Volume Control -- Revisited

[dalto]

1.I use 47 ohm 1W metal oxide resistors and they stay cold during bonus. You want to vary resistance to change volume. Higher resistance will lower the volume. 10W resistors may be over kill but they are still fairly cheap. I haven't had a problem with 1W resistors for .13 each.
2.Not sure about the lpad thing but usually the upper speakers don't need resistors I just quiet the woofers down a bit but you can use 16ohm resistors in series with the upper speakers. I haven't seen a pachislo with tweeters.
3.Linear taper varies resistance evenly through the pots travel. It rises in linear fashion. Audio taper rises on the DB scale which is log fashion You could probably use either in this application but I would stay with linear at a high wattage.
Hope this helps

Hmm...so audio tapers change logarithmically so that you get the appearance of finer controlled audio.

Thanks!

[dalto]

I ordered an L-Pad 15wt mono and 15 wt stereo for my Babel from Parts Express.

My L-PADS came in yesterday. I had no idea that these things were so big. Wiring seems pretty straighforward now that I have looked at it but now I have to find someplace to put them.

[v3550]

My L-PADS came in yesterday. I had no idea that these things were so big. Wiring seems pretty straighforward now that I have looked at it but now I have to find someplace to put them.

My thoughts would be to mount them on the left hand side of the cabinet. Maybe a surface mount (would have to fabricate a holder) on the inside. I will have to see when they arrive.

[dalto]

I just wired mine up and they work like a charm.

I would recommend taking a look at the wiring diagram in this thread.

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=l-pad

It's technically the same as the one on the box but it was a lot easier for me to read.

[v3550]

I just wired mine up and they work like a charm.

I would recommend taking a look at the wiring diagram in this thread.

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=l-pad

It's technically the same as the one on the box but it was a lot easier for me to read.

I installed them this evening and they work great. Followed the diagram from the forum and the box. I went ahead and mounted them outside, on the left upper side of the cabinet. Looks good!

[ssdcinc]

QUICK UPDATE
--------------

Added the 50 ohm 10 watt resister to the main speaker and
it did the trick cut back the volume more then enough to be bearable.
(this is on my Bellco-automatic, on my Sammy -gallop add 1 to each of the
two speaker and it cut back, but it could be more, i'll live with it for now,
eventually i'll proberly add an l-pad.

thanks for all the great feedback you guys rock
L8er
Bill

[slugflyer]

So this seems like an easy solution. I have a Jet Set and Metal Slug on the way, I should get 4 of these then? Annoying , they sell them in packs of three, corret?:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PACHISLO-VOLUM...QQcmdZViewItem

One per speaker, 2 speakers on each machine..

Im quite concerned about people saying that its affected 777 situations and performance? I dont even know what the 10 ohm stuff is, anything I need to worry about, or is it just an easy install pure and simple and the dpad setup thats giving the problems?
Id love some help because im not very electronic but LOVE the pachislo scene!

Thanks for any help!!

[Tulsa]

Since they are so big and I never really wanted to mount mine external on the case, I have always siliconed mine into place. You can always seem to find a place they will fit and the silicone holds them perfectly.

[dalto]

Those will be a lot easier to install than L-PAD's. As long a you can solder they go right in-line with the speaker.

I believe Jet Set Radio has Two speakers. The wiring is easy to get to on those Rodeo models. I am not sure how many speakers that Metal Slug has.
It may have more than two.

[slugflyer]

so what about the voltage stuff, is there anything to worry about? do you just solder this ebay auction link one in and than control the volume with a screwdriver? does it/has anyone had problems I may encounter/cutting off of some power/lights during 777 bonus shows?

[dalto]

I have installed resistors or L-PADS in about four of my machines and haven't had any problems during bonuses.

I know others here have installed these as well. I am not sure what the failure rate is. But I have not read about that many problems.

