Cybercade - Lots of construction photos added...still a lot to do!

[AzureKnight]

Easiest way to wire those Button Blaster LEDs is to use GGG euro-style terminals cut into 3-terminal pieces.

Mount the terminals on the underside of the CP and bend the LED leads into a U-shape for easy removal/replacement.   

   -- LED
  |
   -- Terminals

Connect one red wire to the molex 5v (red) and one black wire to the molex ground (black), daisy chain as many more as you want using the second red and black wires. 


Scott
EDIT: Also remember to calculate the current draw based on how many LEDs you use to ensure you use a large enough wire gauge.

Would those Eurostyle Terminals work if I bring 1 hot line in to a single resistor, then put say 4 wires coming out to four different LEDs (and of course 4 black lines, one to each LED as well).

That way I could basically have one euro connector/resistor feeding 4 blue lights for P1, one set for red lights for P2, etc.

[PL1]

Easiest way to wire those Button Blaster LEDs is to use GGG euro-style terminals cut into 3-terminal pieces.

Mount the terminals on the underside of the CP and bend the LED leads into a U-shape for easy removal/replacement.   

   -- LED
  |
   -- Terminals

Connect one red wire to the molex 5v (red) and one black wire to the molex ground (black), daisy chain as many more as you want using the second red and black wires. 


Scott
EDIT: Also remember to calculate the current draw based on how many LEDs you use to ensure you use a large enough wire gauge.

Would those Eurostyle Terminals work if I bring 1 hot line in to a single resistor, then put say 4 wires coming out to four different LEDs (and of course 4 black lines, one to each LED as well).

That way I could basically have one euro connector/resistor feeding 4 blue lights for P1, one set for red lights for P2, etc.

4 LEDs * 20mA (current draw per LED) * 5v (operating voltage) = 400mW (power per group of LEDs)

You could use a single 1/2 Watt (500mW) resistor of the proper resistance to feed 4 LEDs.

The limiting factor is the number of wires that you can secure in one position on the terminal strip.   

To avoid overstuffed/poor connections, use a 5-position (9-position if you want to include the grounds) jumpered strip similar to what AJ did for his RGB LEDs on The Blue Pill. (red, yellow, and blue wires are the jumpers)



The first position is the input, connected to the resistor, which connects to the first output and is jumpered to the three other outputs.

Each individual LED would need a 2-position strip to connect to the leads and act as an easy-change mount.

Full setup:

                  molex connector
                            |
      _____molex jumper strip__________________________________________
      |                                       |                                       |                                       |
__P1 jumpers___             __P2 jumpers___              __P3 jumpers___             __P4 jumpers___
|       |       |       |              |       |       |       |              |       |       |       |              |       |       |       |
LED1 LED2 LED3 LED4       LED1 LED2 LED3 LED4       LED1 LED2 LED3 LED4       LED1 LED2 LED3 LED4


Scott

[AzureKnight]

Scott,

Thank you so much.  That is exactly the advice/instruction I needed.  That is a great setup, ordering parts now...I'll keep you all posted as things progress.

[AzureKnight]

I'm overdue to post an update.  I've finished cutting out all of the plexiglass panels.  I have them all beveled and sanded down.  It was a lot of work and I'm sure the craftsmanship is not going to win any awards but I have to say I'm proud of the way they turned out so far for my first attempt at working with plexiglass.  I can say that the last one I did came out a lot faster and better looking than the first one so my skills decidedly improved.

Here is a shot of the cp with the panels all in place.



One thing I can say for sure, I didn't create my artwork with this plan in mind.  This idea evolved AFTER I had spent money to print the artwork.  Had that not been the case I would have made the panels much simpler in shape.  I put the artwork under the panel to see how it all lined up and I am pretty close.  P4 is a bit off but I'm pretty sure some black/grey paint will hide any misalignment well enough.  Getting all of this to line up perfectly has been difficult.

I received my LEDs and euro connectors from Groovy Game Gear in good time and I've begun to wire up a set of LEDs off of the PC power supply.  I will snap some photos of that as I get more done.  I have to say that I am really anxious to get one set wired up so I can experiment with mounting them in relation to the plexiglass panels.  I want to see how well they will light up.

