#4938792
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Not screen accurate by any means, but I love how this quick mod looks on my Rubie's Walmart exclusive Ghostbusters ghost trap.

I found a 10ft thin coaxial cable with BNC male connectors already on each end, a pair of mountable BNC female connectors and wrapped it up with 10ft of 1/8 inch split loom.

ImageCable 10ft, Thin 3G/6G HD-SDI Cable with Heavy Duty BNC Male Connectors
https://amzn.to/3jBbTtA

ImageSaide 2-Pack BNC Female RF Coaxial Adapter Panel Mount
https://amzn.to/2EMF4em

Image10 FT 1/8 INCH Black Split Loom
https://amzn.to/34ZSSNo

Finished it off by adding some red electrical tape and a few little zip ties to each end, similar to how they look in the films.



Now I can trigger the trap at a much greater distance than the short little wire it came with out of the box.

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Last edited by kahuna900 on September 2nd, 2020, 12:25 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Kingpin, BRD 527, gamera1968 and 5 others liked this
#4938801
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

BRD 527 wrote: September 1st, 2020, 3:40 pm Holy crap that is frick'n AWESOME!!! :love:

Where you get the cable and connectors from? I keep one of these traps in my car on the front seat :mrgreen:

I should have added the links in the original post. I can't figure out how to edit the post, so I'll post them here. (I did figured out how to edit, so I added these to the original post. )

ImageCable 10ft, Thin 3G/6G HD-SDI Cable with Heavy Duty BNC Male Connectors
https://amzn.to/3jBbTtA

ImageSaide 2-Pack BNC Female RF Coaxial Adapter Panel Mount
https://amzn.to/2EMF4em

Image10 FT 1/8 INCH Black Split Loom
https://amzn.to/34ZSSNo
gamera1968, Theoderic liked this
#4939204
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Another quick mod... I swapped out the on/off button on both my Rubie's and Spirit traps. It was nice to get rid of the "try me" mode on the Rubie's trap, and now it's so much easier to switch the trap on/off with one hand while holding the handle. :)

ImageJameco Valuepro Toggle Switch, Single Pole, Single Throw
https://amzn.to/3ips8tr

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#4939217
yankeetrex wrote: September 14th, 2020, 12:28 pm Inexperienced with Electronic wiring, so forgive the dumb question, did you just splice and solder the wiring to the more heavy duty wires? Diagram of that setup would be awesome.

This mod is super easy. You just need to un-solder the existing wires and solder them to the new switch. The Rubie's trap with the remote pedal actually has four wires going to the stock switch (two extra used for the "demo" mode), so you'll only need to re-solder the green and yellow wires to the new switch.

The nice thing about these switches is they fit in the current switch spot without cutting off the stock mounts. You do need to enlarge the stock switch slot a bit, but not much. I simply used a flat head screwdriver and twisted a slightly larger hole.

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The image above shows the connections for the Rubie's Trap (w/pedal), the Spirit trap will only have a black and grey wire connected to the switch.
Theoderic liked this
#4945154
Bought two of these for my son's birthday.
Sadly the 1st didn't work, so I had to return it.
The 2nd, which just arrived, also doesn't work properly as the trap doors don't open (even with fresh batteries).
My dilemma is whether to keep the 2nd trap & mod it to get it working better as his birthday is immenant.
Has anyone got any knowledge of the electronics inside of this ghost trap?
#4945215
Update: I've got the trap working.
The 2x AA batteries used to power it do not provide sufficient power for the trap to operate.
The one I bought failed to open up even when the batteries were changed.
It was only when I hooked up the ghost trap to a power supply and gave it more juice (about 6V) that it worked.
#4945223
BlackHatMonty wrote: January 24th, 2021, 4:08 pm How did you wire things to run the trap through the coaxial cable? I would love details and pictures of that.

Is it easier than the Sean Charlesworth foster connector wiring?

Thanks!

You just need to cut the wire that joins the two and wire them to the two BNC Female RF Coaxial Adapters that you mount to the trap and the pedal.

Here's a pic of the inside of the pedal. It was too tight to get the nut on the mount to secure it, so I just used hot glue. :)

