i don't see it the player one and player two buttons on that page? or can i just strip of the graphic from my existing buttons?
 


Franco B:


--- Quote from: njay on July 21, 2009, 06:36:59 am ---as i see with the illum buttons the microswitch has three connectors on it two of them for the button press and the third is for the led power?  

--- End quote ---

Not quite. The three terminals on microswitches are not used for LED lighting at all. The three terminals are NO (normally open), NC (normally closed) and Common. The NO and Common terminals are generally used for CP buttons (this is how your X-Arcade will be wired). NC and common terminals are generally used for door interlocks. They don't have much use in BYO cabs but some guys have used them for clever things.

If you are looking at the Ultralux buttons there is an additional two terminals on the bayonet holder that are used for LED lighting. The microswitch terminals and LED terminals are not connected in anyway.

Which ever buttons you use you want to daisy chain the anode (positive) leads together and then each individual cathode (negative) lead runs back to individual ports on the LED Wiz. Here is a diagram which may help explain things. The LEDs haven't technically been daisy chained but they are drawing power from linked terminal strips:



(apologies to whoever I stole the drawing from, its just one in my photobucket)


--- Quote from: njay on July 21, 2009, 06:36:59 am ---if i understand correctly if i want a single button to get one color and i want to wire up the whole x-arcade i need only one 32 connector led wiz right? and if i want multiple colors per button i need more then one wiz?

so i would need to:

1. replace every single button at a time in the x-arcade and use the exisiting wiring
2. daisy chain power to all the buttons and then to the led wiz which itselfs runs with usb to my pc
3. mount the led wiz inside the x-arcade , and run some power from a molex inside the controller
4. i guess the usb connection makes my pc know i have a led wiz connected right?

--- End quote ---

Yes that's correct, just take into account what I said above.



--- Quote from: njay on July 21, 2009, 06:36:59 am ---this is my list from GGG:

 Electric ICE™ Lightable Horizontal Pushbutton
- Microswitch E-Switch™ (Like Cherry™) 
 

 $47.84

Blue ButtonBlaster™ LED 
 

 $7.84
 LED-Wiz™ 32-port USB Lighting and Output Controller
- Device Number 1 (Use if FIRST or ONLY device of this EXACT type) 
 

 $44.95
 
 
Sub-Total: $100.63

am i missing anything? what i understand is that i put the led in the button then but on the microswitch which will power the led when connected?

--- End quote ---

You would need to do some soldering with those LEDs and buttons. You would be better off with the [NovaGem] buttons as they are pre wired and ready to go,

Hopefully your final question was answered above.


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