If this fails epicly, when I am done crying, I may try a technique like wp34 used here in this Tron build:


I have also managed to get most of the rest of the hardware into the cabinet as well.  The coin door is mounted, the bezel is cut to size, the hinges are on the front door, the cp clamps are on, the top rear is mounted with bolts into insert screws so I can get to the back of the monitor if I ever need to.  The only hardware left is for the cp top mounting but I don't want to do that yet.

[AzureKnight]

Last night I sat down to do some soldering.  I haven't used a soldering gun since grade school shop class so I watched a few videos to refresh myself on the basics, grabbed my new shiny soldering gun and....waited....and waited....for it to heat up.  Finally, some heat so I tinned the tip....set the soldering gun to the scrap wire I was practicing on....and....nothing.....still nothing. 

The stupid piece of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- soldering gun that I bought ($20 at a local hardware store) wasn't strong enough to heat the wire sufficiently to melt the solder.  I ended up wasting all the time I had free last night with no progress.  It is really the first time I've completely wasted time on this since construction began and I know many of you here have had to do/redo things over and over.  But it was still really annoying.  I returned the thing this morning and I'm going to grab a 40 watt one on my way home (that one was 17 watt and I was too inexperienced to know that just isn't strong enough, my bad for not researching better I guess).

Hopefully tonight I get some free time to try again!

[PL1]

soldering gun

Two things:

1. Get a soldering iron like this. . .


. . . not a gun like this.


2. If the iron comes with a pointy tip like ST7 you may want to get a replacement tip more like ST2.


A flat tip surface makes better heat-conducting contact than a round tip surface.

You don't need a powerful iron, just a clean tip that makes good heat-conducting contact.


Scott

[AzureKnight]

Thanks Scott, that is good to know. 

I should have been more clear, the first one I got was a Weller wand style 17 watt soldering iron (I tend to call them all soldering guns which I shouldn't).


I was thinking about grabbing one of these on the way home from Radio Shack (which looks Exactly like your image ironically enough).  I know it is cheap but I'm hoping it will get the job done for this project.  I just don't have much cash to drop on a soldering iron  a this point.  My other option is one from Harbour Freight but that is $4 and I just don't trust it to work.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062738

It does have a pointy tip so I can see if they sell alternate ones there. 

Out of curiosity are there any crimp connectors that work well with LED/resistors that I could just crimp them to the wires?

[Slippyblade]

The Radio Shack one is fine.  I've had one for years, just keep the tip clean and you are good to go.  Something to consider on your existing iron though...  remove the tip, clean the contact surface down where it mates with the heating element and then re-seat the tip.  If it's been a long time since you used it, the contact point between heat element and tip may have oxidized - and that stuff is a near perfect heat insulator.  Cleaning it off will allow the heat to transfer to the tip better.

[wp34]

I like your progress so far.  You will absolutely love having that monitor.  Are you planning to use GroovyMame to take advantage of the multiple resolutions it can display?

[AzureKnight]

The Radio Shack one is fine.  I've had one for years, just keep the tip clean and you are good to go.  Something to consider on your existing iron though...  remove the tip, clean the contact surface down where it mates with the heating element and then re-seat the tip.  If it's been a long time since you used it, the contact point between heat element and tip may have oxidized - and that stuff is a near perfect heat insulator.  Cleaning it off will allow the heat to transfer to the tip better.

Good to know about the Radio Shack one, that makes me feel better about buying it.  As for the existing one, it was brand new, first time used.  I returned it to the store this morning.

But I will keep this in mind about maintaining the new one.

[AzureKnight]

I like your progress so far.  You will absolutely love having that monitor.  Are you planning to use GroovyMame to take advantage of the multiple resolutions it can display?

To be fully honest, I didn't know that GroovyMame supported that.   

It certainly warrants looking into it and trying it out.  From a quick glance it looks like it wants to run on Linux with specific hardware.  I have an older XP desktop and I don't recall what video card is in it.  I'll have to look better when I get home.  I'm not sure I would be keen on doing a full wipe/Linux install.  I have MaLa/Emulators up and running now on the system.
 
 

[PL1]

are there any crimp connectors that work well with LED/resistors that I could just crimp them to the wires?

