I give up.

[scinnamon]

I have about $900 in parts and can't make anything work. I give up. Who wants my stuff? I must be the worst rookie saber making on the forum. Time to go back to Chess.

[Silver Serpent]

Post pictures of your wiring. We can help.

[GregTheForce]

Yes we definitely can

[Silver Serpent]

If you haven't tried washing a saber filled with electronics... then you're not the worst newbie.

Worst case scenario is that you may have damaged the board, and you'll have to send it for repairs. Best case, you're just overwhelmed and we can help you sort your issues out.

[scinnamon]

Well I was in a hurry and needed a shower, and had that saber I was working on ..... Close call. ok, second worst. I am using a Pico Crumble - Dark Version and a Petit Crouton, and have tried for last three days at least a dozen different ways to wire it. So far no noise. I got light once but nothing each time today. I don't know where to start

[Darth Nurse]

Well I was in a hurry and needed a shower, and had that saber I was working on ..... Close call. ok, second worst. I am using a Pico Crumble - Dark Version and a Petit Crouton, and have tried for last three days at least a dozen different ways to wire it. So far no noise. I got light once but nothing each time today. I don't know where to start

Take a few pics and let us see the wiring. You may simply have a blob of solder in the wrong spot or something. You may wind up just having to strip off the wires and solder and start again.

Less is more. Starting with the Crumble first is smart. Let's get that one going then you can move on to the Crouton.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

I'm sorry to hear you are feeling so frustrated but please don't give up, anyone smart enough to play chess can learn to build a saber that works. Yes the washing the saber incident was pretty bad LOL but any old-timer in the hobby can tell you that back in the early days we made a ton of 'rookie mistakes' [I'd hesitate to admit some of mine lol] before we figured out what have now become standard practices. We've all made mistakes learning this hobby which can comprise so many different fields from metal-working and finishing to electrical and sound engineering to optics and colour theory but instead of being disheartened please see that as an opportunity - this hobby can be incredibly educational. Keep at it and keep learning and you will succeed with a little 'Jedi patience' and perseverance and there is a lot of help here on the forums to help you do so. Good Luck and MTFBWY. :)

[scinnamon]

1496114962

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Well, for starters, the leads are too long (especially the speaker wires, and the 2 dark blue wires). I am assuming that you have all of those going to the proper places, you need to clean those connections up. Also do you have a recharge port of some type?

Also, when posting pictures, take pictures of things like the LED, recharge port, the battery, etc. so we can see where ALL of the wires are going to.

[scinnamon]

I don't think I am following the wiring instructions correctly. I have from the battery positive and negative to pcb pads + and -. Speaker I didn't know if it mattered + or -, just hooked up to pcb pads. Then another wire from battery to switch and then switch to activation pad. Then another wire from battery positive to LED +, and LED - to red pad on pcb. There is a dyno resister between LED - and battery. I also tried a buck puck and a 2 ohmn resister.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

It doesn't sound like you are, that's why it is important to show pictures of EVERYTHING, as I mentioned earlier. Also, buckpucks do not mix with soundboards.

[scinnamon]

Well lets assume for the moment, that I am trying to wire as the schematic reads, that all that junk about giving up was ill fated humor, and lastly assume I'm not really a chess master ... I think I need to take a quick study at how to read schematics!

But if I may ask a serious question, does the Crumble require a Tri LED or can my single D LED be wired to just the red pad? I don't have a Tri, unfortunately ... Aha but I have an idea, TCSS sells them!

[Silver Serpent]

Wait, you used a DynaOhm resistor on your main LED? Those only provide 20mA of current, that's nowhere near enough to light your LED. Those are designed for accent LEDs like the ones in illuminated switches.

You need to get a standard resistor. See the links in my signature and they'll help you calculate the correct value.

[DarthSkummelavsky]

The speaker polarity doesn't matter until you start adding a second speaker and then polarity matters. SS has a very valid point about the DynaOhm. 20mA compared to 700 to 1000mA (1Amp) is a huge current difference. while 20mA would provide a nice little jolt its not enough to kill. When I was going through the Navy's electrical/electronic schooling 100mA was enough to kill. 700mA enough to kill seven times over and 1Amp depending on the voltage potential.

[scinnamon]

I solder sucked it all clean, rewired everything adding resisters. When I plug in the battery, and push button, I get three beeps now. I was expecting lights and hums. The manual reads three beeps means service mode. But I am not understanding why it always goes into service mode, and how I get out and to the lights and hums. The manual reads that holding the button down while connecting the battery, enters service mode. Holding button down would open the circuit, so for it to automatically go into service mode, I reason that the switch is wired incorrectly making the circuit always open. But I am not understanding how I did this. I am wondering if anyone has seen this before.

