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Step 9Blinded by the light...
Now we'll add LEDs. This part isn't as hard as that plastic tab, but is is tricky.
In the bottom of your cartridge is a small space that allowed the actual game to poke out so it could actually be read and played.
Keeping this tiny gap in mind, we need to assemble our LEDs in a row. We're going to connect them in a series. I used 5 LEDs from a string of christmas lights, but you're more than welcome to find a brighter bunch as long as they don't go past 3v. If I were you, or redoing this, I'd probably use 4 though.
First you need to set them all in a row. KEEPING them in a row is hard though. I myself found some of those plastic pieces used to keep toys in their packages and used those. If you're finding yourself hard pressed to find one, use that center piece of plastic scrap we took out earlier for our new faceplate and drill some holes or use a thin strip of leftover plexiglass and drill some holes in that for the LEDs to fit snugly in. The thin plastic strip of your choice (I would use the gray) should fit inside the space that surrounds the gap.
Place them in your plastic strip you made with the wires in a single row, with negatives all facing one way and the positives in the other. The wire ends of the LEDs should slip easily through that crack and close all the way without a problem.
If your finding it hard for the line of LEDs to fit well in the gap while inside the plastic strip, open up the gap by lowering the backplate side of the gap a millimeter and flattening the part that lowered to make the gap on the faceplate.
Now use your snips to make all the wires 1/4 inch long. Bend whichever polarity wire that is closest to the batteries in half towards the batteries and do this for all of them, so that all of your negatives (or positives) are bent towards the batteries, and the positives (or negatives) are sticking straight up.
Now make enough small wires roughly one inch each to connect each LED end in a series (connect all the positives in a row and all of the negatives in a row). The bent ones are meant to be straight with the rubber coating overlapping the unbent ones so they don't short circuit. The unbent ones are supposed to have the wires curving outwards a little and not touch the bent ones.
Now take your NEGATIVE three inch wire and connected to the last negative end of your LED string series.
We'll interrupt this program by adding a switch, but first, stick your batteries in for a second and touch your positive end of your battery wire to your last positive LED wire. If the 'string' lights up, success! Now take out your wires. If it doesn't work, you crossed a wire somewhere on your LED series.
You're going to want a simple on off switch. I yoinked mine from the Disney plug n play tv game. You can use any type of switch you want but if you used the switch I used you can wire it up like so. Note you don't HAVE to rip open a plug n play tv game, but it is fun. You can go to your local electronics store and find a simple switch like this. As long as you can turn your LEDs on and off.
We took out the top cylinders before and left their bases. On the base below the batteries dremel out the center of the base and where it curves, leave in the straight vertical walls. See if your switch fits. If not take out one of the walls.
Set your switch in to see how it will fit then take it out, dab glue on the two or three sides where it touches the walls and set it inside. Hold until it sets. BE VERY CAREFUL THAT YOU DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH GLUE! If you add too much you could very well glue the switch in place like I did on my first time. I would even advise not to even fill in the cracks with the superglue for this reason. Take the three inch wire and snip it at one inch. Strip, twist, and solder to the outer connection closest to the batteries. (Take careful note, if you have the switch that I have, the two outer most metal pieces are not connection points but anchors. Snip these with the wire snips ASAP before going further, you won't need them.) Take your last two inches of wire that you snipped off and strip, twist, and solder to the center connection of the switch and the positive end of the light string.
Add batteries and switch on if it wasn't on before. I give you... Light! if it doesn't come on you somehow messed up the switch. Check to see if you soldered it properly and if the ends are touching or not, and that neither touches the metal shell of the switch.
We'll cover the open connections later. For now move on.
In the bottom of your cartridge is a small space that allowed the actual game to poke out so it could actually be read and played.
Keeping this tiny gap in mind, we need to assemble our LEDs in a row. We're going to connect them in a series. I used 5 LEDs from a string of christmas lights, but you're more than welcome to find a brighter bunch as long as they don't go past 3v. If I were you, or redoing this, I'd probably use 4 though.
First you need to set them all in a row. KEEPING them in a row is hard though. I myself found some of those plastic pieces used to keep toys in their packages and used those. If you're finding yourself hard pressed to find one, use that center piece of plastic scrap we took out earlier for our new faceplate and drill some holes or use a thin strip of leftover plexiglass and drill some holes in that for the LEDs to fit snugly in. The thin plastic strip of your choice (I would use the gray) should fit inside the space that surrounds the gap.
Place them in your plastic strip you made with the wires in a single row, with negatives all facing one way and the positives in the other. The wire ends of the LEDs should slip easily through that crack and close all the way without a problem.
If your finding it hard for the line of LEDs to fit well in the gap while inside the plastic strip, open up the gap by lowering the backplate side of the gap a millimeter and flattening the part that lowered to make the gap on the faceplate.
Now use your snips to make all the wires 1/4 inch long. Bend whichever polarity wire that is closest to the batteries in half towards the batteries and do this for all of them, so that all of your negatives (or positives) are bent towards the batteries, and the positives (or negatives) are sticking straight up.
Now make enough small wires roughly one inch each to connect each LED end in a series (connect all the positives in a row and all of the negatives in a row). The bent ones are meant to be straight with the rubber coating overlapping the unbent ones so they don't short circuit. The unbent ones are supposed to have the wires curving outwards a little and not touch the bent ones.
Now take your NEGATIVE three inch wire and connected to the last negative end of your LED string series.
We'll interrupt this program by adding a switch, but first, stick your batteries in for a second and touch your positive end of your battery wire to your last positive LED wire. If the 'string' lights up, success! Now take out your wires. If it doesn't work, you crossed a wire somewhere on your LED series.
You're going to want a simple on off switch. I yoinked mine from the Disney plug n play tv game. You can use any type of switch you want but if you used the switch I used you can wire it up like so. Note you don't HAVE to rip open a plug n play tv game, but it is fun. You can go to your local electronics store and find a simple switch like this. As long as you can turn your LEDs on and off.
We took out the top cylinders before and left their bases. On the base below the batteries dremel out the center of the base and where it curves, leave in the straight vertical walls. See if your switch fits. If not take out one of the walls.
Set your switch in to see how it will fit then take it out, dab glue on the two or three sides where it touches the walls and set it inside. Hold until it sets. BE VERY CAREFUL THAT YOU DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH GLUE! If you add too much you could very well glue the switch in place like I did on my first time. I would even advise not to even fill in the cracks with the superglue for this reason. Take the three inch wire and snip it at one inch. Strip, twist, and solder to the outer connection closest to the batteries. (Take careful note, if you have the switch that I have, the two outer most metal pieces are not connection points but anchors. Snip these with the wire snips ASAP before going further, you won't need them.) Take your last two inches of wire that you snipped off and strip, twist, and solder to the center connection of the switch and the positive end of the light string.
Add batteries and switch on if it wasn't on before. I give you... Light! if it doesn't come on you somehow messed up the switch. Check to see if you soldered it properly and if the ends are touching or not, and that neither touches the metal shell of the switch.
We'll cover the open connections later. For now move on.
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