Image
BlackHatMonty liked this
#4945224
theauton wrote: January 29th, 2021, 5:33 am Update: I've got the trap working.
The 2x AA batteries used to power it do not provide sufficient power for the trap to operate.
The one I bought failed to open up even when the batteries were changed.
It was only when I hooked up the ghost trap to a power supply and gave it more juice (about 6V) that it worked.
That's strange, I haven't had any trouble with the two traps I have opened up and modded. They do come with a "try me" mode, not sure if the doors are supposed to open in that mode and I can't test that because I have disable that mode on both of my traps.
#4945230
Maybe there's a bad batch of them that I happened to get 2 from?
It took at least 4V from a power supply to get the trap to open, although 6V was optimal.
I then tried a combination of batteries to see what would power the trap.
3x 1.5V AA batteries would not work, as would 4x AA batteries.
I thought a 9V battery might work but that caused the yellow LEDs on the front of the trap to remain fully illuminated & not cycle.
Instead I tried 4x D sized batteries (approx 6V total), which finally worked.
This leads me to think that the issue might be the cycling yellow LEDs & that a current limiting resistor is needed for them.
#4945234
Nice work modding your ghost trap btw kahuna900.
Looks like I'm going to have to open up my son's ghost trap to find some extra space for the bigger batteries or mod the electronics, so that it will work with AA batteries.
Whilst I've got it stripped down I'm going to replace the on/off switch & add a BNC connector for the foot switch.
Thanks for the info on modding the ghost trap!
#4945236
theauton wrote: January 29th, 2021, 12:31 pm Nice work modding your ghost trap btw kahuna900.
Looks like I'm going to have to open up my son's ghost trap to find some extra space for the bigger batteries or mod the electronics, so that it will work with AA batteries.
Whilst I've got it stripped down I'm going to replace the on/off switch & add a BNC connector for the foot switch.
Thanks for the info on modding the ghost trap!
That's really strange... are you getting any movement from the motor? Have you tried removing the doors and seeing if maybe they were install incorrectly and if the motor turns the gears without the doors attached?
#4945242
I get zero movement from the trap doors with the standard 2x AA batteries. I've taken the trap apart with the same result.
I've also taken the motor out of the gearbox as well as disconnecting the yellow and green LEDs, to see if it's a current issue due to them.
To power the trap I'm going to use four C type batteries, installed in the base. That should happily power the trap and give it a longer battery life.
#4945276
Thank you for the information on the cable. This is my first mod so please excuse my ignorance. When looking at the female BNC female connector you linked to in your supply list where do the wires get soldered to? There is the brass tube on the back of the connector. Do they both attach on that or some other configuration? Thank you!
#4945278
BlackHatMonty wrote: January 30th, 2021, 8:27 am Thank you for the information on the cable. This is my first mod so please excuse my ignorance. When looking at the female BNC female connector you linked to in your supply list where do the wires get soldered to? There is the brass tube on the back of the connector. Do they both attach on that or some other configuration? Thank you!

One lead is soldered to the tube on the back, the other is soldered to the metal washer point that is sticking out with the little hole at the end. You can bend that point if needed to fit each application.
BlackHatMonty liked this
#4945671
So, I got my son's ghost trap modded with a BNC connector & a toggle switch. I also added extra battery power & got the trap successfully opening & closing.
Everything was working fine, so I started to reassemble the trap only to find that after putting everything back together I was back to square one!
I've got sounds & lights but the trap still won't open, just a click from the motor and nothing.
Failure is not an option though & so I'm going to try & mod the trap using a single board microcontroller to control the motor.
Looking at the original board the larger IC controls the LEDs & sound, as well as possibly sending control signals to the smaller IC, which I assume is a motor driver.
I'm pretty sure it's the smaller IC that is faulty, as the LEDs & sound are working but the trap won't open.
I'm hoping then to use a microcontroller (i.e. an Arduino) with a motor driver to enable the microcontroller to reverse the motor which opens the trap.
In the first instance I'm going to try & keep the board which controls the LEDs & sounds to make the project slightly easier but if I can overcome the problem of controlling the motor I hope everything after that will be easy!
#4946663
Hope you don't mind, but I read through the replies and I'm still confused. I've got a few questions:

-How do you get the foot pedal apart without damaging it?
-What's the definitive answer regarding the batteries? Will two AA's work or does it need four D batteries?

Thanks so much,
Steve
Last edited by Steven Ripley on March 9th, 2021, 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#4946664
Steven Ripley wrote: March 9th, 2021, 5:24 pm -How do you get the foot pedal apart without damaging it?
Image

See those loops towards the bottom of the pedal, that look a bit like upside down Us? They hold a plastic rod that runs the entire width of the pedal, holding the two pieces together, whilst also serving as the pedal's hinge point.

In NotSabbat's thread, he's posted a pic of all the pieces of the disassembled pedal:

Image
kahuna900 liked this
#4946821
theauton wrote: February 7th, 2021, 3:47 pm So, I got my son's ghost trap modded with a BNC connector & a toggle switch. I also added extra battery power & got the trap successfully opening & closing.
So, a few quick questions, hope you don't mind. I'm new to wiring and electronics and stuff, and was wondering how you added the extra power? Also, I'm getting mixed messages, is this guaranteed to not work with 2xAA batteries? Do you have any links to the parts you used?


Also, did that idea that makes my head hurt near the bottom of the post work in the end? Did the IC burn out because of the extra juice? If so, would a resistor or something make that, you know, NOT happen? Again, my knowledge of electronics is non-existent, so I apologize in advance. I'd really appreciate any help you or anyone else could provide.

Thank you very much,
Steve
#4946922
Steven Ripley wrote: March 14th, 2021, 3:33 pm So, a few quick questions, hope you don't mind. I'm new to wiring and electronics and stuff, and was wondering how you added the extra power? Also, I'm getting mixed messages, is this guaranteed to not work with 2xAA batteries? Do you have any links to the parts you used?

Thank you very much,
Steve

My mod required no battery/power changes. I still run the trap as it did stock with AAs, I just changed the connectors on the pedal switch and trap to make them more like the original traps.
#4947245
Okay, so I’ve bought all the necessary parts. How do I wire the trap electronics up to the BNC connector? Please, a diagram would be extremely helpful if anyone’s got one, since I have no idea where anything goes. Also, are the wires from the trap positive and negative, or both connected in the middle of one wire like a usual switch? Thanks so much in advance
gumbyx84 liked this
#4947248
The pedal switch just completes the circuit. So if you cut the original pedal off and strip both wires and touch them together the trap will open. I am currently building a new gb 2 type pedal for my modded Walmart trap. I’ll be posting a video soon. It still runs off the the two AA batteries as well.

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