Pinball Electrical 101

[jasonsmith]

A quick question. My pin cab is going to be in a living room in a smaller house and I've built it with being able to play with headphones in mind if needed. If I hook up all the knockers and solenoids etc is there a way with the flip of a switch to go into silent mode? I guess turn LedWiz off?

[DeeGor]

Here is a recent thread on the subject.

[boogies2]

I was planning on hooking up the Zebulon High Power board.

My intent was to use it to drive 3 sets of 4 RGB LEDs @ 12v (1-9 ports) and 7 Contactors @ 24v (10-16 ports)

FWIW, I believe that the conection for the Zebulon board seems easy - Connect it to the 17-36 output fom the LEDWiz, and take out the LEDWiz "Bank Voltage" Power cables - leaving them empty.

My question is:

Can I still use my LEDWiz as normal for the 1-16 and plug in 5v and 12v into the "Bank Voltage"?

Edited September 22, 2012 by boogies2

[zebulon]

4xRGB Leds are 12 ports. That only leaves 4 ports. Yes you can still use the remaining outputs on the ledwiz. I'd make sure to supply the 5v rail on the ledwiz though, just to avoid pulling too many amps through the usb port.

[maxxsinner]

Absolutely Boogies. The booster board just takes a signal and controls larger transistors to be able to handle the bigger loads.

The ledwiz is still good for its rated 500 mA output per channel but not all at once on one chip........etc as per usual.

[boogies2]

Thanks Zeb and Max for such QUICK responces.

I am going to run 4 350ma LEDs to each port in a set - each port will firing 1 set of 4.

Each LED set (of 4) will be outputting: 4*350ma ~ 1.7a

3 RGB sets (of 4) will use the 9 ports

It will be a total of 12 RGB LEDs only using 9 ports.

Yes, I'll keep 5v going to the LEDWiz.

I was planning to use the remaining LEDwiz ports for the lower voltage stuff that'll be safer.

Another quick question, that I already think I understand:

The zebulon board requires no voltage bank like the ledwiz, just the 5v and 12v for the board itself

[zebulon]

Gotcha, 4 leds to a set.

The booster only uses the 5v and 12v to power the board circuitry, no bank power necessary.

Just an FYI on the voltage banks on the ledwiz itself, they only provide a path for the clamping diodes in the event of feedback from a coil to protect the driver chips on the board.

There's no real gain by connecting those banks if all that is connected is leds as the leds are diodes and provide the same protection themselves. It doesn't hurt anything to connect them, but there's no real reason to.

[boogies2]

Another question...

Does anyone happen to know how many Amps a AE-23-800 coil uses?

I bought a knocker from PBL w/intent of hooking it up via the Zebulon board, or maybe a relay, but I can't seem to find out the amps that it pulls.

My understanding is that you can use a 48v PSU or a 24v, but the 48v will be louder.

[boogies2]

Small bump for the "Is it safe to hook up a WMS Knocker to the Zeb High Power Board?"

And an update for anyone wanting to see the end-results of the Zebulon High Power Board in 4 LED per channel action.

Here's a demo the LEDWiz ports at the beginning of this vid:

Big thanks to Zeb and Max for their work on these boards

Edited November 13, 2012 by boogies2

[evil eye]

Looks awesome boogie!

[zebulon]

Go ahead and hook up the knocker boogies, it should be fine. If there are any problems, let me know.

[boogies2]

Thanks Zeb, I'll try it using the 24v with a diode and report back after I get it done.

[boogies2]

I got it hooked up to the 24v, and it sounds good....

I was mostly concerned with damaging the Zebulon High Power Board, and secondly about the 24v PSU.

I went ahead and fused (3amp 250v, fast blow) both the power and the ground close to the knocker (figuring too much can't hurt).

I know that the knocker is a "surged" kinda knock, and that keeping the channel open, wouldn't give me the desired effect.

It would keep the knocker at the end of the pole, magnatized, if the channel stayed open.

