Petit crouton, Tri Cree, color mixing and ext HELP

[Ambrosius Malachai]

okay, so i am new to building a saber. i am planning on building my first one some time in the next month or so. now ive already figured out all the MHS pieces i need, as well as shrouds, and custom machining. what i need to know now, is in reference to the internals. I am planning on using a petit crouton v3.5 and a custom tri cree led. The colors will be blue and green to create arctic blue, and then white for FOC. now, how do i wire this, in order to adjust the led's? do i wire the blue and green together and solder them onto the main led port of the PC? i want to be able to use RICE to adjust the brightness of each of those 2 led's in order to achieve the exact arctic blue color i want. Do i need a power extender for this feature, or can i just wire it straight to the PC, and its good to go and adjust from the start? Also, when wiring in the white led for FOC, will the white led be on the whole time? mixing with the other two, and then the blue and green flicker for FOC?, or is the white off all the time, and then flashes for FOC. IF so, does the blue and green shut off and the white flashes, or does the blue and green stay on and the white flashes with them for FOC?
when wiring in a momentary switch for the blade lock up and blaster sounds, do i just wire it in to the secondary button port, and then the PC is pre programmed to set that control to any button wired to that port, or would i need to use RICE to set that button to control those functions?

[Zahc Zi Phan]

I will try to help a little here. Keep in mind I am no master. Hopefully FJK or Jay-Gon or someone else will chime in too.

You can wire that two ways. Option one is in series, so positive lead from board, first LED, wire the negative of first to positive of second, and negative of second returns to the board. In series you would set the board to run at 1,000ma which would be sufficient for both dice, the voltage would double, so you would need a 7.4v battery.

Option two is series so you wore both dice up individually and attach them both to the same pads on the board or split the same positives and negatives to make a Y and go to both dice. You would have to run the main channel (split between two dice) at 2,000ma.

With either option wired like that, you can not adjust the color through RICE. You can only turn the current up or down and hope you like what you get. More experienced builders can use resistors to achieve the right colors, but I don't know a thing about that. Not my ballgame.

If you want FOC, you need a power extender at the least. A color extender would be optimal, and would allow you to mix the colors and get the best ice blue. With plecter boards and RICE, you can configure the FOC to be standalone or on top of main color so the other colors do not turn off. If you go RGB (which is the BEST OPTION) you can have the capability to run FULL color mixing, and can define exactly what color you want FOC to be as well.

There is a main switch and an aux switch on the PC 3.5. The Aux is automatically set to function as the blade lock up and blaster effects. You do not need to turn this function on or mess with it, but it all can be customized.

So in my opinion, for the best results possible, get a RGB Cree, a color extender, do some homework, and wire that bad boy up. You will not be disappointed.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

i was thinking of doing an rgb. so since mixing red, blue and green make white, i would then wire my red led to the foc terminals? as blue and green would be on to make the arctic blue, and then the red would activate to create white? OR would i wire all of them as the main led, and then could control foc from there? or is foc only controlable through the foc terminals on the PC3.5?
what is "plecter boards"?

will wiring in series allow me to control each individual led with this plecter board thingy? or would they have to be wired seperately through a color extender, and then the purpose of a color extender is to individually identify and control each of the led's, and transfer this data back to the petit crouton?

sorry but like i said i am new to electrical, and computer chips. i only know software, not hardware.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Welcome to the Forums.

I strongly recommend that you download the P.C. Manual from the store, and read it over a few times. It should answer most of your questions.

Plecter Labs is the manufacturer for the boards that are sold here in the store.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

okay, so. the fact that plecter boards makes the pc3.5, clears up a bit on color choice and wiring and such. ill just wire the blue and green as main, and the red as foc, and have it run on top of the others to make white. the only thing now, that i cant will not be on the pc manual, is which led is brighter? i know there are probably arguments everywhere. but as a moderator, and having seen and most likely experienced this yourself. out of the rgb led's sold here specifically, which would you say is brightest? and what wattage are they? it doesnt say in the led description. are they 5, 6, 10, or 12?

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

okay, so. the fact that plecter boards makes the pc3.5, clears up a bit on color choice and wiring and such. ill just wire the blue and green as main, and the red as foc, and have it run on top of the others to make white. the only thing now, that i cant will not be on the pc manual, is which led is brighter? i know there are probably arguments everywhere. but as a moderator, and having seen and most likely experienced this yourself. out of the rgb led's sold here specifically, which would you say is brightest? and what wattage are they? it doesnt say in the led description. are they 5, 6, 10, or 12?

