Dialed In
Jersey Jack, 2017I recently got a Dialed In and think it is a great game! However, one thing that bugged me was the minimal backbox lighting to show off the artwork of the backglass. Especially was the lack of light along the sides of the monitor, which resulted in that artwork being completely not visible when the game was on in a dark room. This tutorial is a step-by-step guide for adding additional LED lights to the backbox to light the sides and give more light to the top.
Parts:
Cool white LED strip:
-Can be 5050 or 3528, 60LEDs/M or 30LEDs/M, depending on how bring you like it. I went with 50505 @ 60LEDs/M
-- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5M-3528-LED-Waterproof-Strip-Light-300-LED-DC-12V-Cool-White-Blue-Yellow-Red-Green/571468879.html
Electrical tape (and some ⅜” heat shrink tubing if you having it)
-Protects the end of LED strips from accidentally shorting against metal frame of monitor and computer case
22 gauge wire 2-pin wire
- https://www.amazon.com/SoundOriginal-Extension-Strips-Single-Colour/dp/B01M21MPB7
2-pin 0.093" connector plugs (2x male and 2x female)
- https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=87
-- Female: Part Number 03-09-2022
- https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=88
-- Male: Part Number 03-09-1022
Pins for 0.093” plugs (4x male and 4x female)
- https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=89
-- Part Number 02-09-1119
-- Part Number 02-09-2118
4” zipties
- https://www.amazon.com/White-Nylon-Cable-Locking-2-5mm/dp/B000RB2DRK/
Quoted from bigehrl:that looks cool. can you give us more detail on what you did/used?
-jon
Give me some time! 
Gotta write this stuff up. (plus there is a 60 second delay between posts due to Pinside preventing double posts.)
Tools:
Ratcheting crimping tool
- https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Tools-11477-Ratcheting-Terminal/dp/B0069TRKJ0
Soldering iron and solder:
- Up to you, I like the Hakko fx888d
Wire cutters:
- https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-CHP-170-Stand-off-Construction-21-Degree/dp/B076M3ZHBV
Wire strippers:
- https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-CSP-30-1-Stripper-Maximum-Capacity/dp/B00FZPHMUG
Y-splitter for power:
Make a y-splitter wiring harness with the 2-pin 0.093" connector plugs and pins. This is used to power LEDs on the side of the monitor.
1x Female to 2x Male plugs
Note: Female plug has male pins; male plug has female pins
Note: Do not cross the wires to opposite side of the plugs (pointy side and flat side) Make sure the wires run way the same to all plugs (flat side of plugs all are connected)
LEDs for monitor’s sides
Wire length:
- 28.5”: Connecting LEDs on each side (connected along bottom of monitor)
- 40”: Power (connects to top-left of LED strips)LEDs: 2x 18 LEDs (@ 60/LEDs/M) approx 12” (may be shorter due to LED strips used)
Cut LED strips between solder pads (every 3 LEDs)
Solder two LED strip to 28.5” wire
To solder wires to LED strips:
- Tin the solder pads on the LED strip by putting a dab of solder down
- Tin the wires with solder
- Touch the tinned wires to the tinned pads and touch with soldering iron to fuse together
- Make sure that the positive and negative are correct
Put ⅜” heat shrink tubing around connections or make sure that you put electrical tape below where the ends of the LEDs attach to the monitor frame
Power:
Attach 40” wire to one free end of the LEDs
Attach female 2-pin 0.093" connector plugs and pins
- Note: pins are male
NOTE: Flat side of plug goes to negative wire to LEDS!!!
(At least on my game.)
Hope this helps some folks brighten up their DI. Let me know if there are typos, anything I left out, or if another picture is needed.
Quoted from lyonsden:Give me some time! Gotta write this stuff up. (plus there is a 60 second delay between posts due to Pinside preventing double posts.)
ha! sorry. thought you were just showing off and abandoning us! 
thanks for this. looks great!
