I made something different for the S+ today...lol

[poppo]

First I want to thank stayouttadabunker for posting this interesting thread. I had just happened to come across it while looking for something else.

So I decided to give it a try for myself. I picked up one of the displays on e-bay and decided to document some stuff in case anyone else decides to give this a try, and to share some of the modifications I made. The actual mounting is pretty straight forward as already described, so I won't go over that again.

First of all, I thought the display was too bright. After connecting it to my variable power supply, I found that it will operate just fine at 5v but at a reduced brightness. The top of first picture shows it at 12v and then at 5v. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the 5v was a lot easier on the eyes. The bottom of the first picture just shows how easy it is to remove the board from the case. Just take off the screws and cut the two globs of hot glue holding it in.

The next thing I didn't like, was that when it is scrolling even at the reduced brightness, it still seemed to be 'blurry'. This was because you can see the LEDs through the red bezel and there was not enough contrast (especially if you are up close to it). I had a bunch of different color candle inserts and tried them all to see how they looked. The dark purple one actually worked the best as it darkened up the unlit LEDs, but did not affect the color when lit. The top of the second picture shows the purple film on the led matrix. The second part shows the difference with the red bezel back on. You can clearly see the difference and how easy it is to see the unlit LEDS with just the original bezel. The last picture shows it with the purple film sandwitched in between and lit. It's really hard to take pictures of this stuff, but the brightness and contrast are now much better.

[stayouttadabunker]

That looks really good poppo! 
Have you tried automotive glass tint?
They come in rolls and different shades.
I use it for a Mikohn progressive display unit which looks pretty good !
I think I got one of the darker shades...

As far as these plastic films, I think someone mentioned they can be had at toy hobby shops?

[poppo]

Have you tried automotive glass tint?

It was on my list of possible things to try, but I figured I would use what I had on hand first.

[Foster]

I definitely like
How did you find the displays?

[poppo]

I definitely like
How did you find the displays?

I found mine using the earlier post about e-bay. A e-bay search for "12v car scrolling led" will find them. Here is the model, but they can be found a little cheaper if you are patient and wait for an auction vice buy it now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/12V-Digital-Car-LED-light-Sign-Message-Moving-Scrolling-/260730295795

There is a blue model too but shipped from the UK

http://cgi.ebay.com/Blue-Sucker-car-LED-display-light-scrolling-message-UK-/290504805238

BTW LEDs are actually red, so using different color filters does little to change the color. In other words, you can't just make a blue one by changing the bezel color.

[shortrackskater]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

Well I'm going to take a chance here and just pray to the slot gods that Bunker or Poppo or BOTH will reply!
I'm preparing to install the scrolling sign to my S plus. I'm going to dig through my stuff and find a 12v power supply. I'm sure I have one somewhere, although I probably should check the current needed. My question is: The 12v lighter plug on the unit has a fuse. Should I fuse it when I install it in the machine or does it really matter since I'll be hooking up the power supply to the outlet in the machine?

[poppo]

My question is: The 12v lighter plug on the unit has a fuse. Should I fuse it when I install it in the machine or does it really matter since I'll be hooking up the power supply to the outlet in the machine?

No real need for the fuse. Just don't pinch the wires anywhere. Also where the wires are soldered to the display, you may want to put a drop of epoxy or something as they are pretty close. That is if you don't leave it in housing.

[shortrackskater]

Do you know if it will fit in the "machine pays...." area with the housing? I'm not near the machine right now, otherwise I would have done a quick fit test. I'm thinking if it does, I could just add a "skirt" around it in case any extraneous interior light bleeds out.

[poppo]

I don't think it will fit with the housing. At least not on a S+.

[shortrackskater]

I did just check and it hits the florescent bulb above. BUT... I have a brilliant idea, although I'm going to have to learn how to cut metal. That little piece below the top glass just comes right out and there's plenty of room if I widen from left to the middle area. I'd leave the card entry area there and just plug it with something. I can just route up the power to the upper case. I think I can do this...just the cutting part I'm not sure of yet. Google time.

[stayouttadabunker]

Oh! You mean the player tracking plate?
SUre!
THAT can be modified any old way you want to but to make it look good is another question.
This is where you have to use your imagination really good to make something look like a professional job! 

[shortrackskater]

I do like yours where it is...BUT...I've got that player tracking space above which I can either plug with some dark plastic stuff OR put a cool scrolling display in. I think I will have to reactivate my brain/imagination and make a decision. 

[poppo]

Oh yeah. A lot easier probably to use the player tracking bar. Not too hard to make a cover. I just used some black posterboard and carpet tape to hold it on. Easy to cut openings for stuff.

[stayouttadabunker]

I think you should mass-produce those great little displays Poppo!   
Especially with the live % amounts running!
The marketing tool would be that players could see where the machine is standing at "percentage-wise"
and flock to them!
Sell them to casinos world-wide!