I clicked on the LumaControl panel kinda rapidly, to hear it, and it sounded really weak, but I didn't have a plate for it to hit, just the wood.

Accidently, my mouse cursor went off the correct lumacontrol button, and the solenoid stay energized for a couple seconds (around 4), until the fuse blew (on the power side).

After replacing the fuse, I decided not to continue the testing with that method, so I tried adding the solenoid control to the ledcontrol.ini for AFM (S7), but it didn't work at all

I tried the same method with MM (S7 as well) and it worked - Yeah!!! It still sounded like a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being weak, and 10 being a real knocker. While MM was repeatedly firing during test mode, I put a plate for it to strike and YAHHOOO - it sounds good. On a scale of 1 to 10, it now sounds like a 5 or 6. It really makes me want to change it to 48v, because I'm sure it would really be a 9 or 10 if I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfxJIvulfuA

Edited November 20, 2012 by boogies2

[neohusky]

The link to the manual in the first post is broken.

[maxxsinner]

Cheers Neo. Repaired now

[freezy]

I think I just exploded my Creative Gigaworks T3 Amp. It happened while pushing the main circuit breaker of my cab "slowly", there was some weird noise and the amp is just dead now. Everything else works though. I've been turning on/off the thing for months now and nothing ever happened, so I suppose it's not something that fails "by design".

Now before I buy a new amp I would like to know what happened and how I can prevent it. Is it possible that there's some kind of over voltage when pressing the button that causes the amp to break? Could a simple fuse after the circuit breaker prevent that? Are there other solutions?

Any help appreciated!

[maxxsinner]

Hey freezy. Most amps have a fuse that you can get to on the unit somewhere. Just hope it's not internal to be a PITA.

I have that unit so will have a look and see what I can find out for you.

Sometimes "slowly" pushing a switch will cause an arc to occur in the switch, drawing a heap of current but it normally does nothing detrimental.

I have blown the fuse on my Logitech amp a couple of times but at least that one is external.

[freezy]

Oh, that would be really nice of you! I'll get the sucker out later today to see if it's really only a fuse in the amp, that would be nice.

So for an "easy fix", an fuse after the switch would help?

[maxxsinner]

A fuse after the switch might give you more trouble that it's worth.

Acording to the amp label, there are no serviceable parts inside, which normally means 'please buy a new one '

If you disconnect the power cord and remove gently pull the panel out, I would be betting there is a soldered fuse on there that has blown.

Fingers crossed for you freezy. Once you get it open, post a couple of pics if you still need help.

[freezy]

I suppose that's the one?

Seeing the sand means it's broken? It's pretty small (10mm). How do I get the damn thing out?

[maxxsinner]

Sweeeeeeet. Got a multimeter to test it to be sure?

That one is a leaded fuse so if it is the problem you should be able to de-solder it and replace it with one of the same size.

Should be about a $5 fix in the end and you will have spares.

[freezy]

Just tested and looks indeed like a broken fuse. Since I have some fuse holders left, how about I screw one to the inner side of the amp and put a fuse in there?

UPDATE:

Tried a 500mA fuse but it popped immediately. I have 5A and 10A, the original was 1A. I don't dare putting a 5A, what do you think?

Edited February 5, 2013 by freezy

[zebulon]

You definitely need a 1A fuse, the maximum I would push it is 1.5A

If it pops a 1A fuse I would say there is an issue further along in the circuit (look for split, burnt or swelled capacitors).

[freezy]

Thanks zeb, I've just ordered a bunch of 1A fast blowing fuses. I haven't seen anything burnt or swelled inside the amp. However I'm going to replace the switch, seems like crap-quality.

Will need to play without sound until they arrive. Cheers for the help, guys!

[zebulon]

Looking at the pics again, that resistor behind the fuse on the board looks to be burned up, so does the one across from it (R13 and R30). Might want to look at replacing them and possibly Q1 (the transistor between them).

Edited February 6, 2013 by zebulon