The Tri-Cree RGrB would be the brightest. "Wattage" is just a measurement and not a real indication of how "bright" a LED is - essentially its kind of a marketing gimmick.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

RGrB, is that red green royal blue? is the royal blue brighter than regular blue? or can i just do a regular blue on a custom tri cree. thanks for the info by the way

[Miraluka]

RGrB, is that red green royal blue? is the royal blue brighter than regular blue? or can i just do a regular blue on a custom tri cree. thanks for the info by the way

My hunch is that you would prefer rB to regular blue anyways if you're trying to get "arctic" blue, but yes, RGrB is red green royal blue. And yes, you can do a custom with a regular blue but it's going to be more expensive and again, I think you'll be happy with the RGrB. But of course, it's your saber and I'm not trying to tell you what you like, it's just my opinion.

Also, Zahc, you listed the 2 wiring descriptions as series and series. And PC V3.5s have on board power extenders so you don't need to buy one.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

if they have the power extender, then how do i wire the 3 led's? do i wire the blue and green as one in series to the main port and the chip can figure it out, or do they go to two seperate ports, and then the red to foc? because if in the future i want to change the color, if foc is the red, will i be able to adjust it in the constant regular use, or will it only light on foc?

[Zahc Zi Phan]

Ahh yes. Poo. I mean option one is series and option two is PARALLEL. Of course you knew that Miraluka. Lol.

Yes Plecter Labs is the manufacturer. Great stuff.

If you wire the color extender like the manual says, you don't need to designate a single die for FOC. It's all built in and fancy like that.
I believe you can also skip the color extender and achieve rough "psuedo" color mixing using a single cell 3.7v hack with the PC 3.5. I have not done this so I cannot speak for it.

I also did not know that the PC now had an on board PEx. Good to know!

Step one OP is to download the manual from plecter and read it, it is very in depth and will guide you in the right direction. The sky is the limit with these things, within reason of course. That's why it's such a fun hobby.

[Miraluka]

Ahh yes. Poo. I mean option one is series and option two is PARALLEL. Of course you knew that Miraluka. Lol.

Yeah I know. Not trying to be a smart aleck, I was just pointing it out so nobody gets confused :)

[Ambrosius Malachai]

okay seperate question now, i read the manual, and for the force feedback motors i had an idea. i dont want a constant vibration. sooo, would it work if i wired in the positive of the motor, to the FOC positive terminal? then it would only vibrate on foc and blade lock up.

[Silver Serpent]

You can certainly do that.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

and finally back to my original question. it says i can wire an rbg led. using the color xtender i then wire the main led to the main color channel on the PC, and then the other 2 colors throuth the color xtender to the PC, Foc1, and Foc2. so for doing this, even though 2 of the 3 led's will be wired to Foc terminals, will i still be able to use all 3 led's in color mixing of the main blade color? the manual doesnt state that. It only talks about which you can do of doing foc with mixing the led's or with foc ontop of the other led's.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

and finally back to my original question. it says i can wire an rbg led. using the color xtender i then wire the main led to the main color channel on the PC, and then the other 2 colors throuth the color xtender to the PC, Foc1, and Foc2. so for doing this, even though 2 of the 3 led's will be wired to Foc terminals, will i still be able to use all 3 led's in color mixing of the main blade color? the manual doesnt state that. It only talks about which you can do of doing foc with mixing the led's or with foc ontop of the other led's.

Yes, you can do that. By having each color on it's own "channel", that is what allows you to mix colors. The same principle applies for FoC colors, you mix what you want the end result to look like.

[Zahc Zi Phan]

Furthermore, the channels from the board to which you are referring are PWM (pulse width modulation) channels and they control the other two channels on the CEx board. They are modified FOC channels, but when you add the CEx they just end up "controlling" the Other two LEDs and telling them what to do. It will all work and mix colors.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

thanks i just wanted to verify that. i like to know everything about a product before i purchase it. this way i know what im doing and dont ruin it. now i just have to wait for the dang thing to be in stock

[Zahc Zi Phan]

You and I have that in common. I like to know every little specific. These boards can be very complex so naturally there is a lot to learn. Read that manual a few times. It sometimes doesn't make sense at first but you will get it after a few times through.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

so i was just on plecter labs website, to see if i could order the parts from there since TCSS is out of them atm. and i saw the Crystal Focus Saber Core™ V7.5. it sounds like those have the color xtender built in. it says that it can do color mixing on 3 channels as well as all the other stuff of the PC V3.5 - is that true? is it pretty much a PC with a built in crystal focus color xtender?

[ColdVizjerei]

Neither the Crystal Focus nor the PC have the equivalent of a color xtender board built in. If I recall correctly, the Crystal Focus and PC can do color mixing without a color extender board. You'd have to use the on-board power extenders on the CF/PC.
That being said, if you want more accurate color mixing, it's best to get a color xtender board.

[Ambrosius Malachai]

okay thats good. i would like then to just the PC, and hook it up that way, and eventually hook up a color xtender. because its quit pricey