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Mounting LEDs in translucent happs pushbuttons (joymonkey?)

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juggle50:
Just wondering how you guys do this.  I've heard that you want to drill a 1/4 inch hole in the bottom and use the black ring mounting pieces from Radio shack.  However, when I drill the bottom I get a lot of excess plastic that seems to get in the way.  Also, The black ring pieces seem to cover a lot of the side of the LED and I'm wondering if that loses light.

Thank you for your help

ShinAce:
You can always drill a 3/16" hole and push the LED in hard enough that it jams.

MovingTarget:
I'm mounting 2 LEDS in mine but not from the bottom and not using the Radio Shack piece you're talking about.

Drilling holes on the sides directly into the threads.  Basically you need to be careful where you do this because you don't want to drill into plastic in side that goes up and down when the button moves.  I will be drilling as close to the bottom as possible.  

I've already done up one button for test purposes.  The only problem I've found is I will have to do some additional material removal when mounting to the control panel (3/4" mdf) because the button nut needs to go on first and it needs enough room to clear where the holes are at the bottom.

I did try mounting one LED in the base of the button (didn't use the Radio Shack part), it mounted in great but the top of the button was like a flashlight and I was blinded if I looked directly down at it.

2 LEDS on the sides gave the best effect.  I imagine similar to what the results were for the WICO buttons used on the NEON MAME.

I'll post some pics if you would like.

JoyMonkey:

--- Quote from: MovingTarget on February 09, 2006, 04:05:11 pm ---Basically you need to be careful where you do this because you don't want to drill into plastic in side that goes up and down when the button moves.

--- End quote ---

FYI, the 'plunger' part of the pushbutton that actually moves is easily removeable. You should take it out before you drill; that way the button won't fill up with plastic shavings.

MovingTarget:
How?  I tried to remove on one of my buttons by prying the top of the button (part that you push) but stopped when if felt like the button would get damaged.

Even if you remove it you need to be sure not to drill where the plastic part inside the button body goes up and down because the LED will be sticking into the body and that would mess with the physical movement within the button.

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