Help installing 5V relay with MR soundboard

[wood7588]

Hello all,
I am installing an Anikin MR soundboard into a custom saber. I want the board to operate a relay so I can drive a K2 directly from the batteries. I recall several people saying they were going to do the same thing so my question to them is did it work?, and what relay did you use? I found this relay at Radio Shack( http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062480&cp=&origkw=relay&kw=relay&parentPage=search ) that I think might fit the bill, but I dont want to mess up and fry my last MR board. It says that it has a Coil rating of 5VDC, 90 mA, 55 ohms, and the switch is rated for 1 amp at 125VAC. Will this work and not fry my board?
Thanks

[Lord Maul]

pm do clo for his relay. that is the one everyone uses :wink:

[james3]

You could just run a 4aa or 4aaa battery pack and you would be good to go with the K2. Don't need to do anything fancy.

[xwingband]

True... I assume he wants to keep it to a conversion and the 3AA pack though. If you were going custom the 4AA or AAA would be okay on the K2 with the high amperage.

[wood7588]

Thanks for the help guys.
maul - thanks, i will ask do clo.
james3 - I know i could use a double pole switch to power the soundboard and LED at the same time, but the problem is that the LED will go out before the sound finishes when you turn it off. With the sound board driving a relay for the LED it will stay lit untill the sound finishes.
x-wing - I have a custom 4 AA rechargeable battery pack so I am not to worried aboout the power end of the set up, just the sync up of the sound and LED.

[james3]

You are missing my point. At a 6 volt setup, the fx board will give you what you need for the k2.

the fx board runs the current through it. IT IS NOT A FIXED DRIVER. I have done ALOT of experimenting with FX boards and different power combos. It will never be a Corbin's or a ERV deal but it will do a HECK of alot more then most folks think. While not everyone agrees with me on pushing things beyond their specs, there are things that you can do that are perfectly fine. I have a FX setup right now that is pushing a royal blue 3w with a 6 volt setup and it is getting right at about 1300ma. You can squeeze a little more out of it as well but it's doing what I want for my setup.

[wood7588]

Oh ok, I see what you are saying. Unfortunately I am not runnig at 6V because I am using rechargeable batteries. I am at 4.8V. Would it work with the lower voltage?

[james3]

sure would. Do you know what your millis are?

[wood7588]

They are 4 AA cells @ 1.2V, 2000mAh Ni-MH

[james3]

Oh I bet you could drive that nicely! :D

Do you have a meter? You can measure your output but I am going to guess that you will be hitting your mark with that setup. The voltage is not nearly as important as the current for these things.

[wood7588]

I have a meter but its at work over the weekend. I am kind of a novice with it though, I use it mostly for checking continuity and voltage. What do I need to check for on my set up and how do I go about it?

[james3]

Check your DC amps to the LED.

Depending on what you have, it will auto range or you will need to set to DC amps milliamps, etc. I admit that I am really excited to find out your readings. I did not have much in the rechargeable department so I used various Alkaline and Lithium batteries. My son loves his LED saber that is run by 3 DL123A Lithiums. Small and powerful but dang expensive to replace. I am seriously looking at the rechargable option.

[wood7588]

Ok, when I get my meter on monday I will measure the amp output and let you know. Just to refreash my memory, I have to hook the meter up in series with the LED to the board right?

[Madcow]

Hey Wood,
I have one a Mace MR board with a 5v relay and white K2 - works great. I was unable to get the relay to work with my Luke MR board though. I think the boards are marginally different.
Here's some links to my diagrams. feel free to PM me.

Mace wiring pic:
http://rpetkau.photosite.com/~photos/tn/3999342_1024.ts1157323592737.jpg

Diagram:
http://rpetkau.photosite.com/~photos/tn/4199644_1024.ts1157923052741.jpg

MC

[SilentBob501]

Here's another diagram with a different style of relay.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m117/semmerman/relay-2.jpg

[Firebird21]

Excellent diagram SB.

[SilentBob501]

Actually, thank Madcow. I took the picture of the relay but he labeled it.

Credit where credit is do.

[Firebird21]

Actually, thank Madcow. I took the picture of the relay but he labeled it.

Credit where credit is do.


Nice job MC, and props to you SB for not hogging the lime light.

[Madcow]

Thanks,
I'm gonna do another upgrade - to this saber. I'm gonna use a Mace MR sound card, 5v. relay, 4.8 v. rechargeable cell, and blue K2... using the wiring in that diagram.
http://www.freewebs.com/genesis_sabers/Fulcrum%202%20display.JPG

I'll keep you posted.

MC

[xwingband]

I got the odd stuttering on my conversion with an Ani board too.

Perhaps someone with a more intimate knowledge of what is in the relay may be able to help. I'm pretty sure after playing with it... that it's a mechanical problem. I'm not sure why the Mace conversions aren't showing it (perhaps the different amperage of batteries?), but it definitely does it more often when I hold it upside down. When I hold it upright it happens 1 out of 10 times.

I'll get pics soon. I need new batteries, but that's one extra special (I'll show off the non standard stuff) Ani Conversion down off my list. :)

[Strydur]

Just to refreash my memory, I have to hook the meter up in series with the LED to the board right?

Thats correct..if you are not hooking it in series with the led you are not going to get a true reading.

Before you go into elaborate setups trying to get max amperage you can do one fast and simple test to see if its needed. Run the led off the MR outputs with 4.5 or 4.8v and take a picture. Then run the led straight off the batterys with the proper resistor. If they both look the same then why bother going through all the trouble.

[james3]

Just to refreash my memory, I have to hook the meter up in series with the LED to the board right?

Thats correct..if you are not hooking it in series with the led you are not going to get a true reading.

Before you go into elaborate setups trying to get max amperage you can do one fast and simple test to see if its needed. Run the led off the MR outputs with 4.5 or 4.8v and take a picture. Then run the led straight off the batterys with the proper resistor. If they both look the same then why bother going through all the trouble.

This should be put up in bold text on the main forum page. :D

[Madcow]

X-wing,
My therory on the stutter effect is that the mace boards drive the LEDs a little harder than the others, (maybe in order to keep the brightness up through the purple filter).
Do-Clo suggested trying to find a 3v relay.
On my Luke MR board - I finally settled on driving the LED right off the board.

If someone has a good multimeter and both an MR mace and another MR board - please test my theory!

MC

[xwingband]

Okies... I was running on used batteries. Put in new ones... went FRIGGIN' CRAZY. I think this means it's exceeding the ratings. :?

I don't get why that would be messing with it in this setup vs. the Mace. This is annoying. :evil:

[xwingband]

Well at the suggestion of Do-Clo I tried a diode across the relay coil. No dice... it still went nuts with new batteries.

Short of putting a diode on the initial power I'm not sure how to proceed. I don't want to do that since it will make the sound softer.

For now I'm settling for a vanilla conversion with the white K2 anyway. Next time I get a chance to try this I'll probably order a beefier relay. I have another thought too, but it involves no relay and I don't have sensitive enough tools to test it.

Good luck to those doing this. It's pretty simple: wire it like the conversion. That goes to the coil and look at your spec sheet to get the switch contacts. :)