Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure
Williams, 1993I'm thinking of making my own LED lit mod and I'm having trouble tracking down info on how to make these work.
Here's what I have in mind: I want to install a toy that I'm building that will have 3 lamps. Each one will be jumped to a controlled lamp by alligator clips. The controlled lamp circuit is 18VDC. I am thinking I will build a small board. What I am having trouble finding out is what ratings I am looking for in an LED and what, if any resistors I may need.
Thanks in advance for any help
Quoted from jwo825:I'm thinking of making my own LED lit mod and I'm having trouble tracking down info on how to make these work.
Here's what I have in mind: I want to install a toy that I'm building that will have 3 lamps. Each one will be jumped to a controlled lamp by alligator clips. The controlled lamp circuit is 18VDC. I am thinking I will build a small board. What I am having trouble finding out is what ratings I am looking for in an LED and what, if any resistors I may need.
Thanks in advance for any help
First things first. Your controlled lamp circuit is pulsed - the supply voltage is 18VDC, but the lamps actually get around 6VDC. The ratings of LEDs determine the value of dropping resistors needed, but if you use LEDs made for pinball they already have the dropping resistors built in. If you can, use the pinball LEDs, that will simplify the job.
Use alligator clips only for prototyping/experimenting only. The final job should be soldered. Somewhat risky with vibration, nudging, or when you are poking around later to end up with a clip falling off, or possibly worse - like shorting into something.
Simplest solution is to use Comet 5050 single SMD LEDs in 555 socket. Simply straighten the wires that stick out the bottom of the 555 LED and pull the LED out of the 555 base. You will end up with a bright, flat LED with resistor compatible with pinball lamp matrix already installed!
I was hoping to maybe build a board for more of an involved project but the idea of using a 555 that's already comparable might be the way to go. I will try to stick to the alligator clips, though. I'll resort to soldering if they don't stay put. Sorry for not giving away too much info but I want to do a progress thread and don't want to spoil it.
I do have a resistance calculator to help if I go the route of total build. I guess that it'll depend on how much space I have as to which is easier.
Thanks for the advise '
It is your project, your game, and thus your headache should the clips fall off or rotate and cause a short. It is real easy to unsolder. A bad short could not just blow a fuse it could also damage the LEDs and thus the work you put into the project.
Without you providing a valid reason why you wouldn't solder, I will second the other voice of experience to solder in the wires once the project is complete...because there are many valid reasons why you should.
Solder exists for a reason. Alligator leads are called 'test leads' for a reason.
But again, you are capable of making your own choices and having to deal with the consequences of said choices.
Despite my very vocal opinion on the matter of using clips, good luck with the project.
Quoted from Schwaggs:Simplest solution is to use Comet 5050 single SMD LEDs in 555 socket. Simply straighten the wires that stick out the bottom of the 555 LED and pull the LED out of the 555 base. You will end up with a bright, flat LED with resistor compatible with pinball lamp matrix already installed!
This is what I've done on several mods where I out an LED into a toy. I usually solder the leads to a controlled socket. Don't forget to add a blocking diode (http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=173), or other controlled LEDs will probably light up when it is activated. For fits into tight spots, I use a Dremel to sand done the LED head as well as grind out space for the LED in the toy. Good luck and looking forward to the Picts of your work.
EDIT: don't for get to grab some heat shrink tubing to cover exposed wires. Especially on the blocking diode. 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I have pretty much decided that using bulbs from a pinball LED manufacturer is the way to go. I'll have to figure out exactly what is the best way to mount everything inside the toy once I build it.
I'm afraid that my wanting to use alligator clips is a moot point now, though. This mod will have 3 lamps that will light up with a corresponding playfield lamp, but I now realize that the lamps I need to jump to are 555s in the twist holders. Not sure how I achieve that. Otherwise i'll have to find a piggyback of sorts to use where the harness plugs into the light board. I'll include a pic. Any ideas are appreciated.
Quoted from jwo825:I recall seeing some mods use a male/female header adapter to plug into the board and then the harness plugs into that. I don't know exactly what the part name is, though, and am having trouble tracking it down.
IMO, that would be a little iffy - adding a connector like that in this situation is "inserting another point of failure", a potential for a voltage drop and connector issues. I'd solder directly to a through hole pad by following a trace. The wire secured with tak-pak and tie wrap any wire of length and weight, but that's not for everyone.
Do make sure you also change the original 555 bulb to an LED if you are going to be running multiple LEDs off one controlled lamp transistor. I am unsure of how many LEDs per driving transistor you can get away with before you start running into problems.
I'll only be running 3 lamps total. One to correspond to each of 3 jackpot lamps. 2 are in the same column of the switch matrix but none are in the same row. The game is Williams IJ and the lamps I'm looking to connect these to are 26,28 and 42.
I'm basically just looking for the best method to achieve this goal.
You should be fine with one each additional LED lamp to each controlled LED lamp, better if they are the same make/color to avoid any potential differences in current draw.
You will have to get the wires in as close to the bulb as possible, and behind the diode for the controlled lamp. Anything else will play havoc with the lamp matrix, so I think that nixes the connector idea.
Those WPC games have a redudant and unused lamp matrix connector on the CPU board. You could always go there directly and that would allow you to attach to any of the controlled lamps without messing with the existing lamp wiring. Might just be easier if you anticipate including more lamps at a later time.
Quoted from fitzpatricksrus:Those WPC games have a redudant and unused lamp matrix connector on the CPU board. You could always go there directly and that would allow you to attach to any of the controlled lamps without messing with the existing lamp wiring. Might just be easier if you anticipate including more lamps at a later time.
Have you yourself used this connector? I'm not familiar with how this is possible. So you have an unused lamp matrix connector - would you not need an entire lamp matrix in order to utilize it?
Quoted from wayout440:Have you yourself used this connector. I'm not familiar with how this is possible. So you have an unused lamp matrix connector - would you not need an entire lamp matrix in order to utilize it?
I'll have to look at Indy to see if there is an unused one, but a couple of my other Williams games had unused pins. There is a redundant header for the column and rows right on the board.
Quoted from jwo825:Doesn't look like Indy has any unused headers
? all used (populated with connectors) ?
From the repair guides online:
There are several lamp matrix connectors which are common on the power driver board. Here are the breakdowns:
WPC and WPC-S
J133, J134, J135 = Lamp Rows (all wired identical)
J137, J138 (large plug), J136 (small 3 pin plug) = Lamp Columns (J137, J138 wired identical)
Quoted from jwo825:I just looked up the connectors in the manual and they all look to be used. I will verify visually in about half an hour when I go home for lunch
I see that. Looks like there might be room on J138 and J134, as they each have one and two wires respectively with the remaining pins no connection (N/C), so depending on which row and columns your lamps need you might still be able to go that route.
Just looked at my game over lunch. There is nothing plugged into J134 and 138. Maybe these were for the stuff that got taken out of late production models like the lost plastic and backbox jackpot lamps?
I'll just have to run the wire all the way up to the head. No biggie. This will be a simple wiring harness to make
Thanks for all the help. I got it figured out. Just had to run to the electric parts outlet to gather the materials. I made a prototype using some cheap bulbs that already had diodes and resistors. I will need to order some higher end ones with the SM LEDs inside. Then they will all actually fit into the toys. I appreciate the advise, guys.
When I am happy with the bulbs I will build a top secret crate kind of like the one on Raiders of the Lost Ark to nest them in. For now I just glued the grail on top of a cheap bulb I had. Still a lot of work to do, but this helps with the visual
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