MCtrickyD Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Hello everyone, I am trying to workout how best to power a Pin2DMD Evo on a WhiteStar platform pinball. Clearly the best place to grab 12v is off the power/driver board at J16/19 as shown on the Pin2DMD site, its what a lot of modes use. Their are a few tap solution to pre-made that could work like Pinsounds for $25+S/H, MEZEL MODS for $14+S/H both of which are just a pair of female crimp and stuff connectors with 2 wires stuff into a single connector to split out a z connector on them and two wires stuff into the 12v lead. The best solution seems to be ColorDMDs board based tap which breaks out to a 3 pin Molex, lot cleaner and less likely to fail but $15 + crazy S/H seems like a stretch and you still need to build a cable to connect the Evo. What are people people doing? Are folks just punching an extra set of wires into the existing 15 position IDC connector? Using an external power supply? Any suggestion are really appropriated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCtrickyD Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 Another option and the most promising so far seem to be this tap from Pinball Life better shipping than ColorDMD and has a nice blade fuse in it. They also sell 3 pin Molex connectors so you could make a cable to run or just cut the ends of one of their mod extension cables. Any other suggestions would be really valued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpannell2 Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 I would just splice a 2 conductor wire right into the connector on J16 as shown below. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VPoabBfFbQz7MSRDZGvy6BYo63lo1Sn7 Once you have a color display, no owner of the game will ever want to go back to monochrome. However if you are concerned about modifying the game, the tap from pinball life seems like a good option as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCtrickyD Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 Ya I figure you could just punch it down into the IDC connector, likely the best choice. Another idea would be take power off the last pin of the existing plasma displays (8) and ground it to 4. Pin 8, Vsp is the 60V DC anode supply that the Display Power Supply Board generates. There are lots of step down buck boards on ebay that will take down 30-100vDC to 5v or 12v they are only $4 or so like this or this. They are simple, inexpensive designs putting out regulated power. If the EVO board swapped the XL4015 DC-DC converter for a step down design the board could just directly connect to the existing Plasma DMD cable. Since the plasma DMDs all are made to the same specs across all the makers (Cherry, Babcock and Vishay) you would have a universal plug and play solution across all makes of plasma DMD games. Seems in the spirit of what the EVO board is trying to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider lucky1 Posted October 3, 2019 Content Provider Share Posted October 3, 2019 I tried to avoid the high voltages on the pin2dmd evo design on purpose having in mind that these circuits make problems in many WPC machines. I installed a pin2dmd once in a T3 and used the free 12V power plug in the front of the main cabinet. Unfortunately I forgot to make a picture of that plug but I think the pinball life extension cables are made for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCtrickyD Posted October 3, 2019 Author Share Posted October 3, 2019 Thanks @lucky1 For Whitestar/SAM machines 1999 and newer you can use the 12v loop that goes to the right of the coin door. That loop uses a 3 pin Molex cable, pinball life sells a 2 way Y slitter or 8 way board which when paired with an extension cable would work great for that, its actually what ColorDMD does. But if you have a 1990-1998 Sega/Data East they dont have that loop. You would need to use a power tap + cable to get a ideal 12v connection. Maybe a simple cheap enhancement to the EVO board would just be to put a 3 pin Molex connector on it to accept the 12v. That way people who do not want to or are not comfortable with finding a 12v source can just use a power tap and pre-made cable or the Y slitter and cable on newer machines. I am fine with just punching down another set of wires onto the IDC connector but I will say in a 25+ year old machine those connectors can get really brittle from long exposure to heat in the backbox. I have had them break when just trying to re-terminate a bad connection and then your have to replace the connector which takes as much time as installing the display in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider lucky1 Posted October 4, 2019 Content Provider Share Posted October 4, 2019 23 hours ago, MCtrickyD said: Maybe a simple cheap enhancement to the EVO board would just be to put a 3 pin Molex connector on it to accept the 12v. There is a 4pin connector accepting 12V, why add another connecter then ? These connectors are very cheap https://de.aliexpress.com/item/33011777867.html and you can assemble a cable yourself easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider Rene368 Posted February 16, 2020 Content Provider Share Posted February 16, 2020 I found the COLORDMD version a very good idea, but I did not like the 3 pins connector they chose. I've designed my own breakout board wich can be plugged on the powerdriver board of DE version 3/Sega version 3 & whitestar/Stern whitestar & s.a.m. and you could use a 4 pins molex found in any pinball machine or the WPC wireharness from COLORDMD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider lucky1 Posted February 17, 2020 Content Provider Share Posted February 17, 2020 14 hours ago, Rene368 said: I found the COLORDMD version a very good idea, but I did not like the 3 pins connector they chose. I've designed my own breakout board wich can be plugged on the powerdriver board of DE version 3/Sega version 3 & whitestar/Stern whitestar & s.a.m. and you could use a 4 pins molex found in any pinball machine or