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Simple one - how to test an LED mod?

Durzel

Durzel

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Joined
Oct 1, 2017
Messages
2,041
Location
Bath, UK
I've got a slot machine LED kickout light mod on my TZ which is currently not wired up. It has crocodile clips on the end, and the slot machine light is already connected up to another mod (this one) - which works fine, the LEDs light at the same time as the OEM slot machine light.

The mod seems to be designed to be connected to the slot machine light - as in it illuminates when the slot machine bulb does, like the slot machine mod I have currently does.

Because I have nowhere I can actually connect this mod up, without removing the crocodile clips and splicing wires - both of which are beyond my expertise - I clamped the crocodile clips on a GI bulb. I'm 99% sure it was wired correctly, comparing it to another mod that is wired similarly, but when I powered on the machine it lit dimly for a brief time before blowing one of the GI fuses.

Long story short - is there a way I can test what voltage this mod needs? Could I simply connect the croc clips to a battery? If so - what sort of battery would be safe to test with?

Sorry for the incredibly noob question :(
 
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You know I think I had this issue with a lighted topper that ran off an LED strip and I wanted to test it, all I did was connect the crocodile clips to one of those duracell 9V square batteries with the terminals on the top. That lit the LED strip up, it was a bit dim but it worked.

Although can someone else confirm this as sound before poor @Durzel does this and blows his mod up? Haha.
 
Thanks. What's weird is that I have another mod that looks very similar to it (shooter lane LEDs), which is connected to the GI circuitry and works fine. When I wired this one up to a GI bulb it lit very dimly for all of about 10 seconds before blowing a fuse.

Everything in my game is LED'd with the exception of the clock, though I don't suppose that makes a difference to fuses blowing if a mod is faulty or wired wrong?

The square batteries are 9v aren't they? Wouldn't that be too much for the LEDs if it's expecting ~6v ?
 
9v battery will be fine to test 6v led. don’t keep it in on for longer than you need though . or use 3 or 4 aa batteries. if it blew the fuse it sounds like the mod maybe has a short in it. have you got a digital multi meter to test it?


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I have a digital multimeter, but I'm not sure how I would go about testing that it is working ok? Resistance?
 
Durzel said:
I have a digital multimeter, but I'm not sure how I would go about testing that it is working ok? Resistance?
Click to expand...
yes it should have a resistance. check it’s not got a short. but do the battery test as well


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Sorry for the stupid questions - but my electrical expertise is almost non-existent. How would I confirm a short? This mod isn't currently connected up, and everything works fine (no shorts, no fuses blowing) while it is not connected. I don't even know 100% for sure whether it was my connections that were at fault. Does it matter where in a GI circuit you connect a mod - i.e. would having two mod connected to one GI bulb cause more load than connecting it to another GI bulb nearby?
 
Durzel said:
Sorry for the stupid questions - but my electrical expertise is almost non-existent. How would I confirm a short? This mod isn't currently connected up, and everything works fine (no shorts, no fuses blowing) while it is not connected. I don't even know 100% for sure whether it was my connections that were at fault. Does it matter where in a GI circuit you connect a mod - i.e. would having two mod connected to one GI bulb cause more load than connecting it to another GI bulb nearby?
Click to expand...

a short would be close to zero ohms on your meter using the resistance settings. it’s strange you say the mod lit up weakly for a moment before blowing the fuse.

best to test the mod in isolation. from the machine.


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The power for general illumination circuits is 6.3v ac, while the feature or 'insert' lamp matrix has 18v dc available. So, if the new addition is meant to connect as a feature lamp, you could try it by connecting to any feature lamp, e.g. Start button, rather than disturbing the existing one on the Slot Machine
 
Thanks. I'll try connecting it up to a battery to see if it illuminates first I guess, as well as checking resistance. If I can't get it to work with GI (always on) then I'll probably leave it disconnected, as it wouldn't make much sense to be coming on when some random unrelated insert is lit.
 
If I follow your intention properly, you'd like this new l.e.d. to be lit continually, though it seems to be meant for connection on the lamp matrix. If the machine's set for Free Play, then the Start button will be lit almost permanently

Looking at the matrix chart, the Start button is 8/8, while the Slot Machine is 8/5, so the 'column' is the same (#8, Yellow-grey). The 'row' #8 uses Red-grey wiring, and appears at Light Extra Ball on the door, the door panel 'Ball', Dead End, Right inlane, Lock arrow, Right Lane Spiral and Mini-Playfield 750,000. Connecting the additional l.e.d. between Yellow-grey on the Slot machine (or at any point where it appears) and Red-grey at any of the lamps listed would serve as a 2nd 'lamp' in parallel with the Start button
 
Not quite. In an ideal world I'd like the slot machine kickout light to be illuminated with the light on top, like it is in this video..


..but I already have a mod that is spliced into the wires for the slot machine light (the bayonet light on top), so i have nothing to connect the crocodile clips to. My only options I think for connecting something else to this light is either to feed the crocodile clips so that they're above the playfield - but below the slot machine plastic - and try and clamp them there... but this is likely to be both too cramped and also defeating the purpose of having croc clips in the first place if I have to take the slot machine plastic apart, remove the rail, etc to unclamp them, etc.... OR removing the croc clips and splicing the wires into the existing Molex connector - like how the other mod has done...

2017-10-21 16.01.44.jpg

(the orange wires are coming from my "Ultimate Slot Machine mod" that sits on top of the rail - this correctly lights up with the slot machine light)

..or finding some kind of Molex splitter like a Z-connector.

The only other thing I can think of doing - what I had resigned myself to doing - was connecting it to a a GI bulb so that it is illuminated constantly. This isn't the end of the world because the slot machine is pretty much always active anyway.

Incidentally - that LeesParts mod is the only "slot machine kickout light" I've been able to find, which makes me think it might be that, but that mod product page talks about a Molex connector - not crocodile clips - so either the previous owner fitted them, or someone else made the mod. LeesParts haven't been forthcoming with any kind of installation instructions either.
 
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In that case, you could connect it to col. 8 and row 5 elsewhere on the playfield - each location on the lamp matrix was supposedly okay with up to three lamps, so l.e.d's shouldn't be a problem

Column 8 is also Left Spiral, Clock Millions, Piano Yellow (& Red), Right Lane Gumball and the two lit cabinet buttons

Row 5 is also Fast Lock and The Spiral door panels, Left Inlane 2, Spiral 10 Million, The Camera and two of the 5 Million targets, Upper Left & Upper Right

edit - I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier
 
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Ok, I think that makes sense.. now I just need to work out how to find that on the playfield. :(
 
The wire for Column 8 is Yellow w/grey trace, and is routed to all the lamps listed for Col. 8. Most of them seem to be above the playfield, though, on signs or lightshields. One below the playfield is 'Clock Millions', 8/2

Row 5 is wired using Red w/green trace, and comes to all lamps with 5 as the 2nd number. The closest exposed connection might be the 5 Million lamp for the target above the Piano opening (7/5), or Camera, 5/5
 
Thanks. Appreciate your help on this. What you've said has pretty much completely gone over my head (my electronics skills are negligible). From the sounds of it - I would end up having to connect the red and black croc clips to completely different places on the underside of the playfield? (rather than in the same place - ala a GI lamp)
 
Yes, that's right. Col. 8 and Row 5 wander all around the playfield, appearing at up to eight lamps each. In this game, they coincide as 8/5 for the Slot Machine lamp, but they each meet all the other rows/columns as necessary.
 
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