Ford starter solenoids are installed and now firing in sync with events in the pinball ROM. Feedback is very realistic, and you can certainly hear and feel these solenoids when they fire. I am firing solenoids for events like left and right flipper, slingshots, knocker, and pop bumpers.
To make the solenoids louder I drilled out the rivets that hold the bottom to the solenoid housing, and removed the rubber and cork dampeners. They had a dull sound with these installed, and removing these pieces made them much more mechanical and sharper sounding. I was also able to flush mount the solenoids using screws in the holes where the rivets had been, to make them even louder I installed a couple of washers between the plastic and metal bottom so that the unit was not sealed to allow more sound to escape.
Only remaining items that need to be installed now for force feedback in the cabinet, are a gear and shaker motor. I have a lead on a couple of parts that should work, I will drive these off the same relays I use for these solenoids.
These solenoids draw a fair bit of current, testing them with a multimeter inline and looking for current in mAs, they draw 3 AMPs every time they fire. The controller board I am using can only drive devices of 500mA or less, so these would certainly do it in if it weren't for the 12V DC relays I am using to switch these off and on.
As far as power goes, I have the LEDWIZ powered by 12 volts from an extra PC power supply, the LEDWIZ activates the relays, and the solenoids are driven on their own seperate power supply that is isolated from the one I am using for the LEDWIZ. Ford solenoids can be found for about $13 after market, or about $8 at the autowreckers.
No comments:
Post a Comment