I had planned to use a MWS buckpuck, but ...

[Atilla]

Hey, everyone.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a lightsaber combat group at a park walking distance from my house. I made a visit to The Custom Saber Shop armed with more enthusiasm than knowledge; my intent was/is to make a stunt saber with the only nod to fanciness being an illuminated switch. I wound up with a modular LED and Li-ion battery (1050 mah, the 14560), along with a non-modular long anti-vandal latching switch (green, to match the blade). I now have the switch wired with the Dyna-ohm resistor to the positive terminal, and the negative and positive wires connecting to a JST connector ... I left the other three terminals for the moment.

Since the MWS buckpucks have been out of stock for quite awhile, I'm wondering what options I have to wire it to a different buckpuck. I don't have any plans to add sound, though a recharge port might be in the future.

(If this matters, I did pick up materials for making a chassis, too. The discs I ordered are to accommodate a buckpuck and the battery. Oh ... and I know the long AV switches are on the long side, but I have solution to that involving a bit of copper tubing and a 3d-printed bit of plastic.)

Thanks for any thoughts!

[Silver Serpent]

Buckpucks are fine, but you need a minimum of 5v to operate them properly. Is your battery pack a single cell 3.7v pack, or a 7.4v li-ion?

You can always use a resistor in your setup. It's not hard to calculate the value (there are links in my signature), and a resistor is a much less expensive option.

[rlobrecht]

The non-MWS ones are in stock. You could always add your own JST connectors.

[Atilla]

Silver Serpent, it's the 7.4. What I had in mind is what rlobrecht mentioned ... using a non-MWS buckpuck. The thing is, I wasn't sure which one is right for:
1. Using the illuminated switch
2. Allowing for later installation of a recharge port. (Speaking of that, does anyone put their ports down in the pommel? I'm using insert style 10 (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/MPS-Insert-style-10-P526.aspx)

That MWS buckpuck has a ton of wires coming off of it and, without having one in-hand, I haven't been able to figure out which ones are unnecessary for my purposes. I'm guessing, though, that it's the 6-wire 1000mA; the source of my confusion is the part numbers on that one versus the part number on the MWS buckpuck.

There's also that mention in the long AV switch description about "You will need to jumper the accent LED resistor screw terminals with a piece of wire." Wasn't sure if that meant on the buckpuck or the switch.

Thanks for the replies!

[Silver Serpent]

Either the 4 or 6 wire 'puck will do the job. You have two input wires (pos and neg), and two output wires (pos and neg). In the 6 wire 'puck, the other two are used as a dimmer, typically with a potentiometer or some such.

The accent LED in the AV switch will be wired parallel to your main LED.

[Atilla]

Thanks very much, Serpent. Am I understanding you correctly in this very badly done sketch?

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[FenixFire]

Thanks very much, Serpent. Am I understanding you correctly in this very badly done sketch?

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You'll need to calculate the resistor for the accent led, or use a dynaohm. You'll be putting full puck current through a 20mA. Accent LED.

[Atilla]

I have a Dyna-ohm wired the positive leg of the switch headed to the LED. Hmm, sounds like I also need one for the accent, too ... which would mean a second Dyna-ohm on the yellow wired connected to the blue LED wire?

[FenixFire]

I think you are miss understanding the switch layout. The +and - are for the accent led in the switch. The other two posts are the switch posts. So you have the dynaohm wired right, I just mist the dynaohm in the original description. But the wires of the switch to the battery and led need to change. might want to check the wiring for the switch leads. As having the + and - ins are not always the case depending on if it is just a simple interrupt style switch. Could just be a + in from the battery and a + out to the puck. Either way the switch should be in series with the puck not in parelell if it is turning on and off the puck.

[Atilla]

Misunderstanding would be just like me! :p I've noticed a few different diagrams and examples out there. Here's the switch I'm using (this is one of the biggest variances I've seen - plenty of examples of latching AV switches out there with six pins) ... I haven't shrunk the heat shrink just yet.
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And here's the diagram I've worked from.
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Let me know if it still looks like I'm going the wrong direction with the + and - with the accent.

I should also mention that I still have some MWS influence here, with JST connectors linking the sections in a few different places (the blue and white on the LED, the + and - on the switch and the battery all have JST connectors). I'd just add wires with JST connectors to the buckpuck terminal wires, too.

I think it may be smart of just grab a non-MWS buckpuck and lay this out on a breadboard until it turns out right!

[Silver Serpent]

I have adjusted your diagram. There were a few issues with it.

14330

DynaOhm for the accent LED in the switch is the green box. No resistor is required for the main LED, since it's being controlled by the BuckPuck.

[Atilla]

Thanks! First time dealing with a buckpuck, and it proved to be a bit of a puzzler. I appreciate the help.

[Atilla]

Oh, hey - just noticing something: The positive and negative LED wires are swapped from their actual positions in the buckpuck. Would that change anything in this layout? My guess is everything may be still correct positionally, and I may just have those two colors in the wrong place.

[Silver Serpent]

Just be sure you're connecting pos to pos, and neg to neg. The color of the wire doesn't affect its functionality, it just helps you keep things organized.

[Atilla]

Great, I had a feeling that was the case. Another thing ... is the Dynaohm directional? If so, I'm a little unclear how it should be pointed. I'm thinking the negative (out) should go toward the switch.

By the way, I'm experimenting with using a circuit board with copper traces to cut down on the wire splices. Thought it might neaten things up. I'll take a photo and post it for any thoughts.

[Generic Jedi]

The DynaOhm is directional. The "in" or + side connects to the battery or recharge port. The "out" or - side connects the the positive leg of the switch LED.

[Atilla]

Alright! Here's what I have going on. You can pretty much see where everything leads. Any thoughts? I'm still wiring the illuminated latching AV switch.
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