I love the beauty of how well designed this project has begun that it's taking such minimal "tweaks" as expanding and upgrading to keep it meeting your initial vision. Brilliant work, and I plan to follow along for my build since your workmanship and attention to detail are exemplary.
Thank you for your kind words! Yeah I'm pretty happy with how this vpin is turning out too. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so the vpin and the video series is taking a while to complete, thanks for hanging in there. I've got a bunch of videos coming out to finish off the budget build and then it's time for upgrades!!!! Thanks for the watch and if you deem me worthy I'd really appreciate it if you could share out my channel on your social media so I can help more people. Cheers!
Pro Tip: You don't have to cut the connectors off, if you look you will see a very small springy piece of metal on the side (not the end) of connector for each pin, you can use a very small implement to gently push that metal down and slide the pin out. Do this for all of the wires and you will be able to fit them through the hole. After feeding the wires through you can just push the pins back into the connector and you are done. Don't push too hard when removing or you will flatten the little metal retainer, if you do that all is not lost, you can use an exact-o knife or jewelers screwdriver to gently pry them up a little bit so that the will retain the pin after you push it in.
So clean!! I started off clean then just got impatient and stuffed wires in the first time around. Then went back months later and rebuilt it all cleaner. Lesson learnt to do it right the first time like this master builder :D
Thanks Dan! Yeah I'm trying to keep it clean as I go plus when I tear it all down I'll put it back together with wire looms and cable brackets to tidy it up even further. Make it ultra clean..... Thanks for the watch Dan!
@@wayofthewrench So here's a question. Instead of using an Arduino, is there PC software that can be used for DoF and maybe make LED lighting faster? Since it's PC powered? Seems the Arduino is very limited on processing power.
Ya know, we are already running the arduino.ide on our pcs, it seems like the harder part is connecting the led strips to the pc. I bet there is already programs/boards out there that already do this for big art installations, but I bet they are more expensive and not free. It's a great idea and there's probably someone out there smarter than me to figure it out. Thanks for the suggestion!
@@wayofthewrench the latest motherboards have ARGB controllers right on the motherboard itself it's a matter of DoF devs to utilize that and integrate a way into their software. Worth a shot.
Fantastic as usual. I bought those same strip holders. I got the 90 degree half moon ones first because I thought I was smart - I wasn't, lol. Looking forward to the DOF setup! As always - thank you!
They weren't wide enough for the strip to lay flat so it would have layed in at an angle. The biggest reason though is I'm going to use the edge of the strips you have to lay my glass on. The strips will face inward instead of up like yours. Hopefully it's got enough "hip" to support the glass with something soft sandwiched between - felt etc.
I very much appreciate you taking an enormous amount of time to show us exactly how to get the LEDs installed. In fact, your video zooming technique is phenomenal! It made the Teensy actually looked big enough to handle no problem!. I have one question and I may be getting ahead of your stepping us through the setup - when you uploaded the Arduino sketch into the Teensy to test your different LED sets, you had to update the specific LED numbers in the sketch and re-upload into the Teensy. How do you set-up the Teensy file at the very end to accommodate all of the various LED strips? Thanks and I dig your thoroughness!
Awesome, I'm glad you're enjoying the content. As you can imagine, it takes a LOT of time and effort for these videos and it's just me....no cameraman, no editor....just me. So it is always nice to hear back from people! Yes at the end I run all 1,111 leds through the basic led test but the next video on generating your cabinet.xml file shows how to get it ready for DOF lighting. Thanks for the watch and the support for the channel! Cheers Shawn!
I've been following your series and I'm ready to install LED's. I just tested them and I'm ready to start cutting and soldering them to length. I've purchased a new soldering iron from a big box store, it's just a plugin style, no temp control which heats up to 975 F degrees. The problem I am having is that I am unable to tin the tip. The solder melts and rolls off the tip, it doesn't stick to the iron like yours does in the video. I have cleaned the tip with a wet sponge as you and others suggest. I am using an electrical solder (lead free rosin core), so additional flux should not needed. I even purchased a second iron and solder from a different box store and I'm getting the same results. Clearly it's me, but I have no idea what to change. Thoughts?
