Volume Control -- Revisited

[pfurman]

Nice job on the soldering, see and you had your doubt's!!

looks like you used flux, paste i hope, since acid is no good for
the electronics.

keep up the good work!!!

No separate flux; just a thin rosin core solder.

[pfurman]

yes, better than me i think

Aw, Arby buddy...you're gonna make me blush.

[pfurman]

Thanks for this pfurman, it answers a question I had about whether the pots were being used like rheostats (using only two of the three leads) or all three (two leads are tied together, and the third one is used as well). Thank you.

Y/W websherpa.

[bf_of_pf]

General note: I went through 3 soldering irons (finally got it going with a Weller WP30, and the flat tip, instead of the pencil tip), lots of vol controls that looked a lot uglier than these two, and lots of desoldering practice too. But I stuck with it, until I finally found my way of doing it that worked best for me. And of course, all the help everyone here offered was a major help. A big THANK YOU to all the great Pachitalk members!! (And of course, a big thanks to bf too...he was VERY supportive. He even tried a couple himself.)

Yep...you really stuck with it, and did a great job of learning a new skill!

[v3550]

OK, guys....I finally have a photo of the Syscom volume controllers with the lead wires soldered to them. All that needs to be done now is patch each one to the positive speaker wires in any non-Sammy machine. (There are special Syscom volume controllers for Sammy machines.) NOTE: Even though the solders on each end look sort of dull in the photo, they're actually very shiny. (Otherwise they could be cold solders, but they're not.)

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/2...soldered7j.jpg

Great work!! When soldering, shinney is a good thing

[fronzdan]

Just thought I'd add that I put fixed 47ohm 5W resistors into two machines this weekend and they work fine with the built-in volume controls. Not a huge variation in the three settings, but enough so that the loudest is loud enough and the quietest won't disturb someone in the same room trying to watch TV while the Monkey Magic song is playing.

The resistors aren't even warm to the touch when the speakers are being driven. The 10W "standard" I've seen around is overkill....especially when people are using 1/2 and 1/4 W pots with no problems. 10W's tend to be on the bulky side as well.

[cwstnsko]

My standard "fixed" volume mod is to put a 33-68 ohm (depending on how loud the machine is to start), 1/2 watt resistor between positive wire and the positive lug on the speaker and a 10 ohm, 1 watt resistor between the positive wire and the negative lug on the speaker. I've never had a problem with any significant heating of either resistor. With this mod, no wires are cut, it's completely reversible with no evidence, and the amp still sees a load of about 8-9 ohms.

If I want more adjustability, I cut the wire and put in a pot. By the time you adjust the pot, the current and power (watts) have dropped to the point that the 1/4 - 1/2 watt pot seems to do fine. I usually don't bother with the 10 ohm resistor when using the pot, so the amp sees a higher impedance.

The lower speaker on a Sammy machine is driven a little harder than most, so it probably stresses the resistors/pots the most.

[fronzdan]

That's a great way to maintain the impedance the amp sees....I'm doing that on my next machine!

[poolenglish]

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.

great info....thx. I went with resistors... 50ohm 10 watt ;from radio shack on my monkey magic. All good now, and only $2.00 for 2 at radio shack.

[rbinkerd]

When using Lpads, what size wire do you use? Is 16 ok?

Thanks,

Rory

[musky]

16 or 18 ought to be just fine

[boderek]

That's great source for volume control (pachislo)..

Issue cannot get to the speaker on the Kyoraku baseball pachinko machine. It looks like need to remove the ball tray but there are no screws. Please help. Thanks

[sailorpatp]

That's great source for volume control (pachislo)..

Issue cannot get to the speaker on the Kyoraku baseball pachinko machine. It looks like need to remove the ball tray but there are no screws. Please help. Thanks

After you open the front glass...my machines had a way to open the ball tray and get at the wires. Two clip latches.. Have you found out how to open the front glass?
If you have a key ...I think you turn it counter clockwise.

Welcome to PachiTalk

[Eddie]

Just a long shot a real long shot, as I have had the same problem with my Palot machine (not a pachinko) If your machine has a similar set up, the wire you have to access might be here in the upper left corner..... as I said might!!!!!

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...ighlight=palot

[drcrippen324]

if the worst comes to the worst trace the cable from the sound bord and splice in there instead of at the speaker

[Pat98TJ]

10 watt 50 ohm resistors worked perfect on my Beast Sapp and Top Gun.

[swissmr]

So what type of soder wire are you supposed to get??? I heard something about rosen middle is that what I'm supposed to ask for? thanks soder newbie

[birdbrain]

rosen core solder. the rosen cleans the bare wire as it goes on and helps insure a solid joint. get the small stuff do not purchase the the thick solder. try to get it about 1/2 the diameter of a pencil lead or smaller otherwise you'll have to apply too much heat to melt it.

[slothappy144]

Tip for the Solder newbie.
I have a pencil style solder iron, and a holder with a damp sponge to clean the tip. good for wiping off too much solder, I have a folded up piece of 220 grit sand paper its wore to about 300 now. Keep the tip very clean! it solders faster and more reliable, better looking also. the thinnest rosin core solder is the best for these small wires.
'Tin' the wire and connector first. tinning is a light coating of solder.
Thin sharp pointed iron works best.

[Pat98TJ]

So what type of soder wire are you supposed to get??? I heard something about rosen middle is that what I'm supposed to ask for? thanks soder newbie

If you don't have the solder and gun I would just use butt connectors.