12V cold cathode lighting

12V cathode lighting
Â« on: July 09, 2008, 07:48:13 PM Â»

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Is there a way to connect a 12V cathode light transformer to an S+?
I would like to try to replace the old 110V flourescent lighting that is in my reel lighting area under the top of the door.
I think the cathode lighting looks pretty cool.
Do I HAVE to hook it up to a (110V>>>12V) tansformer or is there some wiring in the S+ that is 12Volts that I can tap into?
Or is there NOTHING on an S+ that's 12volts?
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-stayouttadabunker (aka"blackjack")
Have a great day tinkering...

MarkInAz
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Ya know, you could just do the 12V transformer inside your box but feed it with the input going to the florescent transform since you wont be using it anymore. A few wire nuts and voila. A lot less extra wiring maybe.
I (we) would like to see how this turns out for you.

MarkInAz
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There is the +Vs 10.5 VDC unregulated, but its hard to tell where it goes with this poor Liberty Belle photo copy. I'd bet 10VDC might still make the light fire up. Maybe someone with a better schematic can see where that line goes.

MarkinAz,
Which or where is that particular wire you're speaking of?
What color is it?
Or did you see it listed on a wiring schematics somewhere?
Come to think of it.......I HAVE a wiring schematics for an S+....wish it was clear enough to read though
I could put a tester on it and see if it would be enough to fire up the cathode lighting...

-stayouttadabunker (aka"blackjack")
Have a great day tinkering...

MarkInAz

I did a little digging and unfortunately I could not find the " Vun " signal which would have been best. But you do have access to the " +Vb " which is an unregulated halfwave rectified DC signal at about 9.5 VDC (on may S-plus). It's on the Red w/ Black stripe wire in the top box in the unused molex connector. The only issue is how much of a load are you going to put on it with the lighting. I'd suggest you first try it on a stand-along DC power supply & see if it will even fire up at ~9 VCD. If it does, measure its current draw. I'm only guessing here but if you draw more than ~ 100mA you may induce trouble in your machine. It appears lots of the optical sensors are also powered by the " +Vb" line.
Good luck

Disclaimer- The user of this information agrees to hold the author, his company, his wife, his children and his dog harmless from any and all consequences pertaining to the above wild assumptions.

knagl

Â« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2008, 04:47:06 AM Â»

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Quote from: MarkInAz on July 10, 2008, 09:45:31 PM
It's on the Red w/ Black stripe wire in the top box in the unused molex connector.Some people do use that connector -- it's for a stand-alone "mini photon" IGT progressive controller/display.

ROCKET
Quote from: MarkInAz on July 10, 2008, 09:45:31 PM
I did a little digging and unfortunately I could not find the " Vun " signal which would have been best. But you do have access to the " +Vb " which is an unregulated halfwave rectified DC signal at about 9.5 VDC (on may S-plus). It's on the Red w/ Black stripe wire in the top box in the unused molex connector. The only issue is how much of a load are you going to put on it with the lighting. I'd suggest you first try it on a stand-along DC power supply & see if it will even fire up at ~9 VCD. If it does, measure its current draw. I'm only guessing here but if you draw more than ~ 100mA you may induce trouble in your machine. It appears lots of the optical sensors are also powered by the " +Vb" line.
Good luck

Disclaimer- The user of this information agrees to hold the author, his company, his wife, his children and his dog harmless from any and all consequences pertaining to the above wild assumptions.

if your that worried about current draw & i personally would not be on cold cathodes that size just buy a
110 volt switching powe supply hide it in the top box area and plug it into the mains coming in for 110 volt or just make a plug and plug it into the ac 3 prong plug on most all
upright & slant igt's that way you will have all sorts of juice at different volts to run your toys !!

dont forget your getting rid of the flourecent light /starter etc just adding the cold cathodes in placement of them so what you remove
your actually adding less .. of course you will have to run wires from bottom to top box but thats not to difficult ..
you can buy the switching power supply from haap for 20.00 bucks or arcade guys sell them in bunches for 5.00 reach used ..
just remember to have the switch on the power supply on 110 not 220 or your cold cathode will become a HOT CATHODE ONCE IN ITS LIFE

rocket

Cactusjack

Â« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2008, 09:57:52 AM Â»

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Personally, I wouldn't load down the Unregulated VDC in the S+ any more than it already is. You will just help accellerate the burning of the transformer connector on the motherboard.

Like was suggested above to use its own power supply: just buy a "Wall Wart" (those wall plug transformers like would power a Calculator or answering machine). You can get them fairly cheap from people like Marlin P Jones or Herbach/Raidman or at your local surplus store. OR, sometimes you can find good deals on things that look like Laptop power supplies but have strange mixes of voltages but include some +12 in the mix.

Using the now, unused 110AC to the Flourescent fixture, it is quite easy to power them. Just use some 0.25" Fast-on crimp connectors - those red or blue things you crimp on a wire to slide it on a spade connector like on a fuse holder. Just slide it onto the two male pins that would normally plug into the wall outlet. I don't know if there is enough space to add it to the service socket in the bottom of the machine instead.

