New saber questions (noob - sorry)

[Aussie Luke]

8971

Hi Everyone,

I am from Australia. I Just wanted to say what a great site this is and congratulate you on the amount of quality info in the forums.

Because I am from Australia I wanted to run my saber design past everyone to make sure it is right. I don't want to have to multiple orders (multiple postage cost)

I will post a full parts list later but just had a few questions.

The saber details are below (see attachment). I want to run a Nano Biscotte sound module and a royal blue Rebel star LED.

HILT
Pommel style 3 V2
4 inch fluted double female extension with copper metallic style 1 powder coat
ribbed extension V - groove with black matte Tuscan style 2 powder coat
LED blade holder style 16 with copper metallic style 1 powder coat

I can't get the Li-ion batteries shipped here and I can't find something like that here (don't want to get wrong one and blow it up)

For that reason I wanted to use a 4 x AAA Ni MH batter holder (4.8V). I noticed that the NB user manual is slightly different on the Plecter labs site and on page 9 of their manual it mentions that the AAA's when fully recharged can just exceed the recommended maximum 5.5V of the NB module and to use a diode. The manual on TCSS site doesn't mention that and I wasn't sure if it is an issue or not. I can always use a dummy AAA in the pack to drop the voltage to 3.6V. Any thoughts ?

My second question is about the correct resistor. I used 3.4V for the LED in my working out which gave me 1.4 Ohms and 2.1W (closest resistor 1.5 ohm at 5w). I read elsewhere though that 3.4v is close to the maximum of the LED and you should use a more conservative voltage value such as 3.25V in the working out to be safe. This gave me 1.55 ohms at 2.3W (closest resistor 2.2ohms at 5w). Any advice about what resistor I should use. (I realise I have to recalculate if I use a dummy AAA). I have also read that 4.8V is so close to 5V that you can get away with using a butt puck ? I thought a resistor would be simpler.

My last question is about the MWS and rechargeable Ni MH batteries. I want to use the premade 4 x AAA battery holder module with speaker and speak holder. Some of the MWS parts have a warning not to use rechargeable Ni MH batteries with it. I wasn't sure why, I presume the clips can only handle a certain voltage ? Can I just cut the clips off and solder my wire to the existing wire ? Can someone clarify this please.

Thanks heaps

[madmaxx]

howdy fellow down underer.... look on ebay for the batteries.. li-ions are pretty cheap and usually come with a charger. they will take up less hilt space also.
1 li-ion is 3.6-3.7v so you could use 2 in a pack for 7.2-7.4v (seires) for a run time of 900mah or so, or 2 in a pack as 3.6-3.7v (parrallel) for a 1800mah run time...look for 14500 li-ion on ebay.they are AA size and fit nice and snuggly side by side in a hilt.as for resistors there is a 'find a resistor' tab on this site i believe so put in your battery output and led voltage and it will tell you what colour resistor you need.Go to a Jaycar store for all your wire and solder equipment to save you some outlay but the screws on this site (as with all the measurements) are in inches so you are better off getting them with your order to save on needless conversion to metric because places like Bunnings don't know about inches(trust me i have tried). Other than that make sure you got everything you need for your hilt from here in one order,include blade,blade retention screws,switches, if your using an activation box then also order the appropriate allenkey screws and if you need the holes drilled and tapped then make sure you organise that to be done pre post or if your keen to do it yourself then order the appropriate tap and dye for the job.you will find that ordering afew extra screws and such will make your next few jobs easier and in my case gives you a great excuse to tell the wife when your next order turns up unexpectedly..Enjoy this experience because no matter how difficult it is it will all be worth it when you fire you your very own homemade lightsaber.Good luck

[Aussie Luke]

Hi Madmaxx,

thanks for the advice. You are only just up the road in Brissie, I am on the Gold Coast. You are definitely right, I need to use Li-ion batteries. I will get everything from TCSS but source the batteries locally (as they don't ship overseas).

Just to clarify though - when you say to use the Li-ion 14500's that come with a charger I presume you mean the AA size (or close to) ones that you remove from the saber to charge. I found these batteries and chargers but cannot find the battery holder to put them in. They all seem to be in series and not parallel giving me 7.2-7.4V. Can you get the battery holders anywhere ? I did see two 14500's in a pack with the wire attached (similar to the 14500 pack on the TCSS but with two batteries together)which would work if you used a recharge port set up but that seem a bit tricky on my first saber.

They did have the single 18650 Li-ion 3.7v batteries, chargers and battery holders. I am pretty sure that will still fit into the fluted hilt section. What do you think ?

Thanks again.

Luke

[madmaxx]

oh ok i see what you mean..short of making a battery pack which requires a single protection circuit to be wired into them( look for a tutorial on here and also look in the shop in battery section for a PCB)you can still use removable li-ions but use a standard 2AA battery holder (jaycar).with a little minor modification you can set it up for series or parrallel but you can just use a 18650 if you wish as i think it should fit nicely in the fluted section.

[GFJedi]

Actually, if you are anything decent with wiring, a recharge port is very simple once you look at a diagram and understand the basics of how it works. Plus it's a heck of a lot easier than disassembling and hauling around loose batteries every time your done with the saber.

[madmaxx]

thats very true and you can buy pre tabbed li-ions from ebay for that purpose.But you will have to order the PCB from Tim here to make it as well as a good charger also from here.but for a first time build i would go simple because you can always upgrade the battery pack later when your skills catch up with your ambition.Whatever you decide to do there will always be plenty of help around here from sabersmiths with years of experience with this sort of thing.

[Aussie Luke]

Thanks heaps. I will give it some thought. I am leaning towards doing the 18650 li-ion pack with a recharge port. I just have to work out where to put th e switch and recharge port in the hilt.. I found a good wiring diagram. Thanks again Luke