Use euro-terminals for the easiest connection, just like you did with the wires.   

just keep the tip clean and you are good to go.  Something to consider on your existing iron though...  remove the tip, clean the contact surface down where it mates with the heating element and then re-seat the tip.  If it's been a long time since you used it, the contact point between heat element and tip may have oxidized - and that stuff is a near perfect heat insulator.  Cleaning it off will allow the heat to transfer to the tip better.

Slippy speaks great truth here.   

At a minimum, when you're done soldering, clean the tip (wipe on damp soldering sponge) then re-tin the tip with solder to prevent oxidation/corrosion.


Scott

[AzureKnight]

I'm not sure I will have the room to use the Euro terminals.  The LEDs are going to be on top/in of the CP.  I need to get a set wired up to play with to determine the best position for them.

I know I say this a lot...but I don't care, thanks for the advice guys.  It makes life so much easier and more fun to learn from people that know their stuff.

[wp34]

I like your progress so far.  You will absolutely love having that monitor.  Are you planning to use GroovyMame to take advantage of the multiple resolutions it can display?

To be fully honest, I didn't know that GroovyMame supported that.   

It certainly warrants looking into it and trying it out.  From a quick glance it looks like it wants to run on Linux with specific hardware.  I have an older XP desktop and I don't recall what video card is in it.  I'll have to look better when I get home.  I'm not sure I would be keen on doing a full wipe/Linux install.  I have MaLa/Emulators up and running now on the system.
 

GroovyMame works with XP although you will need a specific graphics card.  You should be able to pick one up off eBay for $10-15 though.   

I can't recommend it enough.  Paperboy looks so good it almost brings tears to my eyes.   

[yotsuya]

Thanks Scott, that is good to know. 

I should have been more clear, the first one I got was a Weller wand style 17 watt soldering iron (I tend to call them all soldering guns which I shouldn't).


I was thinking about grabbing one of these on the way home from Radio Shack (which looks Exactly like your image ironically enough).  I know it is cheap but I'm hoping it will get the job done for this project.  I just don't have much cash to drop on a soldering iron  a this point.  My other option is one from Harbour Freight but that is $4 and I just don't trust it to work.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062738

It does have a pointy tip so I can see if they sell alternate ones there. 

Out of curiosity are there any crimp connectors that work well with LED/resistors that I could just crimp them to the wires?

I dropped about $100 on a variable temperature Hakko soldering iron. Never again with the cheapies! 

[AzureKnight]

Last night I decided to give things another try and they didn't go well at all.  I opened the new soldering iron from Radio Shack with optimism.  This was a 40 watt model and I figured it would be stronger than the 17 watt model that failed me.  I set it up, let it heat for 5-10 minutes.  When I tried to tin the tip, nothing happened.  I tried near the tip, nothing happened.  I tried a spot lower down on the long tapered tip, and it was hot, melted the solder instantly.  But basically the only hot spots I could find were sporadic and near where the tapering ended on the tip.

Oh well, I thought, I'll just try to use the hot spots.  Hold the iron to the wire...nothing...the wire would warm but no matter how long I held it there (10 minutes in one attempt) the wire just wouldn't heat up enough to melt the solder.  Did I get a second faulty unit in a row?  Is the tip just cheap?  Do I just not know what I am doing?  How long should you have to hold the iron to the wire for it to get hot enough?

In the end my tendency is to blame the equipment, but others seem to succeed with it, so perhaps I'm just soldering impaired?  I wasted another hour with no progress to show for it.

So, would buying a new tip help?  Buying yet another iron (are the cheap ones that commonly faulty that I could have gotten two bad ones in a row?)?  Find someone who knows how to solder and ensure I'm just not screwing something up?  Give up on soldering?

I have to say the last option is looking really appealing, I don't have the resources right now to drop on a more expensive soldering iron (upcoming vacation, wife would kill me).  I honestly think that is the best answer is to just get good equipment.

That being said, is there any reason crimping is a bad idea?


I could finish the job like this in a night probably...is there any reason I shouldn't?

[yamatetsu]

This sounds like you try to heat the wire up so that it melts the solder. It doesn't work that way. You have to hold the tip of the solder iron on the solder, which will then melt. Now you can put it on the wire, where it will cool and get solid.

