Creating a cable for a sign. Need advice.

[bigjohnson8778]

I acquired a light up sign from a display the other day. The only wire coming out the back is a 2 pin female cable. Ill post a pic it sorta looks like a motherboard cable. I would like to be able to splice this some how with a usb cable and hook it up to my PS3 so when i turn on the ps3 it will light up. Any suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[bmxfreakrider]

hmm, this sounds fun! Do you know what voltage the sign uses?

Aside from that tho, I would just go to radioshack and get a usb male type A component jack, and chop the one from your sign off. Put the red to pin1 and the black to pin4, and it should light up.

USB PINOUTS

 

[bigjohnson8778]

I do not know the voltage. But worst case scenario i would fry the sign rather than a usb port on my ps3? I just wanna do it right and not mess up my ps3

 

[Slaymate]

From the back, can you see the LED's, circuit board or any resistors? If not, can you open it up? It most likely has a 12v input with a single 330-470 ohm resistor for each LED. The resistor's and led's may or may not be mounted to a circuit board. I would try the 12v and see if it works, if not it's easy to fix with a soldering iron. You can buy new led's and resistors here if you mess something up. They also have a forum, look for Lokie or Twizted, tell them Slaymate sent ya

DragonModz Shop

 

[bmxfreakrider]

something that I was actually thinking of, but did a little looking into, and dont know how well it would work, or if it can be done.

But from working on cars, I have a little knowledge of relays. I wonder if its possible to make a USB relay? in otherwords, when you turn the ps3 on, it supplies power to the usb ports, have that power (5v) activate a switch that will allow power from a voltage source light the sign up (be it 5v, 6v, 12v, 120v, lol)

but I dont know if they make a dpst relay that keeps each side isolated (so we dont have one common ground, and 12v flowing to the ground of the ps3)

 

[zedman3d]

Unfortunantly though, doesnt the PS3 supply power to the USB ports even when its off? I know my WDTV media player does as i charge things off it when its not on.

 

[Slaymate]

run the wires straight to the power switch led light circuit.

 

[bigjohnson8778]

i plugged my iphone into the usb and it did not charge it while it was off, so it staying on while the ps3 is off shouldnt be a problem. Ill open the back up tom and post pics, got business law test i need to study for tom thanks for all the help so far

 

[bigjohnson8778]

ive had a bunch of tests this week and been busy but heres the inside

 

[bmxfreakrider]

looks like a led bar to me (no suprises here)

are there any markings on the PCB anywhere near where the wires connect? you would be looking for like 5v or 5+ or 5 or any number really that could corrolate to any voltage. (and help us determine which side of the array is positive, dont want to run 12v the wrong way on a led, it goes POP lol)