[arbycoffee]

So this seems like an easy solution. I have a Jet Set and Metal Slug on the way, I should get 4 of these then? Annoying , they sell them in packs of three, corret?:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PACHISLO-VOLUM...QQcmdZViewItem
One per speaker, 2 speakers on each machine..
Im quite concerned about people saying that its affected 777 situations and performance? I dont even know what the 10 ohm stuff is, anything I need to worry about, or is it just an easy install pure and simple and the dpad setup thats giving the problems?
Id love some help because im not very electronic but LOVE the pachislo scene!
Thanks for any help!!

these are what i use on all the pachinkos I sell, I soder them on & adjust them and than use the factory to adjust levels from there

[v3550]

http://www.pachislo.com/img/pachislo...ts/Volume3.jpg

jdsabin1... These little pots are great. Easy to install and work just perfectly. They are the best way to go for nearly all the machines, imo. Head on over to Syscom.com and pick them up. Shipping is lightning fast, too.


http://www.pachislo.com/pachislo/par...il/volume.html

I would have ordered these had I known about them. One place I found said they no longer had them. They would have been much easer to install than the L-Pads.

[Tulsa]

American Syscom who's link you have shows they have them in stock.

[arbycoffee]

I put them on my pachinko 's, unless they come with something other.

[dalto]

OK

I have installed a few volume controls in the past week or so and although I read all the volume control posts here before I started I now understand what people were talking about better.

So, I thought I would post a Pro's and Con's for various volume controllers to supplement what others have already said.

L-PADS
Pros

• Volume can be easily controlled from outside the machine
• With a stereo L-PAD each set of speakers can be controlled with a single knob
• Inexpensive, around $3 for mono and $5 for stereo

Cons

• Wiring these, while not difficult, is much more time consuming than either of the other two methods suggested here. This is because each speaker requires three wires to be run to the L-PAD. That means you have to route six wires per set of speakers through the door and to the back part of the machine (Unless you are going to put the control on the door.)
• They are big. Bigger than I thought they would be from looking at the pictures.

Resistors
Pros

• VERY easy to install. The go in-line with one of the speaker wire's so just cut and install. Takes less than 5 minutes per speaker.
• Super inexpensive and readily available. You can buy 50 Ohm 10 Watt resistors for less than $2 a pair at RadioShack. That means the average cost is around $1 per speaker.

Cons

• You are reducing the volume a fixed amount so there is no easy way to control the volume outside the built-in volume control.

Syscom/Pachislo.com volume controllers
Pros

• Easy to install. Like the fixed resistors these are wired into one of the speaker wires on each speaker. Just cut and solder.
• Inexpensive. Currently these can be had 5 for $15 delivered.
• Allows for control of the volume.

Cons

• In order to adjust the volume you have to get a screwdriver and go inside the machine.

Based on the experiences I have had I think I would recommend the following:

• If the machine has a decent volume control built in but is just too loud than I would recommend resistors as they are inexpensive, readily available and easy to install.
• If the machine has a useless built-in volume control than I would recommend either L-PADS or syscom volume controls. For me, it would come down to how much time I wanted to invest and how often I thought I would need to adjust the volume.

A couple of brief disclaimers. Firstly, I have never installed the syscom controls myself but I belive I understand them enough to add them to the list here. Also, there are numerous positive comments about them here. Secondly, I would point out that this is not a complete list of options. Most notably it exlude potentiometers(pots) These are just the top three options I would recommend.

[Tulsa]

The syscom volume controls are in essence a set it and forget it type of control. They work well for me because I set my volume at the level I like and never again mess with it. Done. Finished. Kaput.

The l-pads are better if you like to raise and lower your settings a lot.

[slotter]

Nice post and good summary, dalto. Thanks!

[pfurman]

I've never soldered anything before, but I imagine it's not rocket science. Any recommendations as far as what type of soldering gun to get? Something pretty basic at Radio Shack? Any precautions that you've learned from experience? TIA.

[Tulsa]

For these purposes, any cheap soldering iron will do the trick. Just something with a small tip on it.