[AzureKnight]

This sounds like you try to heat the wire up so that it melts the solder. It doesn't work that way. You have to hold the tip of the solder iron on the solder, which will then melt. Now you can put it on the wire, where it will cool and get solid.

Yes, I did try to heat the wire to melt the solder...that is what the instructions on the iron said to do as well as several training videos I watched on Youtube:



Is that incorrect?

[yamatetsu]

I'm no expert at soldering, in fact, I suck pretty much at it, but I place the wire where it has to go, hold the solder near it and melt the solder with the tip of the solder iron. After that I remove the solder iron and let the solder get cool.

In your case, I would melt the solder over the leg of the LED and let it cool off, so that it clings to the leg. Then I would hold the wire near the cooled solder, heat the solder up, stick the wire in and let it cool off again.

Look at this video, start at about 7:15. It's in german, but you can see what he is doing.

[dkersten]

If your solder pen is way hot, then just melting the solder onto the cold wire will usually work, but it is not a good way to go.  Solder will not flow onto copper unless the copper is hot enough, but the super hot tip will heat the copper up fast and allow this method to work, but that much heat is dangerous. Copper is a REALLY good conductor of heat, and it will pipe that heat right to things that shouldn't be heated up like that, destroying electronic devices or even just melting the insulation or other plastic things around it.  If the heat isn't high enough, you might get the solder to start to flow onto the copper, but it will solidify too fast and you end up with a cold joint.  Flux will help molten solder flow onto the wire or terminal at a lower temp, but it still isn't a good substitute for using the right temperature and method.

Ideally you want to hit the wire (or terminal or whatever) first, then apply the solder when the wire is hotter (being careful not to overheat the wire), and then the solder will flow over the metal you are soldering.  This should only take a fraction of a second.  With a good solder pen, you can control the heat so you have just enough to melt the solder but not enough to cause problems with the surrounding electronics.  But at that temp, you probably won't get a good solder joint by just melting solder onto the cold wire. 

One method that works really well is to "tin" everything first.. Touch the solder tip to the wire, and after a brief moment, hit it with the solder and the solder will melt and flow right onto the wire.  Then do the same for the other wire, board surface, or terminal you are soldering to.  Then connect the two together, hold them as firmly together as you can, and hit the connection with a properly tinned solder tip, and the solder will briefly melt, the two ends will make contact, and the solder will solidify with decent contact being made between the two ends.  If you do this right, you can hold the wire or other parts less than an inch from the solder point and your fingers will never feel uncomfortably hot because you never apply too much heat, yet you get a good solder joint.  But if you move the connection before the solder is cooled off, you can get a cold solder joint that will be a poor conductor and can break off really easily.

You also don't want solder to be the connection between the two points, you want the solder to be surrounding the connection and holding it in place and sealing it up so it can't corrode.  Solder is not a great conductor in itself.

[PL1]

Last night I decided to give things another try and they didn't go well at all.  I opened the new soldering iron from Radio Shack with optimism.  This was a 40 watt model and I figured it would be stronger than the 17 watt model that failed me.  I set it up, let it heat for 5-10 minutes.  When I tried to tin the tip, nothing happened.  I tried near the tip, nothing happened.  I tried a spot lower down on the long tapered tip, and it was hot, melted the solder instantly.  But basically the only hot spots I could find were sporadic and near where the tapering ended on the tip.

Tip won't melt solder after iron warms up = definitely a defective iron or tip.

Take some solder when you return it and verify that the replacement works before you leave the store.

If they won't let you verify before you leave, get a refund and never go back to that store.

Oh well, I thought, I'll just try to use the hot spots.  Hold the iron to the wire...nothing...the wire would warm but no matter how long I held it there (10 minutes in one attempt) the wire just wouldn't heat up enough to melt the solder.

You have to hold the tip of the solder iron on the solder, which will then melt.

I agree with this part of Yamatetsu's post.

A little solder on the tip helps with heat transfer (greater surface area contact than with a solder-free tip)

The method you described is the best way to avoid cold solder joints while making sure you don't spend too much time (shouldn't take more than 2-3 seconds MAX) and cook the LED.

If you use the iron to apply the solder, it boils off the flux (assuming rosin core solder) before you can solder the joint.

If you use a separate flux source like a flux pen, Yamatetsu's method works.