Just remember they come in two flavors. 12VDC Regulated or 12VDC unregulated. The unregulated one will probably be putting out at least 15VDC until you load it down a bit. The regulated ones are more expensive. Buy it based on the current draw of your CC lamp assembly.

CJ
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If a Man answers a question in the Forest, and there is no Woman around to hear it, is the Man's answer still always wrong?

stayouttadabunker
Â« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2008, 04:16:35 PM Â»

I like everyone's answers !
I laughed at a few as well.
You guys are the best.
I even hooked up a cheap used remote car starter to my S+.
Now I play the "Max Bet" button remotely!
I can't wait to make a short video clip to show everyone.
Kudo's + to everyone who helped!
This machine was actually built by many of the NLG gang here because 8 months ago was the first time I ever looked inside of one!
Again, Thanks to all because none of this could have been done without your help!
-stayouttadabunker (aka"blackjack")
Have a great day tinkering...

MarkInAz
Â« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2008, 07:36:07 PM Â»

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You've got me really curious now. A remote Max Play Button. Now I've heard of everything.

stayouttadabunker
Â« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2008, 09:35:57 PM Â»

haha!,
Well, you guys havent yet seen the "automatic-play" button I've installed.
Using a regular mini-switch/wedge bulb socket combo, I glued a tiny radio shack relay and soldered wires running between the bulb and the NO9 Normally Open) switch contacts.
Whenever the "Max Bet" button lights up, it then in turn triggers the relay circuitry , which then closes the mini-switch for the "Max Bet" switch and the machine plays on it's own.
Great for testing purposes.
You cannot feasibly play more credits/handle pulls then this "Auto switch".
The game only stops when:

(1) The relay is disconnected (That's ANOTHER switch sticking out of unused belly door lock hole),
or
(2) It runs out of enough credits to light up the "Max Bet" switch,
or
(3) The game locks up because a jackpot/hand-pay was hit,
or
(4) If the power goes off in the neighborhood!

Short video will be out next week.
I'm a terrible windows movie player editor...........
'nuff said

-stayouttadabunker (aka"blackjack")
Have a great day tinkering...

knagl
Â« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2008, 10:49:23 PM Â»

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Quote from: Cactusjack on July 11, 2008, 09:57:52 AM
Just remember they come in two flavors. 12VDC Regulated or 12VDC unregulated. The unregulated one will probably be putting out at least 15VDC until you load it down a bit. The regulated ones are more expensive. Buy it based on the current draw of your CC lamp assembly.
Thank you for that explanation. I've always noticed on the multi-meter that the power supplies give off more voltage than they're labeled for -- I figured that they'd drop down under a load, but that the load would have to be significant.

For example, I'm using one of those to power LED's in a topper that call for 13v, but I think I'm using a power supply labeld as 9v (which is actually putting out somewhere around 13v), as I'm sure they're not drawing that much current.

With your last sentence there, are you suggesting that one should use a (roughly) 9v unregulated power supply for the 12v cold cathode lights?

MarkInAz
Â« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2008, 11:16:40 PM Â»

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Quote from: knagl on July 11, 2008, 10:49:23 PM
With your last sentence there, are you suggesting that one should use a (roughly) 9v unregulated power supply for the 12v cold cathode lights?
I'm not sure what CJ will say but my experience is if the load on the unregulated wall-wart is far less the the rated max load than the output voltage will be high. As the load nears the rated output the voltage will come down to near its voltage rating. But if you overload it, the voltage will drop even more, that is when you run the risk of overheating the transformer and burning it up, which sometimes take several hours to happen. As a word of caution- just because something works at the moment does not mean its a "good design"

Anyone know what those CC light draw anyhow?

sommer

Â« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2008, 01:07:29 AM Â»

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You guys just got me curious about 12V? yes i found a nice solid 12VAC,and tested.i just happen to have 12VDC 18"Neon light removed from under neath the car(it drew about 0.330A)no problem the cathode light probably take less amp,

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rookie!...

sommer
Â« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2008, 01:26:30 AM Â»

stayouttadabunker
Â« Reply #15 on: July 12, 2008, 08:04:07 AM Â»

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sommer!,
Where exactly is that pinned into on the motherboard?
It looks like you have it in right next to the power harness from the power supply?
That is good sleuthing! I would have never found it!
I need to know which pin hole you have it in on the motherboard....I could run that one to the CC's electronic ballast's positive side.
The negative side of the CC's ballast would connect to where now?

ADDED>>>>>I knew someone would of thougth of the "Auto-Play" switch before me!

sommer
Â« Reply #16 on: July 12, 2008, 10:30:45 AM Â»

Â« Reply #17 on: July 12, 2008, 12:05:39 PM Â»

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Awesome!,
So........ THAT's how the S+'s gets their 24VAC.......two 12Vac's....
that's why there's 2 two orange wires and 2 two green wires going to the motherboard from the power supply.
Great job Sommer!