[RogueSyProject]

Can we see the new wiring? Sorry for the bother with it but, just so I can take a crack at it?

[PhoenixHawk]

I know its time consuming...but you've got to take pictures of what you have done and post them. There might be something there that you over looked that you not putting in what you type, because you didn't see it. Hence the reason for the pic's. Post good sized photos....at least 1000 x 750 .jpg's.

Everyone is here to help you figure it out. :D

[scinnamon]

I would post a picture if I could. But I've already taken it all apart, de solder and rewired it again. I'm convinced the board is damaged. I can look at a picture in the manual and see components on mine that are out of place. I probably damaged it myself by accident while I was wiring it the first time. Oh well, that's par for da new hobby. I bought a saber from "He who shall remain nameless" *coughs* and its a fun toy to spin and all. But after a few dropped spins, it stopped working. I opened it up, pulled out the insides and was not "Ultra" impressed with all that black tape. Well a little research and a new speaker from TCSS fixed my saber. But the experience left me thinking I could do better than this .... and now I see how difficult this is, I have gained a little more respect for any saber making. I will keep trying as time and resources permit, but I am sure this crumble is damaged beyond repair, and its time to pack up the tools. Thanks for reading. And sorry for the bad jokes.

[Silver Serpent]

If you message Zook, he can repair your board.

Do you have a latching switch or a momentary?

[DarthSkummelavsky]

I am going to correct your terminology a little. Regardless of whether you are using a momentary (this is the switch type you should be using) or latching switch when you depress the switch button you are actually completing the circuit. Think of it like this, when the draw bridge is up at your castle (switch open position) no traffic (electricity) can flow in and out of the castle. When the draw bridge is down (switch closed position) traffic (electricity) flows. I am posting a simple circuit drawing of a generalization of your circuit. Sorry if this posts seems a little rudimentary but I have no idea what your background is in DC power theory and circuit component functionality.
It also sound like you may have lifted some parts. Don't feel to bad about that. I have been doing board repair and soldering for 25 years now and I still have to watch my iron temp and how long I let my iron sit on a part. My general rule is if it takes for than 5 sec to solder down a part then the iron has been on the part for too long and damage will start to occur. trust me these sound cards are some of the tightest placed components I have encountered (but that is how they keep them so small).

Zook is the man. My first sound card build I totally destroyed one of the 0605 series capacitors when I wired up an aux. LED on my momentary switch. I sent Zook a PM with a snapshot of the of my board and within an hour he was able to identify the part for me and give me its values. I was able to obtain the part myself and reattach a new cap to my board.

Hang in there, don't let this thing get the best of you, take your time and remember lessons learned on what NOT to do as well as what to do next time around. Know that this builder community will do all we can to help you get up and running.

15000

[scinnamon]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uj13cqdsvg5b1j0/20170220_202218%20Trim.mp4?dl=0

Thank you for all your support! I didn't give up and its working! I fixed several things, speaker was broken, and bad JST connectors, among the issues that got it working. A multi meter is a beautiful thing.

I love this hobby! I love TCSS! The saber you make is 10 times more fun than the one you bought.

[darth_chasm]

The saber you make is 10 times more fun than the one you bought.

1000x!!

Glad you got it working.

[GregTheForce]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uj13cqdsvg5b1j0/20170220_202218%20Trim.mp4?dl=0

Thank you for all your support! I didn't give up and its working! I fixed several things, speaker was broken, and bad JST connectors, among the issues that got it working. A multi meter is a beautiful thing.

I love this hobby! I love TCSS! The saber you make is 10 times more fun than the one you bought.

As already said, I am glad it works now too and yeah: building with electronics is fun+building A LIGHTSABER + making your own design= A ton of fun ;D

[Silver Serpent]

I'm glad to hear you got it working. It is a truly magical feeling when you first ignite a lightsaber that you built yourself. Doubly so if that particular saber has been giving you trouble.

You have just taken your first steps into a much larger universe. Congrats!

[jbkuma]

Now to start planning the 3rd and 4th! (The second is a given ;))

[DarthSkummelavsky]

I was a little sad when I watched your video and didn't get to see the HAPPY DANCE, the self HI-FIVES, pats on the back and etc....

"I see you have constructed a new light saber. Your training is complete. INDEED you are as powerful as the Emperor has for seen." -Vader-