The video he posted is a not-so great example of how to get mechanical and electrical contact. 

That being said, is there any reason crimping is a bad idea?

Crimps rely on the stranded wire being crimped compressing slightly which provides some outward pressure when the crimper releases.

Solid core wire doesn't compress = no outward pressure = much weaker crimp that can sometimes come loose with a slight twist.

Solid-core wire won't work well with crimps unless you bend it around in a tight overlapping loop like a paperclip and crunch the loop down a bit with pliers so it will fit into the crimp -- not easy, but it will work in a pinch.




Scott

[AzureKnight]

Thanks all, that helps, looks like it is back to the store for another return....third times the charm right?

[AzureKnight]

My third soldering iron finally met with success!!!    The tip still doesn't heat fully everywhere but most of it heats now.  I think I will buy another tip for it and see if that helps.  Regardless, I was able to solder up my first string of LEDs!!!

I wired them up to the euro-terminal which held the resistors and wired all of that to the 5v line on an aux 4 pin molex on my PC.  It wasn't the prettiest soldering but the shrink tubing hides all that anyways 




After a month of cutting/sanding plexiglass, cutting hardboard, lining everything up, working on the wiring, etc. I was thrilled when the LEDs fired up and I was even happier to see the panel light up the way I had hoped it would.

I tried several methods LEDs all on top, all on the bottom, spread around.

The lights all around just didn't do as good of a job lighting the panel:



The lights on the bottom worked well I thought but unfortunately I don't have the physical space on the CP below the panels to run the wires up.



I think this is the route I will go, all four lights on top.  In this photo I put a piece of my scrap artwork on top of the lights to see how bad the bleed there is.  And there is some, I think I can take care of that with a thin piece of plastic, or maybe electrical tape like I did on the far right light.  Overall I will say that these photos do not do the final product justice.  The hot spots on the panel are FAR less pronounced on the actual panel.  My phone camera just isn't that great and my good camera is somewhat out of commission.


Another round of big thanks  to all of you guys.  I was so happy to see this look as good as it does. 

Next up is for me to line up the exact holes for mounting these in the CP and cut out slots for the LEDs in the hard board.  My one remaining challenge is that the LEDs are a bit thicker than the hardboard, so I either have to recess slightly into the CP for the LED (and worry that I lose some glow) or I try to grind away part of the LED.  I saw one video online of someone that did this to make the LED thinner.  If anyone has any thoughts/warnings/technique suggestions on that topic I am very open to them.

 

PS. I'm cheering a lot here, because last night, when I was super excited to see a months worth of work result in success, my wife came into the basement.  I tell her "Look!!! It works!", her response, "meh, whatever...  "  She tolerates my hobby, barely, so I come here to share my excitement!
 

[Slippyblade]

Always feel like a little kid at Christmas when that power is applied the first time and things light up.  Oooooo, shiny!

Congrats on a major step on the path.

[PL1]

Looks good.   


Scott

[AzureKnight]

Work was slowed a bit by a vacation to Washington DC.  I'm back to work now.

Fiddling around with all that hardboard/plexiglass cutting/led test wiring was a slow process for me.  There was a lot of learning involved and I didn't do things as efficiently as I could have to be sure.  I say this because I find it funny that sometimes you can make a lot of "progress" but it just doesn't feel that way.   Other times you take a step and it feels like you are a leap closer to the goal.  That is what just happened for me.  I got the cab painted and it suddenly feels soooo much closer.



Tonight hopefully I can start mounting speakers/marquee and light.  Then on to the CP wiring of controls and LEDs!!!!!

[AzureKnight]

Painting is done, marquee is up with the speaker grills.  I tried to take a picture of it lit, but the lighting was crushing my poor phone camera.  The lighting on it came out really well though.  I also put up the bezel, some of the chrome T-molding and mounted the coin door.

These steps go faster and it is really all coming together.

[Slippyblade]

Good job so far.  But I really wanna see how that CP comes together.  That concept will make or break the cab.

[AzureKnight]

Good job so far.  But I really wanna see how that CP comes together.  That concept will make or break the cab.

You are quite right, so I'm building suspense 

Actually, I want to get all the construction done and then I can just focus on the wiring.  All my plexiglass is now cut for the button holes as of last night.  Tonight I will clean up the plexi edges and then it is on to wiring LEDs and mounting the CP hardware...

