lighting a pad

InhaleX · Trick Member Joined: 27 Jul 2005

well, i have been wanting to light my homebrew pad for quite some time now, but i cant figure out how to do it.

does anyone have like a guide or something to show me how to do it?

thanks
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PASSION is for SMASHIN'

shurf · Trick Member Joined: 18 Feb 2006 Location: NJ

You mean LED's under the arrow panels?

I'm not sure myself, but I think you'll definitely need some kind of external power source so they actually light up.

MasterInuYasha · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:29 am Post subject:

devout · Trick Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Location: the atl

It's been about 4 years since i made a lighted pad, but here's a little of what i remember:

It would be pretty hard to add lights to an existing pad if you didnt build it in the first place with lights in mind. You need two things: nothing opaque under the arrow panels (just a thing paper/plastic arrow graphic or whatever grpahic you want under there), and room under the arrows to fit the lights.

Basically you add an entirely separate circuit to the pad that contains just the lights... so you shouldnt have any wires/metal things touching both the controller circuit and the light circuit.

Your best bet is probably to just put your metal contacts for both circuits underneath the brackets at the corner of each arrow. That keeps the entire underside of the plexiglass clear. I wired mine to have 3 of the corners wired to the controller and one corner wired to the lights. (Since if they dont always go on it's no big deal). It's a little tricky to fit the contacts AND whatever springy material you're using to support the plexiglass all under the corner brackets, but if you plan ahead it's not impossible.

As for the lights, you'll want something small and bright that doesnt get too hot. LEDs are nice, but they can be expensive. I made one with rope lights that could be plugged right into a wall outlet. These days you can get all sorts of little lights from computer case modding sites... Cold cathode light kits would probably work well and should last forever. Note that if you use led's or cold cathodes you'll have to use some kind of ac to dc adapter since they will run on low voltage, not the 120volts coming out of your wall. (I believe arcade pads use cold cathodes, but i could be wrong). Note also that it's a lot less dangerous to use a dc adapter... if you use straight 120v and you have a loose wire running to a mostly metal pad... it probably won't end well... the adapter will greatly reduce the amount of power going into the pad.

Construction-wise, you need to build something to elevate the arrow panel above the lights so they dont get smashed when you step on it. I did this with just little triangle pieces of wood that sat under the corner brackets. You install the bottom half of the circuit contacts and the mousepad/weatherstripping right on top of these blocks, and that's all that supports the arrow.

As for wiring, you'll want the power supply to come into the pad as a single wire (so you only have one plug), then split it into four leads and run one to each arrow. They can all share a common ground just like the controller buttons do.

Hope this is at least a little helpful. I'm starting a new lighted pad soon, i'll post a tutorial some time in january.

InhaleX · Trick Member Joined: 27 Jul 2005

oh ok thanks.

btw how much did all the leds and the junction box cost? im a little short on cash now.
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PASSION is for SMASHIN'

ChilliumBromide · Trick Member Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Location: Beaverton, OR

If you want to go cheap, just tear apart 4 cheap lamps (or you can use a string of christmas lights)and a pad you have and rebuild them so that you have enough space to fit a standard lightbulb without risk of it getting smashed, and make sure you use thick lexan, not plexiglas.

Way cheaper than bothering with LED's and adaptors.
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