-jon
Quoted from bigehrl:ha! sorry. though you were just showing off and abandoning us! thanks for this. looks great!
-jon
No problem -- these things take a while to write up, markup photos, and find links to all the parts. Let me know what you think if you put this together.
Quoted from crwjumper:I have ordered the parts and will install as soon as they arrive.
Same.
Quoted from crwjumper:I have ordered the parts and will install as soon as they arrive.
Thank you for this great upgrade and installation guide!
Quoted from johninc:Same.
Awesome to hear. Great to know that you are going to make this (and that the guide helps people.). Keep me posted and let me know if you have any questions or run into any problem.
I had some time to put these instructions in a google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q0guaWyG_KQB3kUL_4druikLEGAdC8VqrrA6Yv-9w_k/edit?usp=sharing
Quoted from Lermods:I'm not sure why you didnt go all the way around like i did it. Looks great.
Looks good. How did you mount the lights on the bottom? Bottom of the monitor facing down?
Actually facing out, I made a bracket to mount them on. You can use some kind of an angle bracket if you want. You need to be mindful of the lights affecting the camera or it will wash out the pic. I did it different than you overall, I used quick disconnects to make it easier to slide out the monitor.
I tried this on my hobbit and woz and the results weren’t acceptable, the glasses don’t allow as much light through and you can see the leds on the bottom row.
Thanks for the photo. Any reason why you attached the bracket to the bottom of the head rather than to the bottom of the monitor frame?
Bumping this thread up for a question. Any reason why you couldn't daisy chain more LED strips from the factory strip? Much like how you did with extra strips with the CPU fan case?
Would use 20awg wire with LED strip (sticky back), solder the wiring from the factory LED strip to the new strips around the framing of the translight.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WKHXHYW/ref=psdc_14325491_t1_B01M21MPB7
https://smile.amazon.com/Flexible-Daylight-Kitchen-Christmas-Non-waterproof/dp/B00HSF65MC/ref=sr_1_4
No reason you can't do that. You may want to have a plug for that harness that runs to the monitor LEDs in case you need to take the cover off the computer case.
Quoted from FatPanda:I'll have to give it a go then!
Yep, it will work. We go off the connector, it's just easier that way. If you install on the bottom of the monitor, just be mindful of being too bright around the camera.
Quoted from crwjumper:All done. Looks great! Thanks lyonsden & lermods for the idea and instructions! I attached the bottom lights to the monitor so that I wouldn’t need to install a quick disconnect.
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
bringing this thread back....
What did you use to make a bracket?
Did you just attach via double sided tape?
Added over 3 years ago:Edit - I just ordered a Lermods kit. Seemed easier than having to solder all these LED strips, always a bit inconsistent for me.
I tried to follow this, I ordered the connectors, and wired everything as indicated for adding a LED Strip, paying close attention to polarity. And when I turned the game on again, I started having issues with Slingshots, and Pop Bumpers, where they didn't have the same "Kick" so I'm in the process of adding a 100w 12v LED Power supply to wire in everything that was wired into the power that had only the single 10-20SMD Strip on it. When I disconnected the entire chain, of add-ons, like LED Buttons, and Mods, it went back to normal, and possibly a little stronger.
So the bottom line here is that if you go down this road, with mods, you may need other things to support that mod, like a set of blinders for the camera, as there's a trickle-down effect on this mod, like Power, and Light Pollution. So Even though I'm happy with the mod, but I've had to re-wire a lot to get it to work the way I'd like it to work.
Station1 (resized).jpgPowerSupply (resized).jpgBackglass (resized).jpgGlareShield (resized).jpgGlareShield_CU (resized).jpgBobs (resized).jpgButton (resized).jpgInstalled this earlier this week and I'm impressed with how good it looks.
Op, thank you for this guide !
Quoted from aeneas:Installed this earlier this week and I'm impressed with how good it looks.
Op, thank you for this guide !
Glad this guide is still being referenced and helping people light up their games!
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