Am I crazy or what? Need blessings from the wiring Guru's

[ldogg1579]

So. This is my fourth rodeo wiring up a saber, but this one is for me personally (which means it needs to be the one that rules them all, or at least rule over the ones I already built). Tim is currently in process of PCing my parts, but I needed to come up with a circuit design. This one is ambitious, but the hamster in my head started running faster than Usain Bolt, and this is what I came up with:

9420

In this, I utilize switching regulators instead of buckpucks since I need to control the voltage output to the soundboard. But the calculations look favorable for wiring a quad-rebel with FOC, and all the accents and what not.


So the question... AM I CRAZY FOR TRYING THIS?

Thoughts/Criticism from the Gurus would be appreciated. I offer Republic credits in return for your advice...

:-)
Regards,
L-dogg

PS: I am a Mechanical Engineer by day, and it was a slow day today so I drew this up. Good use of company time right?...LOL...

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Well, first off, what soundboard are you using? Whether or not your crazy, we'll decide that part later...

[ldogg1579]

Umm... not the NB or Economy one... I don't want to mention the name, but "similar" in specs to the PC/CF. Get my drift?

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Umm... not the NB or Economy one... I don't want to mention the name, but "similar" in specs to the PC/CF. Get my drift?

Spell it out. And why are you using 14.8V worth of batteries?

[ldogg1579]

Ultra... The reason I am using a 14.8V pack is I need the voltage to run 3 Rb leds in series. If I ran the LEDs in parallel, I would need 3A for each die, plus 1A for FOC, and that doesn't account for board and accent consumptions. Would drawing that amount off of 3.7V 18650 concern you? I thought about going with 2 18650s, but I really wanted to stay away from a recharge port and using a pack. I am trying to balance raw voltage+run-time+efficiency, all in a Quad-Rebel with FOC/Sound.

I know...... I think I am falling into your "Yeah, yeah" quote..... :-)

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

You play with THAT board at your own risk.... Their boards weren't designed to play with higher end multi LED's IIRC.

I doubt a single 3.7V 18650 will discharge upwards of 4A. You will also find that "more" doesn't always make for "brighter". You might want to go on their forum and let them handle this one for you.

Out of idle curiosity, what hilt do you plan on sticking all this into?

[ldogg1579]

9" Hilt. My Cram-Fu is pretty strong and these regulators are very small.
About the board, the thing is.. Finding a PC or CF in stock is not very good these days. This forum is more informative as to alternative methods, which is why I came.. I figured since they run LEDEngines on many sabers, this board wouldn't be an issue...

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Finding a PC or CF in stock is not very good these days.

PC's are in stock and the new CFV7's should be out by the end of the month or so.

Also LEDEngins are notoriously power hungry and also not easy to solder, even for the experienced . That's a couple of the reasons why many smiths and experienced builders (myself included) have mainly stopped using them, and have switched to the Tri-Rebels.

Although we explore "alternative" methods (within reason) the best way to build a good saber is to use the right products for the job. ;)

[Silver Serpent]

As an FYI, the PCB for 3.7v li-ion batteries here in the TCSS store doesn't trip until an 8.5A discharge. It's entirely possible to get a 4A drain from a single 18650 li-ion. Your runtime will be terrible, but that's when you start wiring up your cells in parallel for extra power storage.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

As an FYI, the PCB for 3.7v li-ion batteries here in the TCSS store doesn't trip until an 8.5A discharge. It's entirely possible to get a 4A drain from a single 18650 li-ion. Your runtime will be terrible, but that's when you start wiring up your cells in parallel for extra power storage.

Interesting... I had read (admittedly a while ago) on a couple of battery website (I don't remember which ones) that a reasonable way to calculate a battery's safe discharge was something like multiplying the rating by 1.5, so 2600mAh * 1.5 = 3.9A.

[Silver Serpent]

That sounds like a good rule of thumb to follow. I'd grab the 3400mAh Panasonic from TCSS in any case.