Carthik
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I'm unable to bump an old tread since I'm a new user so please see this thread:

http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/11317/eldmg-in-a-mgb/

It seems onapokoya is having trouble with rechargeable cells and EL back light in his MGB. This is probably due to the fact that all NiCd and NiMh rechargeable cells output 1.2Vs each whereas alkaline cells output 1.5V.

Did you figure out a solution? Can you confirm the voltage or types of cells you were using?

I really want to use an EL panel in an MGB with rechargeable AA cells, I can't stand non-uniform back lighting.

Cheers,

Carthik

jmc1987
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Washington, PA

I'd bet you need to add a resistor to cut down on the power drain. I had to send my MGB back to a modder after getting a backlight installed because it had the same issues. As soon as I'd hit play, the contrast would shift. Once he put in a 220ohm resistor, the backlight is dimmer, but no contrast changes.

The problem isn't as much the voltage difference between rechargeable and alkaline, but that 2 AAA batteries struggle to put out enough power to keep the backlight at its brightest and keep the Game Boy running at the same time.

Of course, this is for an LED backlight. I have no clue what the EL panels will do, but I'd assume the power drain is about the same. I was turned off by them apparently adding some extra noise, so I stuck with LEDs.

Last edited by jmc1987 (Jun 28, 2015 8:43 pm)

Carthik
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So the resistor was necessary to limit the amount of power the back light was drawing...

This is interesting. 2 AAAs produce the same voltage as 2 AAs, however the available amperage is about half. I find it hard to believe that a pocket with a backlight draws anything close to 1 amp while running.

I think I've figured out a way to eliminate the extra noise produced by the EL, it involves an amplifier external of the MGB's motherboard.

Hoping onapokoya chimes in, maybe Kitsch too.

Does anyone know if his EL back lights are going to be restocked or are they discontinued?

Carthik

Last edited by Carthik (Jun 29, 2015 5:24 am)

jefftheworld
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Carthik wrote:

So the resistor was necessary to limit the amount of power the back light was drawing...

This is interesting. 2 AAAs produce the same voltage as 2 AAs, however the available amperage is about half. I find it hard to believe that a pocket with a backlight draws anything close to 1 amp while running.

I think I've figured out a way to eliminate the extra noise produced by the EL, it involves an amplifier external of the MGB's motherboard.

Hoping onapokoya chimes in, maybe Kitsch too.

Does anyone know if his EL back lights are going to be restocked or are they discontinued?

Carthik

It probably wasn't drawing 1 amp but was drawing enough to drop the voltage just a tiny bit below what was required. Some component on the MGB wasn't operating at that slightly lower voltage.