Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: jagnogg on January 16, 2004, 07:46:30 am
-
I have two illuminated atari (volcano) pushbuttons. I finally got around to wiring them up and it turns out that one of them is burned out. Is it possible to replace the LED?
-J.Nogg
-
Gotta figure out how to crack the switch case open
Ive got a set and am also interested in this. I originally had just 1 of em hooked to my ipac led-out and it worked fine, but the juice was too much and it burned out.. so in the worst case Ive got 3 that light and 1 bad
Ive seen someonethat offers to repair em but I cant remember where, if I find it ill post it
-
Thats a good question, id like to know also. I plan on using a set of em in my cab.
Any hi-res pics of what the rear of the button and case look like maybe?
-
Here is a thread that shows a few pictures of the buttons. It also talks about using a 5v line with a 330 ohm resistor so you don't burn out the LED:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=11468
I haven't seen any posts specifiying how to fix the LED though...
-
Thats a good question, id like to know also. I plan on using a set of em in my cab.
Any hi-res pics of what the rear of the button and case look like maybe?
Ive got a diagram of what the terminals are but not here with me. IIRC the 2 that are sideways are the power/gnd for the LED, the 4 that are in a row are NO NC and 2(?)GNDs. Notsure which order theyre in off hand
When I got mine, they were incredibly filthy and the switch part's motion was awful. The round red lens part has a tab or 2 that allows it to pop off, leaving just the LED exposed. It didnt take much to get em back into tiptop shape, a qtip with alcohol broke up most of the grime and grit, and then I just put the switch in my coat poket and clicked it while I was at work, probably an hours worth on each of em
-
Hi Brad
Thats very informative knowing that the lens cap is easily removeable.
Do you suppose replacing the led with a blue substitute would create a purplish hue our a dark violet effect?
Im sorry for the purists out there but i like to mod just a touch to give it a lil modern accent.
Ill find me a set soon and see what i can do. Ill post pics when ready.
-
I replaced the LED's on some volcano buttons. I have 2 types of volcanos. On one, the LED's were soldered to pins that were molded into the plastic of the switch. Also the switch case was sealed with rivets. First I drilled out the rivets. Becareful when you open the microswitch because there are many small springs that can pop out. Next, I had to heat up the LED pins with a soldering iron and then carefully extract the LED and pins through the top of the switch. That was the easy part. The hard part was replacing the pins after soldering a new LED to them. I did not want to heat them too much, because it would probably damage the LED. I used a surgical clamp to slowly push and pull the pins back through the melted plastic. Finally, I don't have any rivets so I sealed the switch back up with some electrical tape. The switch could also have been sealed with some very small bolts. It worked great. The new LED's were actually too bright. I had to raise the resistor value because they were blinding.
The other type of volcano buttons which are probably more common are much easier to repair, because the LED pins are not integrated into the plastic of the microswitch.
There is nothing really technical about the LED's. They work independant of the switch. The only thing to mind is which pin is positive and which is negative.