Hello

I have a question that i hope Fytr can help answer?

In your post about using the GI to activate the relay, you wrote this:

Connect the LED Controller to the Relay, 12v Power Adapter, and GI output as follows:
Note that I am using channel #2 on the relay in this setup, you could use channel #1 if you wanted instead, or a single channel relay.
Configure this relay by installing the provided jumper to connect the COM and HIGH pins for S2 (channel 2). This tells the relay that for channel 2 it should activate when a positive (high) signal is received at IN2 (turn on the 12v juice to the LED controller when the GI is lit).
Power Adapter + -> Relay DC +
Power Adapter - -> Relay DC -
LED Controller + -> Relay NO2
LED Controller - -> Relay DC -
Relay COM2 -> Relay DC -
GI bulb + -> Relay IN2
GI bulb - -> Relay DC -

But according to the image you attached, this line doesn't exactly match the image:

Relay COM2 -> Relay DC -

As far as i can see from the image, you have attached Relay COM2 to the DC + terminal, and not the DC - terminal as the instructions say.

Can you confirm what Relay COM2 should be connected to?

Thanks!

relay wiring (resized).jpg

I think i figured it out. It seems that the image is correct, and there is an error in the description. Perhaps this should be corrected for future reference? If i am correct COM2 should go to DC+

If i do the above and do some testing with a 9V battery instead of the rectified GI voltage, it works.

However when i connect the GI, the fuse for that particular GI string blows. So somethings not right somewhere in my setup...

Hello

Actually neither. I have a small rectifier circuit board I put before the relay, and then I attach the rectified + part to IN2, on the relay board and the rectified - part to dc- on the relay board.

But nevertheless I keep burning the fuse. But without the rectifier attached to the relay board (and a new fuse) the GI works again. And as I mentioned if I use a 9v battery instead of GI to trigger the relay it also works. So it is quite strange.

However as I actually really hate the clicking from the relay, I am working in another solution using an optocoupler. Strange thing is that I actually had this optocoupler solution working when set up using a temporary breadboard solution. But after soldering the components to a prototyping PCB, I blow fuses again.... So I am quite frustrated now...

May I ask what machine you have the relay solution working in? Any WPC machines?

Yes everything has been double checked twice. And according to my electronics guy, it will never work on a WPC machine as long as "both sides of the circuit" share the same ground.

Here is what ended up working for me on my WPC machine for GI control of the LED's. Using the optocoupler completely separates the GI side from the LED side. I just used some components i already had lying around, but any FET transistor should do as long as it is wired correctly. The same goes for the optocoupler.

I have the LED+ and LED- attached to the Bluetooth LED controller, and it works like a charm.

Furthermore i have a UV LED strip attached in the same L-channel mold that is attached to 4 different flashers (remember diodes if you are doing this!!). So i now have controllable RGBW light with GI on/off effect facing out towards the playfield, and UV flasher light facing downwards.

Optocoupler_GI_Control (resized).jpg

They actually are quite dim. I think there could be big differences from machine to machine depending on the playfield. But in my STTNG the effect isn't quite what I had hoped for. But it still adds a little effect. Besides the playfield perhaps not being the most UV friendly out there, I also think that the fact they are facing straight down takes a lot of the effect.

I am considering doing it with a couple of small pure white strips the next time, or perhaps using a simple RGB strip so that I can hook each of the different colours up to different flashers. For instance in my STTNG there is a green flasher in the ship in the upper left corner so the green color of the led strip could be hooked up to that and so on...

The reason I used UV flashers this time was actually just to see what it would take to achieve the exact same functionality as a real Pin Stadium solution.

However I am currently using 12V for the UV flashers, and I think I might try hooking them up to the 20V that the flashers in the machine uses. I think the UV strip might actually be able to handle the higher voltage, and perhaps that would make the UV effect a little more visible.

Yeah the single 1N4004 diode in combination with the 25uF capacitor is just a really simple "rectifier". It results in about 4.4V DC from the GI. I don't believe the input voltage for the optocoupler is all that important as long as it's below 10V, so you could also use a more correct rectifier circuit with 4 diodes. But for simplicity this one was built with just the one diode.

I can easily do a parts list, but for now i do not have a complete assembly instruction. But i have a overview of how exactly i build it on a perfboard (pcb prototype board). The circuit is quite forgiving in the different values for resistors and capacitors, as long as they are pretty similar.

Components used:

1 x 1N4004 diode
1 x 470 ohm resistor (Anything close to that value should be ok)
1 x 1 mega ohm resistor (Anything around that value should be ok)
1 x 25uF / 30V electrolytic capacitor (Can easily be a higher uF value and from 25V and up)
1 x IRL540N MOS-FET transistor (A similar FET can be used as long as you take care to connect Gate, Drain and Source correct)
1 x SFH601-3 optocoupler (I used this because i had it laying around. But a 4N25 should work as well with the same pinout)

So a total of 5 cheap components in total, either soldered together or by using a small perfboard. My board have a connection for Flashers as well, but you don't need to include this if you dont need it.

The +12V and GND can either come from a separate PSU, or as in my case directtly from my STTNG's 12V output on J117-2 (+) and J117-3 (-)

LED GI Control perfboard_EDIT (resized).jpg

Here is what worked for me for GI integration (Which was a must have for me). I wasn't able to use the GI Relay approach described in this thread. It just didn't work for me. Perhaps because i'm not using a separate 12V power supply, but is using 12V straight from the machine.

But using really cheap parts from china, i built this little "GI controller board". It keeps a total separation between the machines GI and the new LED strips:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/poor-mans-stadium-lighting/page/8#post-4634907
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/poor-mans-stadium-lighting/page/8#post-4638294

I realise this approach isn't for anyone, but it is actually really easy to build...

Excellent write-up, and a very nice idea!

Thanks for sharing!