Molex 'standard wiring' and control panels

priglmeier

Well-known member

Donor 2016
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
1,696
Reaction score
25
Location
richfield, Minnesota
I am wondering if there is a 'standard' way most molex connectors are wired for control panels from the JAMMA harness? I know there is no JAMMA type standard, but just what's the most common?

I have some wiring to do and I'd like to make it all the same and follow some sort of guidelines. Then I will post the results / process on my website for others.

Example:

2x 12 pin molex connectors
pin1 p1 joystick up
pin2 p1 joystick down
etc
 
This is the way I wire them:

Player one controls:
pin 1 common (ground)
pin 2 player 1 start
pin 3 player 1 joy up
pin 4 player 1 joy down
pin 5 player 1 joy left
pin 6 player 1 joy right
pin 7 player 1 button 1
pin 8 player 1 button 2
pin 9 player 1 button 3
pin 10 player 1 button 4 (if used)
pin 11 player 1 button 5 (if used)
pin 12 player 1 button 6 (if used)

I do the same for player two's wiring. Both being 12 pin Molex connectors. The reason I make both connectors wired the same is for troubleshooting. Say if you have a move right problem on player 1 you can swap controls by swapping the plugs. If the problem is now gone with player two move right then you know you have a joystick switch problem on the player one joystick.

I use a black Sharpie permanent marker to identify the connectors. I write "A" on both the male and female connectors of player one and "B" on both halves of the player two connectors. Prevents mixing them up that way.
 
Last edited:
the write up looks pretty good.. just one suggestion for the pics of the molex.. you should 'key' the molex. i know you have the numbers and colors in reverse order, but from the pictures, it looks like you could connect it either way.
 
idea

That's not a bad idea. I personally use a sharpie and write on the top side of each plug.

I will continue to add more content over the next few days and make corrections.
 
video

So what does Ken recommend for the video - molex standard? I know a lot of newer monitors use the JAMMA type connector that comes with a new harness, but with older monitors I leave the old connector in place and create a connector in between the JAMMA harness and the monitor wiring. (If that makes any sense?) This way I don't have to reach into the monitor to switch connectors or buy multi connectors which are hard to find for old WG displays.

Video:

pin 1 common (ground)
pin 2 video red
pin 3 video green
pin 4 video blue
pin 5 video sync

OR Perhaps

pin 1 common (ground)
pin 2 video sync
pin 3 video red
pin 4 video green
pin 5 video blue
 
Last edited:
For Jamma control panels, I do the following:

12 pin connector, looking at the female pins from the board, not the male pins from the panel. The pinout would be reversed when looking at the male end and then makes the most sense (left->right)
/\/\/\
o o o - P2 Start - UP - P1 Start
o o o - RIGHT - DOWN - LEFT
o o o - BTN3 - BTN2 - BTN1
o o o - GND - (open) - (open)

The open pins could possibly feed +5V if necessary for special stuff like LED lighting, or hold an extra button/input

I duplicate P1/P2 start on both connectors so that if I am wiring up a 1 player panel to swap in, I only need 1 connector, or if I have a 2 player panel I can chose which connector bunch is closer to where the P1/P2 start buttons are (left or right side) to not have to run extra wires. Plus this lets me check both inputs with a single 1 player panel.

The purpose of placing UP above Down makes it easy to do simple jumper testing without a panel connected, remembering where the wires are at -- laid out like the cursor keys on a keyboard.
 
molex

Thanks for the thoughts...

If you looked at the web page I have a 6 button setup, so that isn't an option on a 12 pin standard connector.

Personally I would keep the power connections in a separate connector from the controls. One reason is they are bundled this way in the JAMMA standard wiring. If you have molex running to your coin door for example it would be a more appropriate place for the LED power lighting. The machines I have seem to have open pins on those so it would be easy.
 
Back
Top Bottom