Pinball Electrical 101

[grimwasere]

nice 1 max

[Zablon]

Ok, I have a newb question, but I'm no electrician

When bringing a main plug in to power everything, do I run the ground to a leg bolt?

[maxxsinner]

Oooo Good question Zablon. If you have a mains cable using the bolt as a fixing point for the cable or it runs very closed to the bolts you certainly could put a ground connection onto the 4 legs, but most likely there is almost no chance of the legs getting mains voltage accidentally on them.

Legally the requirement is to ensure that all mains are double insulated from possible exposed conductive parts so if all your mains cabling that runs past your leg bolts still have their outer and inner insulation, you should be fine. But if you want that extra protection to be sure, there is no reason why you cant ground all off the legs together then back to your earth connection.

[Zablon]

Thanks Max, I take from what you say that it is not required. I just wanted to double check.

[maxxsinner]

Sorry Zablon. Have a bad habit of over explaining myself. Yeah its not really needed but there is no harm in doing it.

Edited May 16, 2011 by maxxsinner

[hicks100]

Anyone have an idea how many Amps a standard williams knocker draws?

Im thinking of getting an additional 24v psu to drive mine..

(havnt managed to work out how to measure the amps being drawn with me multimeter yet!)

[maxxsinner]

I dont have a knocker as yet Hicks so I am unable to measure one. (hopefully someone else can help here)

But I can guide you through how to test with your multimeter if your interested?

Just post a pic of you multimeter or tell me the make and model of it and I will shoot you a diagram of how to test.

[maxxsinner]

Don't know why I didn't think of this before. Should be slapped in the face for not realizing it.

To calculate the amperage drawn from your knocker coils, measure the resistance of the coil using a multimeter in Ohms then use Ohms law to calculate the amperage.

V - Volts that you want to use in DC

I - Current in Amps

R - Resistance in Ohms

Ohms Law - V= IxR

So to find the amperage we change the equation to use the numbers we have, Volts and resistance. I= V/R

So if your using a 24 volt power supply and your coil is 7.6 Ohms

I=24/7.6

= 3.15 Amps

48 Volt power supply

I=48/7.6

=6.31 Amps

The higher the voltage the stronger the power of the coil, but the amperage rises at the same ratio.

Hope this helps a few people out.

Edited June 5, 2011 by maxxsinner

[grimwasere]

Anyone have an idea how many Amps a standard williams knocker draws?

Im thinking of getting an additional 24v psu to drive mine..

(havnt managed to work out how to measure the amps being drawn with me multimeter yet!)

hi m8 all i can say is i got mine wired to 12v and it fires a treat used it for 2 months now with no problems

[Flying Dutchman]

Great addition maxxsinner!

Thanks!

Cheers,

FD.

[Dazz]

Download link appears to be dead....

[maxxsinner]

Cheers for the heads up Dazz. Just noticed that myself.

Looks like my server is down and so is the hosts website.

Will let you know when I find out more.

[maxxsinner]

Appears to be a DDOS on clickngo servers. Thier whole hosting service is offline.

No doubt it will be back online sometime later today.

If anyone is needing a copy in the meantime, I have uploaded a copy to the FTP server

/Upload Here/Maxxsinner

Edited June 12, 2011 by maxxsinner

[maxxsinner]

Link is operational again. The site that hosts my server was attacked by hackers and distrubed all services for 4 days. Gald I wasnt one of the poor buggas that needed to fix that mess up.

[OzStick]

Link is operational again. The site that hosts my server was attacked by hackers and distrubed all services for 4 days. Gald I wasnt one of the poor buggas that needed to fix that mess up.

I'd be gald to not have my service distrubed too!

[maxxsinner]

You would not read about it Ozstick. I have had no problems with the service for so long then they went to the proverbial s-house over a couple of weeks. A bit of lost business but no way to get compensation... Enough unhappy customers to almost go bankrupt by the look of it. Wait and see I guess....

[maxxsinner]

Just found a US web site that seems to supply all the stuff that I have been refering to.

Digi-key has everything from braided sleeving through to slotted trunking (Which I have just discovered is sometimes called raceway in the US) as well as resistors, Crees, heatsinks, terminal strips, everything that a DIY pinball needs.

If anyone needs help in selecting parts, either post here or shoot me a PM.

[gwjrabbit]

Between Digi-Key and Allied Electrical, I have always been able to find an electronics part. Add in pbresource.com and groovygamegear.com and ultimarc, and you can kind of build anything.

[maxxsinner]

Thanks GW. I will add these links to the turtorial next update.

While we are at it, can people please add some links for those in the UK, Europe and anywhere else that you can think of. Would be great to be able to add a link list to the tut for everyone.

[Dazz]

I personally use Digikey and Mouser.com. Pbresource has been great for my EM stuff, but for newer pin stuff I use Pinballlife and Marco Specialties.

[gwjrabbit]

I've definitely ordered Arcade parts from Marco, but they tend to be a bit expensive, especially on shipping, in my experience.

[H4CK3R]

tried to load it up, looking for the diodes for the seimens, its corrupted...

[Numiah]

IN4006 or IN4007 would do.

[maxxsinner]

Having dramas with my hosting service. They were hacked and are having all sorts of dramas. I could open no problems so hopefully it's right again for everyone now.

[DeeGor]

This guide was extremely helpful, as I knew very little when it came to electrical wiring. Thanks to all for putting this guide together.