electrical problem

[jin starkiller]

ok heres my situation every time i wire my saber up it over heats the batteries and melts the battery box.....frustrated on what to do next
i'm 90% done with my saber and the electronics are giving me problems

i have the luxen 3 electronics kit

any help would be appreciated

[Et Kin Evenstar]

What kind of batteries are you using? What voltage? I'm sure others more experienced then I will be able to help you, but they're going to need more specifics. Good luck!

[FenderBender]

Sounds like you have a short. Did you get a quick disconnect for the main LED? If so, this is a common area where people mix up polarities.

[jin starkiller]

i'm using 4 AAA battery pak that came with the kit and it has 5w resister and no quick disconnect

[FenderBender]

A picture of your wiring is required to troubleshoot this then.

[Nineteen]

I agree that it sounds like a short...Are all your connections protected? No exposed wires? I had two battery packs melt on me one time because I wasn't paying attention. I was testing the wiring to make sure everything worked, and two of my connections were touching.

[jin starkiller]

no wires touching this is my setp with wires striped down for pics2520

[Jedi-Loreen]

If the wires soldered to your LED are stripped down to far and touching the LED star or even the heat sink, that could cause a short, too.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

That is what it looks like. The bare wires can not even touch the side of the star the LED is on. They need to have insulation all the way up to the edge of the star.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Ah, he posted that before I hit the Submit button on my last post.

There's not really anything else that could be shorting, if it's doing it outside of a hilt.

[jin starkiller]

appreiate all the help just rewired the star..like you said and no hot batteries...:)

[Darth Xusia]

I would also put some heatshrink on the other connections.
I don't see any heatshrink at all.
Not that it would short when out of the hilt.

[Crystal Chambers]

I had the same thing happen and for me I think a wire got caught in the side of the battery holder at the contact. It didn't cause any problems until I plugged it into the smart charger and then it melted the side of the battery holder. For me it was a temp wiring job until I made a final decision on a switch and the electrical tape came off. Make sure to use adequate heatshrink on your wires and it does look like the wires are stripped too bare at the LED and touching your heatsink. They shouldn't be any
longer then the pad you're soldering to.

Edit...Oops, I'm too late. Good Stuff!

[Jedi-Loreen]

I would also put some heatshrink on the other connections.
I don't see any heatshrink at all.
Not that it would short when out of the hilt.
Yes, please don't use electrical tape.

It's good to always test your circuits before you shrink the heat shrink, but don't forget to slip it onto the wires before you solder them together. Don't forget to put heat shrink on the resistor leads, too.

[jin starkiller]

already done......now all i have to worry about now is carving my grip for the hilt

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Glad to see you got it working and I look forward to seeing you finish it.