Sounds like one of two things. Too hot or wrong solder. should be around 350-375 F for temperature so make sure you have an adjustable one meant for electronics not plumbing. Also make sure you have rosin core electronics solder (I use one with lead in it as it flows better). Good luck on you soldering and led install! Enjoy the series!
Hello, your videos are awesome. I have learned so many things to create my own Pinball. Now I'm installing my LEDs and in the place where you have your Matrix I only have a stripe installed. The stripe is connected to the green wire (chanel #3) and when i start a table this stripe beams in full white only. I have connect the wire to another stripe and the LEDs also beam in white. All the other channels work fine. Have you got an idea to fix the error? Thank you and I look forward to your next project.
Hrmmm I would check your cabinet file and wiring to see if it's not correct. Did you solder the jumper like I did in the video? Before I did that, all of my leds were full white. Good luck!
@@wayofthewrench I found the problem. The Cat6 cable is charred at the connector in the Octoboard. For some reason the cable got very warm and burned at the connector which caused the error.
Thanks for all your help! So do you recommend having two 5v power supplies? I have one for my led buttons do I need a separate one for Addressable LEDs?
You can have one but you will have to calculate how much amperage all your LEDs and buttons will use. Then use a ps that will handle that. Or get 2 and split it up
Another great one! Appreciate the explanation on calculating the power draw on the LEDs as I think fuses could be a good insurance bet. It is surprising how much they potentially can draw but as you noted, with normal usage (not 100% white), it should mostly be much less. Any thoughts on the best way to make the LEDs switchable (in case you want to leave them off sometimes)? I heard there can be an issue if the Teensy is plugged into USB and there is no power to the LEDS? Checking every day for the DOF and other configuration stuff. I do see other videos on RU-vid but you are really differentiating yourself as a Master.
Thanks Scott! Remember I installed a electrical switch to turn the 60 amp power supply on or off. As for leaving the teensy on without power to leds, I'm sure it's totally fine. Dude, if you can hang in there, these videos are golden...my how to generate your cabinet file and set up the teensy video is in 2 weeks, the installing dof video is in 4 weeks, the install sainsmart video is in 6 weeks, and the gear motor install is in 8 weeks, the shaker motor install is in 10 weeks....its all ready, just gotta wait. I'm trying to pace myself as the next 8 months are going to be brutal for time to build/film. Thanks for the support dude! Cheers!
@@wayofthewrench Sounds like we have lots to look forward to. Although I am anxious to make progress on mine, the truth is this is a big project and patience is key. I have already changed some of my design based on things you have shared so I will not miss an upcoming episode for sure! Thanks as always.
Did you connect the side strips directly to power supply or plug into connection on matrix Im asking cause I cant seem to get power to my side strips and not sure why Thanks great video
All of my left strips connect directly to the power supply for power. I would check for power right at the led strip with a multimeter, you might have a bad connection or a break in the led strip. Good luck!
Hello! great video! So I'm about to start a rebuild of my Vpin and I'm to add 4 addressable LED panels from Cleveland Software. My question is, with the current POVs would you recommend putting the LED panels under the glass and have the monitor tilted down in the back or put the LED panels on the backbox and keep the monitor flush with the glass? It's a mini vpin (Haunted House ToyShock gutted and PC added running Pinup Popper). Thanks for your advice!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video! I actually haven't played with the new pov too much but putting the matrix on the back box seems weird to me....like it's too high or the backbox monitors will be pushed too high. I would be tempted to still put the matrix the same way as I did before. Hope that helps. Thanks for the watch!
Starting to wire up my DOF and a question about the power. You had wired up 6 power injection wires. I assume one power injection wire was for the left playfield LED strip, one power injection wire for the right playfield LED strip, two power injection wires for the LED matrix and two power injection wires for the rest (DMD, behind the backbox and under the cabinet LED strips). For the LED matrix, since you had 3 different spade connectors for power injection, did you daisy chain off one of the power injection wires so all 3 power locations on the back of the LED matrix had power?
No I have 3 power injection points from the PSU to the matrix (left, center, right) and one injection to the back box, under cab, and speakers plus one each for the playfield sides. So 6 power injection wires. Thanks for the watch!
