battery trouble? need help please

[ActionBastard6969]

so when i had wired up my saber, everything was working great, sounded amazing, led was and still is bright. but for some reason now my rechargable batteries are only lasting UNDER a minute!!! the saber makes repeated swooshing sounds then shuts off. when i pop in a fully charged battery i get the same problem.

is it possible my batteries have drained even tho they are apprearing to be fully charged?
my saber does NOT have a kill key, could that be the problem?

as i said before everything was working perfectly months ago when i had first assembled everything lol

any help would be great thank you! =)

[Noyl Wendor]

Howdy,
First off what SB are you using? It may be good to know if it was pre-wired or did you do the wire work your self. Reason=there may be a cross connected wire, or some solder caught between pads on the board.
Second, if the batteries are the kind you can take out, there could be an issue with the PCB on the batteries. Do you have an extra set to test with?
If you don't have a kill key/and the batteries are the kind you take out of a holder, be sure to check the wiring from the holder to the board to make sure you don't have anything shorting.
Last if you have the ability to take pics that is really helpful, may give a better clue to what is going on ;)

[ActionBastard6969]

hi and thank you for the reply!
i am using a pre wired nano biscotte with a TrustFire Protected 3.7V 2400mAh 18650 Lithium Battery. i usually swap between one and the other because the batteries came in a 2 pack. so i use 1 at a time. i can check the wiring between the holder and board when i get home as well as take some pictures if that will help. thank you for the advice =)

[DarthMace]

Another thing that might be causing the battery PCB to kick-in could be too much current draw. Not necessarily a short, but if you are running a tri-rebel/cree, it may be overloading the PCB.
Like Wendor said, some pics/spec would be very helpful.

[ActionBastard6969]

ok so i didnt get to take pictures but i DO have a little pic i put together.
i can explain how i did things as well as give links to parts i used.

i used this LED: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Rebel-Star-LED-MHSV1-Heatsink-Module-P653.aspx
i used this SB: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/MWS-Pre-Wired-Nano-Biscotte-Sound-Module-V2-P835.aspx
i used this switch: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/MWS-Short-Momentary-16mm-AV-Switch-Black-P912.aspx
and i used this battery holder: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/18650-Single-Cell-Holder-P886.aspx

here is a picture of how things are hooked up, i checked lastnight and no loose connections or any kind of "slop" lol
all looks well put, maybe i shouldnt be using this type of battery holder? im a bit lost now.
11112

[Silver Serpent]

It sounds like the batteries are not fully charged. You might want to look at your charger.

[ActionBastard6969]

It sounds like the batteries are not fully charged. You might want to look at your charger.

the odd thing is, i let them sit in the charget till the charger turns red to green ..... after they appear charged and (green) i pop one into my saber and when i turn it on i get that constant *swoosh* sound. i dont think im charging the batteries incorrectly, i can double check that when i get home tho.

[amwolf]

Assuming it's an easy thing to do, have to tried removing the components from the hilt, then reconnecting them on a tabletop (something that's not metal) and seeing if it continues to have the problem? Or tried disconnecting the main LED and firing it up? I'm trying to think of more diagnostic processes...

[Silver Serpent]

Time to break out your multimeter and check the voltage of your batteries both after they've been fully charged, and then after they've apparently discharged in the saber.

You should be reading about 4.2v fully charged. They'll drop to 3.7v reasonably quickly. I forget what the cutoff point is. 2.something volts I believe.

[DarthFender]

Hi. You need to put a resistor on your LED circuit or it will draw too much current through the board. that'll cause all kinds of mishaps, like constant swing sounds, etc... Can eventually burn up your sound board. For red LED's dont rely on the Drive setting in the config file, use a resistor. I had the same problem and a resistor (1 ohm 1 watt) cleared it right up.

[ActionBastard6969]

Time to break out your multimeter and check the voltage of your batteries both after they've been fully charged, and then after they've apparently discharged in the saber.

You should be reading about 4.2v fully charged. They'll drop to 3.7v reasonably quickly. I forget what the cutoff point is. 2.something volts I believe.

this is a great idea, i can try this when i get home today! i noticed on my battery charger there is a 3V and 4.2V setting. it was on the 3V setting .....maybe this has a big factor to do with my problem. going to charge them at the 4.2 setting and see if that makes a differance.

as well as check them before/after charge =) thank you

[ActionBastard6969]

Hi. You need to put a resistor on your LED circuit or it will draw too much current through the board. that'll cause all kinds of mishaps, like constant swing sounds, etc... Can eventually burn up your sound board. For red LED's dont rely on the Drive setting in the config file, use a resistor. I had the same problem and a resistor (1 ohm 1 watt) cleared it right up.

good idea! i will test out my batteries first and if i continue to have this issue i will add that resistor.

thank you for your help =)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

this is a great idea, i can try this when i get home today! i noticed on my battery charger there is a 3V and 4.2V setting. it was on the 3V setting .....maybe this has a big factor to do with my problem. going to charge them at the 4.2 setting and see if that makes a differance.

as well as check them before/after charge =) thank you

This is most likely your issue. 3v is below the threshold for the NB to function, and really close to the cut-off voltage for most typical Li-ion cells, which is usually 2.4v. Once a Li-ion cell drops below 3.7volts, it falls off quickly.