[Generic Eric]

How is this coming?  You had a real neat idea!

[AzureKnight]

It is going slowly, I had a small "distraction".  I had to gut a half bathroom and move a wall    That has pretty much sucked most of my free time for the last few weeks.  I'm done drywalling now so it will be paint/floor/toilet/cabinet installation.  I was going to hold off on that room until the spring but the timetable was moved up on me.  I'm still hoping to have the arcade machine functional by Thanksgiving...but it is going to be close.  I was going to hold off on posting another update until it was all glowing, but since you asked!

I got all the joystick bases top mounted.

I cut grooves into the hardboard for the LED lights to lay down in and point at the plexi panels and drilled the holes for the LEDs to come up through.


I then cut up the artwork...that was nerve wracking.  That was a point of no return really.  Up to this point I could scrap the idea and just lay the artwork flat.  I don't have a photo of the "top" layer of art but I'll post one soon.  Here you can see the cut out art sitting below the individual player plexiglass.  The LEDs are poking out and two of them have been taped down to stay aligned with the plexi.  The one button is just installed for now to play clamp and hold it all in place. 



Last shot has all the LEDs in and taped down.  I have a bit of wiring to do under the panel for them to all light.  I used Scott's suggestion to mount via the Euroterminal connectors and it worked great.  I have each player on a connection and they all work fine, I just have to wire up an input connector that can split out to each of the player connectors, but the bathroom has stalled that out. 



Once that wiring is done I will power it all up to test and see it in action, then I will pull those buttons and lay the rest of the artwork over the top of the hardboard and lay the top piece of plexiglass over top of all of it.  Then it will be on to the joysticks and buttons.  Honestly, I'm so anxious and excited to see it all up and running!!

I really didn't design my artwork with this concept in mind, the idea came to me after I printed.  So there are a lot of small angles and corners.  It was really tough to get everything to line up.  Things are off a bit here and there.  In the end though they don't jump out at you and I will probably be the only one that ever notices.

[AzureKnight]

You can also see in the second photo above, that I filed down the LEDs so that they would have a thinner profile and fit in the 1/8" thick hardboard.

[AzureKnight]

Here is the shot of the artwork once I cut out all the panels:



And now the moment anyone following this thread has been waiting for....everything lit.  I had a free half hour last night after putting the first coat of paint on the bathroom.   So I finished the wiring:





 

The camera does not do it justice at all.  It is perfect, they pop and glow beautifully without being over bearing.  There is almost no bleed outside of the panels themselves.  There are of course some hotspots but the are actually fainter than they are in the photo.

 

A very big thank you goes out to all of you that helped with advice so far on this thread (especially Slippyblade, Generic Eric and of course Scott/PL1).

Tonight I will hopefully get the rest of the art mounted then I can drop the top plexiglass cover on and start the CP wiring.

[horizon]

Nice work buddy!  Just read through this build!

[Louis Tully]

.

[AzureKnight]

Thanks guys, I like LED effects but the glowing buttons were just too much for me.  I loved the edge lit builds like Dark Neon but I wanted different colors for different players.  I settled on this "new" idea.  After working on it though I found out it wasn't fully new (and to be honest I'm not surprised).  There is another build on here that has inset edge lit panels but they are all the same color and done a bit differently.  I lost the link to it though...I have to find it and post it in here.  It was green with swappable panels (that should be enough for Scott to instantly know what build it is I'm guessing...)

I have you all to thank too, your great builds (Louis your Mario build is amazing) pushed me to think outside the box.  Now for the real fun!

[Slippyblade]

I have to say, when you first started talking about your concept, I didn't have a lot of faith in the outcome.  I love being proven wrong though.  This is coming together very neatly.  Good job!

[Generic Eric]

Looking great!  I'd like to do something like this for that broforce cab.

I think that new Akuma/evil Ryu could benefit from this treatment.

[PL1]

There is another build on here that has inset edge lit panels but they are all the same color and done a bit differently.  I lost the link to it though...I have to find it and post it in here.  It was green with swappable panels

Sounds like Weisshaupt's "The Ghost in the Machine" here.

   


Scott

[yotsuya]