Ok, that makes sense. In the video, you can see you plugging in the power injection into the LEDs at the DMD. And then you show that you have power from the LEDs under the cabinet that you state are going to the power supply and the ground. Did you end up not connecting the underneath LEDs power injection to the power supply?
General lighting question for under and behind cab. Is a track and diffuser needed? Was going to try addressable out but due to cab design they could stick out so wondered if track/diffuser optional there as you aren’t looking at them directly?
They are definitely not needed but make it really easy to mount and keep safe. You could just stick them to the cabinet but be warned, they don't stick that well....they will sag/fall off so you will need to glue gun them or something else. I have seen people router out a groove to put them into as well. Cheers!
Hi, I have a question about the connection with the Cat6 cable. I connected my LED strips as described in your video. Now for the second time the Cat6 cable on the plug in the Octo board has burned out. Can you tell me why is this happening? The LEDs have their own power connection and are also provided with fuses. What am I doing wrong? Your videos are great and helped me a lot in building my own cabinet, thank you very much.
Hrmmm, burnt out eh? They should just be getting a signal voltage not a voltage enough to burn out the wire. Check your wiring to ensure there isn't a short ( full voltage with out a load) or your positive/negative connections are proper. Maybe your led strip solder connections are backwards or solder is touching both pads. How many leds are you trying to connect on one channel? You are using 5v or 12 aleds? Good luck! Let me know what it was when you figure it out. Cheers!
@@wayofthewrenchI operate the LEDs with 5V and I have connected a maximum of 268 LEDs to one channel. I checked all the solder connections of the LEDs and corrected some large solder joints. Now after a few days the cable is still cold. I hope it stays that way. Ciao
No not at all, those will be fine. I have some several feet long. There are online charts to see wire gauge and their lengths to see the voltage drops. Thanks for the watch!
If your usb port is damaged, you should be able to put 5V power and ground to the octo board and it'll work. The big thing is that if you do that, you never plug in the usb again but in your case, it's never going back on. Cheers!
This is a great site to fin out what pins are what, there a good pic of the ground and 5v pins on this page. www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_OctoWS2811.html
@@wayofthewrench Correct. I thought the Octo shield might have them built in, but it doesn't look like it. The recommendation is a 6.3v 1000uf capacitor across the voltage and ground leads, close to the strip. If you haven't had troubles yet, hopefully it means the switching power supplies are really stable. Something to consider as cheap insurance, like the fuses you installed. Regardless, love the series!
@@wayofthewrench It says so on the specs of the LED strip. It's because over here in Europe there are PSU's on the market with a false CE-sticker on it . They are not as stable as the more expensive ones. CE means Conforming European Guidelines. However on Chinese power supplies it means 'China Export'. That's why they recommend 16V/1000uF capacitors close to the LED powerlines, to make it more stable. Also recommended is a 470 ohms resistor between the Data Input (DI) of each strip and the signal out pin of the microcontroller or the Data Out (DO) of another strip. Why that is is not mentioned. Thanks for another great video !
Maybe a little but they are behind tinted diffusers and the brightness is fully adjustable per led strip so infinite tweaking of the settings can be done. I'll just have to see once it's all done. Cheers!
Great job Emil! Keep on working. You'll get this done. Ooooh, Emil, that's so bad and not recommended. You should at the very least use a regular fan to blow away fumes when you do your soldering. You set a very bad example. Bad Emil. Seriously though, don't be loco! No, you take it easy lol. ;)
Pitter patter, let's get at'er......as they say in Canada. Yeah, slowly but surely it'll get done. Ya know the shop is well ventilated, like way more than is needed so I'm good but thanks for thinking about my lungs. Cheers!
@@wayofthewrench I don't know. I've seen what the fumes do to lungs and that doesn't go away. I just bought a simple fume extractor. It does the job. And yeah no one wants Emil the man sick.
Lol, I've been smelling solder fumes since the first day of electronics class in my early teens. 35 years later I haven't grown a third limb or anything, I think it's safe to say you'll be fine.
Ok, just took a look. I don't see anything wrong with this. The only thing I could do different is cut off a single led and have an entire copper pad to solder to but that's it. Nothing unsafe here.