Still confused about what LED electronics to buy - please help!

[KindofBlues71]

I've been lurking around on this site for a few weeks and finalized the design of the hilt but I'm still very confused about what LED electronics to buy. I'm making a saber for my son's 9th birthday and he likes the purple light. Am I able to keep it simple (no sound) and create a purple saber for him with the ability to upgrade to sound in the future? If someone could post a list of electronics to buy I'd really appreciate it! Here's the parts list I have so far:

Blade Holder Style 24
MHS "new style" Heat Sink V2
MHS Choke Style 1 Short
MPS Pommel Style 10
Hilt Style 2 w/ recessed AV switch hole

Many MANY thanks in advance. I'm trying to get this ready for his mid-December birthday.

KindofBlues71

[Silver Serpent]

You can certainly build the saber now, and add sound at a later time. You may need to change out a few parts internally, but nothing major.

If you want a purple blade, go with a Tri-Rebel RGB LED. You'll want to switch your heat sink to the V3 or V4 version. Wire the red and blue in parallel, with a resistor on the red, and you should get a good purple.

Internal components you'll need:
1. Batteries. I recommend a single li-ion battery pack, though other options can work as well.
2. Latching switch.
3. Tri-Rebel RGB LED, plus lens and thermal tape pad.
4. Resistors. Your battery solution will determine the specific resistors you need. If you're using an illuminated AV switch, you'll need a resistor for that LED as well.

Check the link in my sig for the resistor calculator I use.

[KindofBlues71]

Thanks Silver Serpent, much appreciated!

Which voltage li-ion pack do you recommend, 3.7 or 7.4? Is the higher voltage battery for powering LED and sound?

[Arsies]

That depends on the sound option you are thinking to chose later.
If your option will be nano biscote then your battery should be 3.7. If you are planning a petit crouton or cristal focus you'll need a 7,4

[Silver Serpent]

Agreed. The 3.7v pack will do the job just fine right now. If you later go with the Nano Biscotte sound board, the only significant change would be swapping the latching switch for a momentary switch. Everything else would stay the same.

The Petit Crouton board has more features, but will require a little more work for the upgrade. Not an extraordinary amount of extra work, but some.

If you wanted to skip resistors and use a buckpuck, then you'll need to use the 7.4v pack.

[KindofBlues71]

Thanks for the replies Arsies and Silver Serpent.

I'm thinking that later I'll be adding the Nano Biscotte sound board. That sounds like the cheapest and easiest option right now.

I forgot to ask about the blade! Is the Complete LED Trans White Battle blade the one to get for the purple color?

Thanks again! I'm almost ready to place my order, I can feel it!

-KindofBlues71

[Zzan]

I used the trans white blades when I made my kids sabers. You don't really need a diffuser with it. If you wish to even out the light intensity to be even along the length of the blade you can add clear gift wrap.

My kids don't care about that and just use them the way they are which is probably better because I doubt the film would hold up with the way they beat them around.

[Silver Serpent]

For color mixing, I recommend using clear gift wrap. With single colors, it's not as important in the transwhite blades.

You can start without giftwrap, and if you don't like the way the blade looks, you can add it afterwards.

[KindofBlues71]

Thanks Zzan and Silver Serpent! I think I'm finally ready to order, but now I notice that TCSS is out of stock on all Li-Ion battery packs! Can I just use a dummy AA cell and a 2AA holder?

[Silver Serpent]

You can only use the AA holder with 14500 sized li-ion batteries.

The dummy cell/14500 configuration will work, but it is recommended to avoid in-hilt recharging with that setup. If you don't mind removing the battery from the saber to recharge it, then you'll be fine. As a warning: your sound board may reboot on hard impacts if you use a battery holder. Some of the newer battery holders hold the batteries very tightly and don't suffer as much, but it is something to be aware of.

[KindofBlues71]

I've been trying to calculate the type of resistor I need but it's very confusing to me. I'll be using a 3.7 battery with the Luxeon Tri-Rebel Star LED in Royal Blue/Green/Red with blue and red wired in parallel (for purple) with a resistor on the red LED. Using the resistor calculator in Silver Serpent's sig, do I need to use the multiple LED calc or just the single since only the red needs a resistor? For the white illuminated AV latching switch can I just use the 20mA DynaOhm? Variable Resistor?

[Silver Serpent]

In parallel, calculate each resistor individually. If you want a specific shade of purple, you'll want a potentiometer (variable resistor) and tweak it until you get the right shade. Then measure the resistance of your potentiometer and find a resistor of that value.

If you're not picky about your purple, just take the result from the online calculator for the red and get one with a that Ohm rating, or slightly higher.

The DynaOhm will work just fine for the AV switch.

[KindofBlues71]

So did I use the correct values?

3.7 for source voltage
2.0 diode forward voltage (from the help)
700 diode forward current mA

"The wizard recommends a 1.3 Watt capable or greater 2.7 ohm resistor. The color code for 2.7 ohms is red violet gold."

[Silver Serpent]

The Vf for the Rebels are listed here: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Luxeon-Rebel-Star-P523.aspx and it shows a 2.3Vf for the Red die.

The 2.7ohm will work just fine, and probably give a better purple than the recommended 2.2ohm.

[KindofBlues71]

Many, many thanks for holding my hand through all of this. I can't wait to see my son's face when we surprise him with it.

[Ty_Bomber]

Neither can we. We like pics, especially when it falls into a kids hands. Nothing takes you back like seeing their faces light up in awe.