the WPC wireharness from COLORDMD. Nice ! Do you share the PCB design anywhere ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider Rene368 Posted October 18, 2020 Content Provider Share Posted October 18, 2020 (edited) On 2/17/2020 at 7:03 AM, lucky1 said: Nice ! Do you share the PCB design anywhere ? I just picked up my pinball hobby with the led displays again and I realised it's been a long time. Then I saw I never responded to this topic. So my apologies. I'm happy to share the PCB design (Eagle) for the breakout board and give something to the community :). If @lucky1 wants to put the design in the hardware folder on Github, I would have no trouble with it. Data East converter.brd Data East converter.dru Data East converter.sch Connectors BOM.xlsx Edited October 19, 2020 by Rene368 Added BOM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koslow Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Hello, nice work @rene368 I'm looking to order boards for testing. No gerber file needed ? (PCbway / JLCPCB ask me gerber file ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider lucky1 Posted January 30, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted January 30, 2021 You can export to gerber from eagle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider Rene368 Posted January 30, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted January 30, 2021 49 minutes ago, koslow said: Hello, nice work @rene368 I'm looking to order boards for testing. No gerber file needed ? (PCbway / JLCPCB ask me gerber file ) Thank!. Yes, you need the gerber. As lucky1 said you can export the gerber in eagle. You can choose the standard "template_2_layer" cam processor as this one is good enough for this purpose . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koslow Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 21 hours ago, Rene368 said: Thank!. Yes, you need the gerber. As lucky1 said you can export the gerber in eagle. You can choose the standard "template_2_layer" cam processor as this one is good enough for this purpose . Thank you ! I'm trying to open your project . File--> Open --> i can choose shematic or board only What is the procedure to open correctly all files of your project on eagle ? sorry not familiar with this kind of application Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider Rene368 Posted January 31, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted January 31, 2021 1 hour ago, koslow said: Thank you ! I'm trying to open your project . File--> Open --> i can choose shematic or board only What is the procedure to open correctly all files of your project on eagle ? sorry not familiar with this kind of application Eagle should ask you if you want to open both the schematic and board together. So click on the board and select 'yes' when Eagle ask if you also want to open the schematic. The gerber can be made from the board when it's open. You can use this instruction: How to Generate Gerber and Drill Files in Autodesk Eagle - JLCPCB: Help & Support It will export the files and as an advise: Set the checkmark at 'export as zip'. This will give you a zip file you can put straight into the uploading path of JLC or PCBway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniomauro Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 could someone share the gerber ready for pcbway? I can't find a free copy of eagle cad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider Rene368 Posted July 1, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted July 1, 2021 As more people are asking for gerber files and even suggested to make a shared project on PCBWAY for easy ordering, i've decided to make a shared project on PCBWAY for it: PCBWAY LINK I'm also uploading the gerber files here, along with an updated version of the PCB Autodesk Eagle files. The BOM remains the same. @lucky1 Could you also update the design in the hardware folder for me? I hope everyone can order faster now without hassle :). Data East converter.brd Data East converter.sch Data East converter_2021-07-01.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniomauro Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolNielsen Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 awesome, thank you very much for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniomauro Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Hi , i've just ordered on pcbway this useful board but they asked me something about BOM: Quote we can't find the positions of designators for the following components in your BOM file, please give us indication Could you help me? Best Antonio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider Rene368 Posted July 15, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted July 15, 2021 Hi Antonio, They are asking for the text like: X1, X2 etc. I did not put these in the BOM, because I believed no one would let it be made by PCBWAY. I did create a BOM for you how they are expecting it for manufacturing (see attached file). Hope it works. -René BOM PCBWAY.xls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniomauro Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 thanks! I've sent the new bom to pcbway fingercrossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolNielsen Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Pcbway have come back saying the holes don't match the plugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider lucky1 Posted July 21, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted July 21, 2021 Did you send them this picture ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider Terranigma Posted July 21, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted July 21, 2021 I got these done up a while ago, here is a picture as well of an assembled unit. Luckys should be clear enough, but in case it isn't see below. Part Number from BOM approved was 5p,KK396,angled,male 26-60-5050 Molex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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