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Gin Malinko
11-09-2010, 07:57 PM
okay, so i wired up a p4 white to a vader hasbro using a pnp transistor.

now the saber is bright enough to been seen very well in the pitch dark, but in my opinion its not bright enough and i think my wiring logic is not sound. so here is a diagram of how i have the saber wired.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/saberwiring.png

cardcollector
11-09-2010, 09:40 PM
Try wiring the transistor like this... it will work better.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/__n0r4i7D1Yc/TCE6_G85kqI/AAAAAAAAAC8/0NdNK8S2Vi8/Diagram1.jpg

Gin Malinko
11-09-2010, 10:50 PM
Yeah thats the diagram i used to wire this up. mine looks a bit different in the wiring diagram but its pretty much the same.

i just wanna know how i can make the p4 brighter. in one of novastars post i saw he mentioned something about maybe using a capasitor, because the p4 takes a little more to power, and with the hasbro board i would imagine that voltage coming out isnt as much as it could. i bought a multimeter but it doesnt come close to being able to read anything -_- only goes up to 250 ma

if anyone would like, i could upload direct pics on the wiring

FenderBender
11-10-2010, 04:52 AM
Guaranteed that you have the emitter and the collector on the transistor wired in reverse. This will only allow the boards 125ma to go to the LED and not the full 1A. Good, macro pics would help confirm this, but it is what I think is wrong.

cardcollector
11-10-2010, 08:26 AM
Yeah thats the diagram i used to wire this up. mine looks a bit different in the wiring diagram but its pretty much the same.

i just wanna know how i can make the p4 brighter. in one of novastars post i saw he mentioned something about maybe using a capasitor, because the p4 takes a little more to power, and with the hasbro board i would imagine that voltage coming out isnt as much as it could. i bought a multimeter but it doesnt come close to being able to read anything -_- only goes up to 250 ma

if anyone would like, i could upload direct pics on the wiring

Pretty much doesn't cut it in wiring- it has to be dead on accurate. If you want the LED to be brighter, you have to wire it correctly.

Pics would help, but you know you didn't wire the transistor like it should be... So you know that's the problem.

Rhyen Skytracker
11-10-2010, 10:29 AM
The base of the Transistor goes to the sound board LED - output, the collector of the Transistor goes to the LED + (with the correct resistor of course) and the Transistor emitter goes to the Battery +. Also, if you are using a buck puck you need at least 5 Volts going to it. So measure your voltage after the transistor to make sure you have enough voltage to the buck puck. (if used)

Gin Malinko
11-10-2010, 01:08 PM
yeah, i drew the diagram backwards, but i had the battery wired to the emitter, the led wired to the collector and the three neg wires wired to the base. but i also noticed i was using to small of a transistor, so i went to the store and picked up a tip42g pnp transistor and hooked it up the same way. its bright, but doesn't seem to be as bright as it could be. idk maybe its supposed to be the this brightness level.

next post ill include pictures.

Novastar
11-10-2010, 03:53 PM
Maybe you're getting the P4 and P7 confused? :)

Just kidding... :mrgreen:

Rhyen Skytracker
11-10-2010, 04:38 PM
Have you made sure the batteries were fully charged? I ALWAYS test the voltage of all batteries or battery packs before wiring them up to the sound board. I have had some bad batt packs before and also have had new akaline batteries straight from the store be low on charge.

Jedi-Elf
11-10-2010, 05:01 PM
I'm going to be wiring a P4 and a 2010 Hasbro board soon as well, and I'm just wondering how I would add an illuminated switch into the setup card collector posted above? Seemed easiest to ask here instead of opening a new thread.

Gin Malinko
11-10-2010, 07:27 PM
ok here are some direct pictures. (sorry for quality, used my phone)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/2010-11-10131137.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/2010-11-10131127.jpg

Arkhan
11-11-2010, 08:00 AM
edited to remove incorrect reference to tip45 fuzzy image my mistake

Gin Malinko
11-11-2010, 10:15 AM
nope, this is infact a tip42 pnp. im 100% sure

equinox13
11-11-2010, 11:18 AM
looks like it says TIP42 to me

Gin Malinko
11-11-2010, 11:35 AM
okay here are some pics of the blade. and you can see that it is not all that bright. infact the only time you can really see it well at all is in pitch blackness.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/100_1474.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/100_1478.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/100_1479.jpg

btw, im not the one that took these pics, so not me in the pic.

Arkhan
11-11-2010, 12:28 PM
that is definitely not right for a p4 white.

The p4 white, properly driven, should be in the "brightest tactical flashlight" range.

I did have a BAD tip42 from the Shack earlier this fall. just wouldn't put out. I replaced it and presto, solved.

