I wrote short about this in the xfiles club, but that being not frequented by "everyone" I thought Id ask here in tech section.
I have a "normal" .555 bulbbase with two lugs which i have placed as a mod, and I am connecting it to another bulb so when it is lit, the other new bulb is lit too. I thought it was just to solder a wire from lug to lug, but then I see that Sega has their own strange .555 bulb base as an IDC connector. Does anyone have tips to how I can piggyback this correctly?
Just cut into into each wire and make two- three way splices about two inches back from the connector and use wire nuts. Easy peasy
Found this in a store here in Oslo, so will buy these, does the same job it seems 
http://www.clasohlson.com/no/no/Wago-222-tilkoblingsklemme/Pr363051000
Quoted from wisefwumyogwave:Just cut into into each wire and make two- three way splices about two inches back from the connector and use wire nuts. Easy peasy
Actually no that is wrong. The lamp matrix travels through a diode which is absolutely required in order to prevent lights from being lit when they're not supposed to be. The splitting of the wires bypasses the diode, which is inside that white piece of plastic. You need to add the diode to your wiring or you need to come off the diode side of the split.
thanks for the input markmon. So it should work fine if I cut make the split on the "correct" side of the idc connector, will that be the banded side or the other, i should look for in the schematics?
So the other option is to add a diode to the new .555 bulb base lugs? Though id prefer doing the above.
I'm not familiar with those connectors I don't see a diode anywhere, maybe there's a diode board somewhere in the game if there is you're already passed the diode at the connector and what I said will work. Thought it was g.i. not controlled lamps my bad Bud!
I think your best solution is to do what I said but just add a diode onto each of your two new lamps in the correct orientation, if the diode is inside that IDC connector it's going to be harder to open it up and parallel after the diode. Good luck!
Looking at that photo, it looks to me like the diode is in the slot above the yellow wire. If the diode is elsewhere then you can disregard what I said and are totally fine as this would be wired after the diode. The wires chain from one light to the next and there needs to be a diode per insert. So I really think the diode is inside the plastic connector though.
So, if the diode is in the bulb base, i have to make the split on the "correct" side of the idc base, is that right? Worst case, will somethipng blow or just the new bulb stay lit always rather than when it's supposed to?
There is in fact a diode in the bulb socket. So I guess you have to insert the piggyback after the diode. And follow the wires so we are sure that it is in fact the right end. If not, do it with the same kind of diode and a shrink tube.
Axl
Three-way splice into the wires as shown above then put a diode on each of your new lamps put the diode in series with your new red wire and your new lamp base assuming you're hooking up red to red and black to yellow. The banded side of the diode should hook up to your red wire and the black side of the diode should hook up to the new lamp base.
Just got to figure out on which side of the IDC connector base I should make the split. or is that irrelevant if I put diodes on the new bulb bases?
Quoted from Edenecho:So, if the diode is in the bulb base, i have to make the split on the "correct" side of the idc base, is that right? Worst case, will somethipng blow or just the new bulb stay lit always rather than when it's supposed to?
Doubtful either of these will be the case. The bulbs you're working with will be fine. Instead, several other random appearing bulbs will be lit as well that shouldn't be in other areas of the game. (It's not really random but it will appear so).
Your option here is to splice the wires and add a diode as suggested or to solder the new wires to the socket instead and use the diode after the wire. Looks like you would use the middle section of be socket and the nonbanded portion of the diode to feed your mods.
Final note: if your mod is a 5v toy, the lamp matrix runs much hotter than that. It uses 6.5v LEDs but it's actually closer to 18v being quickly pulsed.
Quoted from terryb:In parallel without need for additional diode:
Dont really see how that would be done in reality, based on my photos of the two "endpoints" in the frist post on this page, terryb?
I have not much experience with exactly this type of "hacking" hehe, but eager to learn.
Quoted from markmon:Your option here is to splice the wires and add a diode as suggested
Yeah add a diode to the new base bulbs on the backplate right?
Quoted from markmon:or to solder the new wires to the socket instead and use the diode after the wire. Looks like you would use the middle section of be socket and the nonbanded portion of the diode to feed your mods.
I dont follow quite what you mean :/
Quoted from markmon:Final note: if your mod is a 5v toy, the lamp matrix runs much hotter than that. It uses 6.5v LEDs but it's actually closer to 18v being quickly pulsed.
Not a toy, just two .555 bulbs But useful information in general, will keep it in mind.
