Garfield's It's all about me! Bonus Wheel Slot Machine Topper

[stewie]

Here is a shot of the pie with the spacer removed to show more of the wires

[stewie]

Deuce23, yes the green wires are both connected to separate pins in the center, the red one goes all the way around and connects to a pin on the front that goes threw the board to the back side where that wire leads into the center connector.

CommTech, I guess what i am wanting is for all of the pie to light up, and then have the separate pieces light up and chase around the pie like it would in the casino or for a bonus spin ( im assuming).

I realize this is a huge challenge, and was hopeing there is a easy solution, but figure it might be a pain.   There are a few of thees pieces floating around the net and figure i cant be the only one who would love there's powered.

I also have the Garfield topper that goes to the same game.

[deuce23]

The leds in the pie are wired 3 in a series with a 150 ohm resistor.  White leds usually run around 3.2 volts for 9.6v total.  12v - 9.6v = 2.4v / 20 mA = 120 ohm so the 150 ohm resistor would be correct for 12 volts.  I'm just trying to walk him through tracing out the wiring.  The ring I suspect is wired totally different depending on if they designed it to be able to control all the leds individually.

CommTech - You are correct that lighting up all the leds would draw a lot of current.  If all the pieces of the pie and the ring around the outside were lit up at once it would draw 2 amps.  You can get a regulated power supply fairly cheap on ebay.  A 12v wall wart will not work because they put out more than 12 volts and would burn out the leds quickly.

Stewie - depending on how the outer ring is wired it may be easier to do the opposite.  Light up the outer ring and have the pie chase around.

[CommTech]

The leds in the pie are wired 3 in a series with a 150 ohm resistor.  White leds usually run around 3.2 volts for 9.6v total.  12v - 9.6v = 2.4v / 20 mA = 120 ohm so the 150 ohm resistor would be correct for 12 volts.  I'm just trying to walk him through tracing out the wiring.  The ring I suspect is wired totally different depending on if they designed it to be able to control all the leds individually.

CommTech - You are correct that lighting up all the leds would draw a lot of current.  If all the pieces of the pie and the ring around the outside were lit up at once it would draw 2 amps.  You can get a regulated power supply fairly cheap on ebay.  A 12v wall wart will not work because they put out more than 12 volts and would burn out the leds quickly.

Stewie - depending on how the outer ring is wired it may be easier to do the opposite.  Light up the outer ring and have the pie chase around.

Very good.  12 volts and not as much current as I thought.  Thanks for breaking down for me. 
Nice work!   

One for Stewie also ...

[stewie]

Deuce23 - I love that idea! I really don't want the pie to stay on all the time, just chase around mostly, the outside lights im not sure what I want them to do, at this point i'll be happy with any lights lol.
So this would take the same power supply as the topper takes?
I kinda wana wire them together, can a chasing unit be put on the pie?

Thank you CommTech!

[deuce23]

You just need a 12 volt regulated power supply rated above 2 amps.  A pc power supply would work also. 

Draw your connector and mark each pin so you don't have to go back and retrace.  Mark which pin is the positive for the pie and then mark which pin each of the negative traces go to.

Are you going to build a frame for it?

[deuce23]

A sequencer like this would work. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Light-Sequencer-Running-Light-Module-EASY-TO-INSTALL-/181120413104?pt=US_Car_Lighting&hash=item2a2b9e2db0

[stewie]

yes i plan on building a stand/frame for the two pieces and putting them together. that's one reason i want to wire them all together, that way they are both on the same power plug.  is the plug you recommend big enough for both the topper and wheel? the topper others have recommended are calling for a 12v dc 2 amp plug.

how do i determan a positive and a negative? or are the photos with the arrows showing the wires?

[deuce23]

The red arrow points to the positive and the green arrow points to two of the negative. You will have to go around the board and follow the trace that goes from the resistors (little black things with 151 on them) to the pin the plug.  That piece alone has the capability of drawing 2 amps if everything was lit so you would need to add whatever is recommended for the topper to that.

[stewie]

AWESOME i think i have a great understanding of this now! I have a power supply from my router that has the 12vdc 2a im looking for, if i cut that and touch the wires to the different pins on the board i should get lights? right? or is that unsafe to do? i have followed most all the traces around, it looks like the bottom row of pins is the ones running most of the lights on the front. the top pins are wired to the traces that go to the back of the board, then they  go to the top connectors that plug into the led's to the front of the glass.

[deuce23]

Do you have an ohm meter?  You will need to test the power supply.  Chances are it puts out more than 12 volts and will burn out the leds.  Maybe not right away but sooner than later.  You can search ebay for "12v regulated power supply" and you will get all kinds of hits.  Just chose one that is 5 amp or above.  A PC power supply will also work.  It can more than handle the load and you can get one fairly cheap at MicroCenter or other computer stores.  There is a green wire on the 24 pin connector.  That has to be grounded for the power supply to turn on.  You could wire a switch to it to turn on and off.  On one of the 4 pin connectors you can take the yellow(positive) and the black(negative) and get your 12 volts. 

I believe those traces that run to one of the edge connectors and then loop around control the ring of leds but you will need to see how they are wired to be able to use them.  If you take the screws out of the metal pieces can you take the metal part off and expose the back of the leds?