lightsaber powersource

[THX-n11]

i am wondering what is the best way to get the most power for a mhs custom with massive run times. i have recently purchased a saber from LDM, whose work is sensational i might add,thanx m8 ;) but i was a little thrown aback when i was told i could only get about 90minutes run time from a 3600mah battery pack. i had noticed that my master replicas, although using disposable batteries did run for quite a while so my question is this - is it better to run with an AAA battery pack and sound rig like those used in the MR sabers and just use 3 2500mah rechargable batteries, like i do in my MR sabers or is there a better way to make a battery pack with mass power, long run time and in hilt charging? until i can work out how to invent a one trillion carbon nano tube power cell as seen in Dr Michio Kaku's theoretical study on how to build a lightsaber http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSNubaa7n9o&feature=related it appears i am stuck trying to find a decent powersource. any help here would be appreciated. cheers.


May the Force serve you well.

[THX-n11]

ohh for the record i in no way intend to modify my ferroutous aether saber made by LDM sabers as this is perfection personified, i am asking the above queation so i can make a custom saber myself but with long run times.

[cannibal869]

First off, welcome to the forums!

In answer to your question, we need to know a bit more about the saber you are talking about. LDM may be able to fill in the details if you're not sure yourself, but it would be useful to know:

1) what LED are you powering (and how many dice)?
2) what soundboard and power supply in there do you have right now? i.e. what combination of batteries are you using to get that 3600 mAh?
3) why in God's name do you need to have the saber on for more than 90 minutes at a time?? That's already a pretty massive run time.

A few things to note:
Your saber (especially one built by LDM) is probably one of a kind and a work of art. The cram-fu required to fit all the batteries, soundcard, and electronics / wiring is done at a high level of competence and trying to fit *more* in there is probably not a good idea.
Taking it apart yourself is an equally bad idea, unless you are proficient at building sabers. That said, in general it is better to use rechargeables vs. regular alkaline batteries. You will get more consistent discharge rates out of rechargeables vs. out of Alkalines.

-C

[THX-n11]

ohh i in no way intend to do anything to LDM's work, that would be disrespectful and unnecessary. his work is excellent as it is. as for the extended run times, well not only am i part of a steampunk group but also in a medieval martial arts group and a few of us were going to make an instructional video transferring 15th century italian longsword techniques (fiore de liberi flos duellatorum) and germanic fechtbauch sweihander techniques into a lightsaber form, just for the fun of it and for us star wars tragics in the group. i know of the 11 forms of lightsaber duelling it is forbidden to know any more than 7 techniques, so we have decided to create our own techniques lol. hence long run times. as for your other questions well i guess - "much to learn, i still have". but i will get familiar with it soon enough as i have started to order the mhs parts so until then i cannot answer your questions as i find i will learn it easier as re: making a sabre by actually doing it, but that being said your questions are indeed answers to me as i had not thought about the intensity of the lighting, the soundboard, the speaker output. i guess these are a bare minimum on MR sabers as opposed to great custom work from the likes of LDM etc. on a final note thankyou for the welcome cannibal869. i apologise for the blatantly noob questions but hey, we were all padawans at one stage right? lol. but fear not i will get the hang of this soon enough, i am quite good with my hands and posses the artistic ability to come up with some interesting designs so in the near future i would be interested in any feedback you guys see fit be it affirmative, adverse or constructive criticism. anyways enough of my ramblings. peace out.

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[Silver Serpent]

If you really need ridiculously long runtimes, I'd suggest making a few li-ion battery packs with a quick disconnect. That way you'll be able to swap them out as needed. You can still do in-hilt recharge with that setup, or you could build an adapter to charge them outside the hilt.

2 or 3 extra battery packs should be enough to last all day long, even with very heavy use. It also gives you something useful to put in the pouches on your jedi belt. :)