Cat5?

[rubaducky]

Has anyone tried using wire from a cat5 network cable to wire a control panel?

I am thinking of using it to wire my controller... but am not sure if can supply enough power for a 4 player cabinet. Any suggestions?

[oooPLAYER1ooo]

should be ok for the switches but i wouldn't use it to power led buttons.
and dont make the cable too long

[ckergald]

I've used it, worked fine for controlls. it's a little hard to work with, and the conductors can break easily if bent to much. not ideal but it will work.

[StarControl]

A lot of projects are wired with cat5, so I wouldn't be afraid to use it. It's especially popular with the modular setups because it is so easy to plug it and unplug it, and it is made for at least that level of flex. This is a good example of a CAT5 modular project: http://www.beersmith.com/mame/

That said, the wires are tiny, and you should stabilize the cable against the CP as soon as you get it wired to the control so that it doesn't have a chance to flex and break at the solder or crimp joint. See the wiring page on the link above for a good example of how to do it.

As far as current limits go, Cat5 uses 24 gauge wire and you can check it against standard tables such as this one:
http://www.cablesandconnectors.com/wiregauge.html
It is more than adequate for .5A on long runs and 3.5A on short runs, and most LED's are way under that. Even the GroovyGameGear NovaMatrix 16 LED marquee light only uses .4A. If you are running incandescent lights, check your current limits. The consequences of excessive current are wire heating that can lead to fires. You should of course be using heavier duty wire for the main power runs to the PC, audio amp, monitor, USB hubs, neon/flourescent/incandescent lighting, and any force feedback devices you may have.

I thought about using it on my setup but am opting for IDE cable instead since the 40pin connectors will allow me to get by with fewer connectors, and with my rotating control panel I will not need to be plugging and unplugging controllers very frequently.

[brian_hoffman]

I just used small stranded wire on a spool I got from radioshack. Cat5 are solid core and harder to work with.

Just my 2 cents.

[mameapl65]

Wondering if 20 gauge solid core would be ok or should it be more then one per wire?

[z011104c]

I used Cat5 and did not have any trouble with it at all. Untwisting the twisted pair at the ends did get a little annoying after a while.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/3887099850_e71bc8e1c6_b.jpg

[SORHP]

Nice, I like your green ground wire... I ordered a cheap jamma harness, i think they are about 10$ US, and it had all of the wiring needed, I'm going to just cut it up.