Keladis
11-11-2010, 01:00 PM
Hi, I am new to the forums, but I got a couple questions one in Gin's drawing and pic I didnt notice a resistor, could that have something to do with the p4 being as bright as it should?

Also in one of the threads I was reading, talked about alkaline not being very good to use and a lot of talk about using NiMH, Lithium, or Li-Ion, if he is using alkaline could that effect the brightness?

Skottsaber
11-11-2010, 01:12 PM
Welcom to the fourms, Keladis :D

Alkaline batteries, in this case I do not believe would have such a detrimental effect on the brightness, only in much higher power applications would alkalines be bad, for example in a CF saber running a 10w LED. ;)

Keladis
11-11-2010, 01:14 PM
Thanks for the welcome, and yeah I wasn't sure if alkaline batteries would cause it or not.

Arkhan
11-11-2010, 01:19 PM
lkalines do not output enough ma to properly drive your led u need nimh lion rechargables or lithim primary disposable especially aaa but also aa depending onyour series parallel config . also one of the last two tip42g igot at the shack was flaky and i had to replace

Gin Malinko
11-11-2010, 05:22 PM
ok so i think i fixed the problem. all i did was add lithium batteries.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/100_1500.jpg

here it is with an orange filter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/100_1503.jpg

and this one is with a blue green filter and in an extremely bright room.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v625/Ginissi/100_1507.jpg

now the only problem is the hilt seems to get really hot......if its not one thing lol

Arkhan
11-11-2010, 07:22 PM
much much more like it.

glad you found the issue.

equinox13
11-11-2010, 07:57 PM
between the LED, transistor, 5V regulator and resistor/buckpuck, that is a lot of heat to content with. fortunately it's all inside of a rather nice aluminum tube that can act as a heatsink. ^_^

Knighthammer
11-12-2010, 02:49 PM
So from looking at the diagrams and what not, it looks like your driving the board directly off 6v's of battery's? This is working ok?

Gin Malinko
11-12-2010, 03:22 PM
im following the diagram the was suggested to use in the first reply of this thread. the one i posted was drawn incorrectly.

Knighthammer
11-12-2010, 03:50 PM
Good deal - thanks!

Gin Malinko
11-12-2010, 05:34 PM
does anyone know if this diagram will drain the batteries? i put in 4 aaa lithiums lastnight, and they are now pretty much dead, is this because i dont have a resistor?

equinox13
11-13-2010, 02:40 AM
you don't have a resistor? O.o

Skottsaber
11-13-2010, 02:51 AM
They shouln't have drained unless you left it on all night, but the 2010 boards have power off, so... I'm stumped.
You don't have any shorts in your electronics that might be draining the cells?

Arkhan
11-13-2010, 09:03 AM
the AAA lithiums should be good for 30 minutes, maybe more, of constant runtime. The reason they're so much brighter than alkalines is that they support a very high discharge rate.

The advanced lithiums should discharge constant at 1A and peak at 1500ma. The ultimate lithiums should discharge constant at 1500ma.

Take into consideration that they have about 900-1000mah worth of charge, and you're looking in the 30min - 1 hour range of constant use.

AAA, while they fit easily in saber hilts, are unfortunately lacking in capacity.

However, as folks have said, the saber should shut itself off after a very short time if you aren't moving it around or clashing it.

Skottsaber
11-13-2010, 09:33 AM
ohh... AAA's. Yeah, we all learn once in a while. At least have rechargables if you are going to use AAA's.

Gin Malinko
11-13-2010, 11:32 AM
well i bought rechargible Ni-mh 850mah aaa and i put them in the saber and it just made wired beeps and everytime i went to turn it on, it would flash and then beep again. i havnt put them in a charger yet, but do they not come charged?

Skottsaber
11-13-2010, 11:33 AM
Rule of thumb is to charge the cells before putting them in anything, just in case ;)

Gin Malinko
11-13-2010, 04:12 PM
yeah, ill just pick up a changer from the shack later and get those charged.

Rhyen Skytracker
11-13-2010, 07:38 PM
Most all electronics you get these days that use rechargable batteries like cell phones, MP3 players, etc..... always say to charge the device before use. You should be fine once you get the batteries charged.

Arkhan
11-14-2010, 09:10 AM
regular NIMH have noticable self-discharge over time. As such, they are generally sold "empty". They generally have somewhat higher capacity.

The newer "low self-discharge" NIMH are advertised to hold their charge much longer when sitting on the shelf. These batteries are also often advertised as "pre-charged" at the store and generally have somewhat lower capacity.

If you bought the first type, you will need to charge them before using.
If you bought the second type, they should have enough charge for you to get started.