Okay, it’s been a long in the works, but I’m finally posting my short tutorial for the LED mods using the Uila LEDs! I didn’t quite complete it, but I took a few pics to get you all started and explain a few things as I go.
First off, I recommend that, before taking on this mod, that you have general understanding of the follow topics: signal wires, common ground, VCC = power, basic soldering techniques, experience with power tools, namely a power drill.
Part 1: Open up stick case, remove buttons
I used a Gunmowed DualStrike PCB dual-modded 360 TE. We want to open up the stick case to get access to the wires. You have two options for opening this thing up:
Use a hex-screw for the top six screws (recommended, only six screws)…
or use screw drivers to open up from the bottom (~18 screws!).
Since we’ll be replacing the buttons with Seimitsu PS-14-KNs, we’re gonna remove the Sanwa OSBFs.
Start by removing the quick disconnects from each button…
…then push on the tabs on the buttons’ sides with a flathead screw driver to pop the button out.
Part 2: Drilling holes in the buttons, installing LED
Now, your objective is to get the buttons to look like this, with the top plunger removed, then the button’s microswitch removed.
To remove the plunger, press in, then up on the two tabs on the each side.
To remove the microswitch, press on the two tabs on each side. These will require a bit more effort to remove than the plungers and may require you to pinch on both tabs to get a full removal.
Now that you have the button’s main body emptied, you can drill in the holes for the wires to come out of. Find a drill piece small enough so that wires can fit through, but not big enough that it will interfere with the placement of the microswitch when you put it back in. You’ll want 2-4 holes (depending on whether you got just the standard LEDs or the LEDs with the RGBs) in the shown areas. Also, I RECOMMEND DRILLING FROM INSIDE THE BUTTON OUT!!!
Now, the Uila LEDs come pre-wired, so this alleviates the hassle of soldering individual wires onto the LEDs.The Uila LEDs fit snugly onto the PS-14-KN’s microswitch and nearly touches the bottom of the microswitch. Twist and turn it, making sure each individual per side wires meet at the middle of each side at the bottom of the microswitch.
You may now place the microswitch with LED on it back into the button’s main body. Be sure wires are going in through the drilled holes only. Put plunger back in place and press down to make sure button still presses down as it’s supposed to.
When putting the buttons into their designated holes on the stick case, put the wires through the 30mm hole first, then press down on the main body so it reaches it’s stopping point. Since these PS-14-KN buttons are screw-ins, the screw-in nut must have the wires go through it before it can fasten the button.
Part 3: Hook up to LED controller
These are the wire assignments for each colored wire on the Uila LEDs:
-Red wire = Red LED ground
-Blue wire = Blue LED ground
-Green wire = Green LED ground
-White wire = White LED ground
-Black wire = VCC/output power
As you can see, the wires are associated with the colors that lights up upon activation.
You have several options for LED controllers to manage the LED arrangements, such as the FGWidget and Sparky Jr. I like to think that installing these controllers follows the same criteria as basic dual-mod, because you’re basically hooking up complementary individual button signals, VCCs as a power source, and common grounds. The button press registers to the main PCBs (in this case, the MadCatz TE PCB/Gunmowed DualStrike) and the LED controller, which sends power back out to the specific LED and lights it up.
So, here’s a visual of how the LED lights up and how the individual signal is directly related: Button pressed -> signal to main PCB(s) and LED controller -> power to LED -> button lights up
For my example, I will use the FGWidget.
Basically, you’ll want to to connect:
-VCC wire that’s powering the stick to work in the first place to the VCC of the LED controller for it to power the LEDs (labeled “VCC”)
-A common ground so that button presses and LEDs are recognized (labeled "GND)
-Input signal that comes from the button press (labeled "Button_IN)
-Output signal that powers the LED upon activation (black wire from the Uila LED goes to “Button_OUT”)
Since this stick is a 360 TE, we can solder a separate wire to these labeled points to connect to the LED controller’s VCC and GND.
In this picture use “USBVCC” for VCC and “GND” for common ground.
You may also choose to connect the VCC and GND to where the USB cable goes.
In this pictures, use the red wire labeled “5V” for VCC and the black wire labeled “GND” for common ground.
As for the individual button signals to go to the input terminals, you may use the TE’s button terminals and individual solder wires to each buttons’ signal.
In this picture, the top row is common ground and the bottom row is for each individual button signal.
Since the FGWidget only creates patterns among LEDs based on their placement and doesn’t manage RGB lights individually, you can actually solder the LEDs grounds together like this…
BUT BE WARNED! The white LED shines brighter than the colored LEDs and take up a lot more power. Soldering together all the LED ground wires to form one ground among them could result in a short fuse and kill the LED, so only solder the ground colors per button that you want to use. This applies to the FGWidget.
If you want to the Sparky Jr., just follow this guide:
http://www.mediafire.com/?g0xx883sd5h2u5z