Quoted from Edenecho:Dont really see how that would be done in reality, based on my photos of the two "endpoints" in the frist post on this page, terryb?
Not sure what you're asking, but is this what you are trying to do?
I just picked a different lamp since it was easier with my limited artistic ability.
Sorry for slow update, sure took some time to actually try to fix this. spent some hours on saturday, sadly without luck!
First, in the absence of photos (sorry) i've used my paint skills to draw exactly where I connected wires with the scotchloks, and what I tried on the new bulb. In the drawing are the different connections i tried with the wires, I started with the rightmost. As markmon said would happen if something was wrongly wired; when going through the lamp matrix test (one lamp at a time) different lights turned on when they should not be. So I tried soldering both wires on the banded side of new diode, tried reversing them (just to try), then at last I tried without a diode. That did not work either, always some other lamps starting to blink when they should not.
So, I wonder if you guys have any suggestions as to what i have done wrong? Should I have used scotchlock on the other side of the original badge bulb base?
If needed I can try notice exactly which lamps blink when they shouldnt and when the new bulb is blinking.
Quoted from Edenecho:I read a little more around: Could it be that it does not help which side of the IDC socket i connect the new wires to, but that i have to solder the wires IN the socket on the non-banded side of the diode, as the following drawing shows?
like_this_(resized).png
This should solve your problem.
Quoted from markmon:This should solve your problem.
Abd then a diode should not be necessary on the new bulb if doing it like this, is that correct?
Quoted from Edenecho:I read a little more around: Could it be that it does not help which side of the IDC socket i connect the new wires to, but that i have to solder the wires IN the socket on the non-banded side of the diode, as the following drawing shows?
Maybe I am interpreting this pic wrong, but it looks like you are connecting both wires from the additional lamp to the diodes anode. If so, there is no way this will work, as there is no loop path for current to go to the bulb.
Quoted from wayout440:Maybe I am interpreting this pic wrong, but it looks like you are connecting both wires from the additional lamp to the diodes anode. If so, there is no way this will work, as there is no loop path for current to go to the bulb.
That is correct, that is what I was thinking of.
Markmon seemed to think this would work, but do you have a suggestion on how to make this in the correct way?
Running out of options :/
Wolfmarsh made a comment in a similar thread:
" you either need to attach your wires to the actual socket (after the diode), or add a diode to your new lamp"
What exactly does "socket (after the diode)" mean, I thought maybe that meant on the anode side, cause that is after the diode on the socket.
my paint skills arent exactly da vinci, no problem.
Referring to the second picture in the first post, where on the socket do you mean they should be soldered? I did not get the "if they *were* the bulb", sorry.. :/
Quoted from Edenecho:my paint skills arent exactly da vinci, no problem.
Referring to the second picture in the first post, where on the socket do you mean they should be soldered? I did not get the "if they *were* the bulb", sorry.. :/
Take a bulb. It has two wires on it. Pretend those wires were your mod wires. Should be pretty simple.
A "normal" bulb socket has two lugs with a diode in between them usually, and a wire soldered to each lug, isnt it so?
Its the IDC variant that I dont manage to "translate" to, since it seems that both wires are on the banded side, and no wire on the black side.....
Here is how I accomplished this on my Stern Pro.
I tapped into the wires that led to the lamp. On the wire that goes from my tap to the bulb I pit a diode on it with the strip facing towards the tap.
Here is a pic of what I'm talking about. You don't need to cut the factory wire. I had in a previous attempt at adding a light so I had to solder it back together (poorly at that apparently).
This was a great thread as it got me looking at my old mod. I've learned a lot since then so I need to go back in and clean that up a bit 
So, I finally managed to get this working today! Thanks for the help and input, bearing with me.
It was not perhaps the extreme effect i was imagining, I have a flexible strong white bulb begind the badges, will try with a white LED strip around on the inside behind the badge.
Some pictures and also some videos I uploaded can be found below:
Videos:
Scully mode:
Ball is drained light show:
xfiles_badge_scotchlok_(resized).jpg
Glad you got it working. I think you aren't real happy with them a those are some of the dimmest flex LED's I've seen. You'll most likely be much happier with some of these:
http://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/1smdflexng.htm
or even these
http://www.cometpinball.com/2-SMD-FLEX-Non-Ghosting-p/2smdflexng.htm
Nothing wrong with the ones you have, but I've found that type of light to be really dim compared to the SMD's.
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