2010 Hasbro Darth Vader Electronic Lightsaber

[Boj-Vaati Mau]

I was going to title this as a disassembly but it doesn't turn out that way. You may be able to use a solvent instead of cutting but, potentially, it'll melt the butt cap & shroud anyway. As it is, proceed at your own risk.

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/Vader.jpg
I had bought this for the sake of its guts for my Sentinel saber. It's a good looking piece & was hoping to keep the shell as a model as it seems pretty accurate. As it stands, with the way Hasbro assembled it, it may not work out that way as the shroud & butt cap/speaker grill are cemented to the hilt. I'll have images later in the show but let's get started.

Remove the few screws there are, starting with the "blade retention" screw. It really didn't seem to do much.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/BladeRetentionScrewremoved.jpg

Remove this non-functional blade retention screw & D ring.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/Greeblescrew-1.jpg
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/Geebleremoved-1.jpg

Remove the two screws from the activation box.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/ActivatorBoxscrewsremoved-1.jpg

Then the battery cover. This can be left on if you don't have batteries installed.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/BatteryCoverScrew.jpg

Now for a bit of a struggle. The bottom of the activation box opens easily enough but the switch side dosen't. I'd separated the bottom as far as it would go which did provide me space to get a #2 Xacto blade into one end of the box. I wiggled this a much as possible but still had to tap the blade into the other side to work it lose. Once I got that as far as I could, a standard screw driver popped it loose. Damage, of course, was done to the plastic in the process. This is how the hilt looks post removal.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/ActivationBoxhollow-1.jpg

Next, I tried to remove the emitter shroud but was foiled in my efforts. I tried to tap it with the butt of a screwdriver. Then I banged it on the edge of a shelving unit (the corners of the shroud are good for this). I went to a hammer after failing at the shelves. No go on hammer & more damage to the finish.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/BangedupHiltleft-1.jpg
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/BangedupHilt-1.jpg

At this point I figured that I'd messed it up enough that I'd just try the butt cap. This didn't unscrew or pop off so I got medieval on it with a razor saw. It complied after the frist bit was broken off.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/ButtCapchopped-1.jpg

This is when I finally know what they did. They held the cap on by using a liquid solvent (I believe).
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/ButtEndglue-1.jpg

So this means that the shroud has to be held on in the same fashion, so I got medieval on it with the Dremel & a cut-off wheel.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/EmitterCutbottom-1.jpg
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/Emittertopcut-1.jpg

With the shroud & butt cap off I could use the trusty #2 blade to prise the hilt open. I started at the back & worked forward.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/SplittingHilt-1.jpg
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/SplittingEmitter-1.jpg

Once I had the sides apart I could see what I was up against at the shroud end. Quite a bit of solvent (white coloration) and, I think, a bit more spread than originally intended.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/Emitterglue-1.jpg

For our troubles this is what we get, yes! .
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/Whatyouget.jpg

The control module with 3 red LEDs (not all that powerful really).
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/PCBbackside-1.jpg


The activation switch, may be useful as an accessory.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/Activationswitch-1.jpg

The swing sensor.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/SwingSensor-1.jpg

The speaker probably isn't too much use in a saber but it is functional..
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/SpeakerSwingSensor-1.jpg

And finally the clash sensor. I'm thinking that this could be removed from the board and relocated via extension wires. Possibly attach it to the bottom of the Rebel Star mount?
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/ClashSensoLEDs-1.jpg
So, overall not much useable outside of the guts. Been contemplating fitting the area around the swing sensor into an MHS piece but that's still a bit in the future. Also, I'm not sure yet how the bubble strip will work on a Graflex, MPP, or TCSS Box 7, but I aim to find out.
http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww349/Jecull/Lightsabers/SpeakerSwingSensor-1.jpg

Now all that is left is to desolder a few joints and these guts can inhabit a new body!

[cardcollector]

The activation box fits perfectly over 1" electrical conduit PVC.

[Azmaria Dei]

i recommend putting your sensors near your pommel. and now everyone can see how much of a pain it is taking any of these things apart. they used enough glue to seal them completely. thanks! ^_^

[Rhyen Skytracker]

I normally take the screws out and dremel down both sides and across the bottom of the pommel and split it apart. It is a whole lot quicker since there is not really a way to salvage the hilt. I also salvage the blade too. You can use parts of is to hold your electronics.

[Azmaria Dei]

oooh yeah definitely salvage the blade - that little plastic plug at the base of it has come in handy several times for me! if you shave the lip off, it fits perfectly inside MHS main parts! ^_^

[hebert466]

I am using the same sound board. I want to use a P4 white, will I have enough power just replacing the LEDs or do I have to do more?

[Azmaria Dei]

I am using the same sound board. I want to use a P4 white, will I have enough power just replacing the LEDs or do I have to do more?

hebert, please click on the red link in my sig. it has all the info you need in the first post AND a video.

[Boj-Vaati Mau]

Thank you for the input folks. About a half hour after posting I found Azmaria's posts & video, very good, clear information that I most definitely use. Highly recommended! Got a good chuckle out of how to use the "blade".