Saber Blaster Block problem!

[jsummit]

Hello All,

Just finished building my 2nd saber and I seem to be having a problem. For some reason, when I turn it on and engage a swing, the blaster block kicks in and continues repeatedly. Any idea what could be the problem? I did format the SD card that came with it and copied everything from the card on my other saber onto it.

[Cire Yeldarb]

is the battery all charged up? sometimes continuous swings/clashes like that are caused by low battery

[jsummit]

Brand new battery with a full charge.

[Noyl Wendor]

Sometimes the board is vibrating due to the proximity to the speaker. Keep this in mind if you are using a 2w bass, they have a tendency to "shuffle" the air about in a hilt quite well. You could also check your settings for swing and clash, depending on what board you are using. If they are set too low you may have that affect I mentioned with the speaker above.

[hapki]

Make sure your setting is for N.O. or N.C., whichever is correct for your switch. Just an idea.

[jsummit]

Okay, I'll check those. Any suggestions for a good swing and clash setting? Would adjusting the overall sensitivity help?

[hapki]

Yes, that might help too. I hope you figure it out. Good luck.

[jsummit]

Could it be a problem with the Aux. Switch? It looked fine when I installed it and it works for blast and lockup when I push it. Or could it just be the card settings? I did wipe all of the original stuff off the card when I formatted it and copied everything from my other Prizm card onto it. I think I had the same version of PRIZM card on both.

[JaksonFright]

I had this happen once and my Momemntary switch was wired wrong. I had wired two of the four posts on the switch together that were not on the same side.

[jsummit]

Oh, so they have to be on the same side to work correct? I though it was a switch problem! But wouldn't they just not work? The activation switch starts it up and the aux switch works. One thing I may have done wrong is wire both negatives of the switches together before attaching them to the board ground. Could this be the problem, or do I just need to put the pos and neg wires on posts on the same side?

[jsummit]

The thing is, I clipped off one post on each side (as I did with my last saber)and wired one pos and the other neg. It sounds like I did it correctly, but still having the same problem. Perhaps just a faulty switch?

[darth_chasm]

Like this? This would be the correct way to do it.

14983

[jsummit]

Rotten luck! One of the switches was faulty! When I tried new switches, everything worked fine! Also, I had a low battery! Looks like new ones don't exactly have a full charge! I learn something new every time I build a new saber! The experience is never the same ha!

[jsummit]

Just saw this. I had my switches wired with pos post on one side and the neg post diagonally from it.

[jsummit]

Actually, you may want to recheck that diagram as I opened up a broken switch I had and both of those posts should be positive and the other side negative and/or vise versa. The reason being is that both the posts that come off the side are connected by a metal stipe, likewise, the other side so when the plunger is pushed it connects the circuit. I just clipped one of the two posts on either side and wired them up that way. Tested it, and it works great!

[darth_chasm]

Diagram is good per all of the tactile switches I've ever used. And that's all I use by the way. Not sure if you have a different type of switch.

There are several simple ways to test the leads with a multimeter. If you set the multimeter to continuity and touch two leads on the same side or diagonally opposite you will hear nothing until the actuator is depressed to close the circuit. Or, you can touch two opposing leads, no actuator depression, and you will hear that they are connected

[darth_chasm]

To further illustrate.


https://vimeo.com/203744502

[jsummit]

Here's what the inside of my tactile switch looks like. Each pair of posts are actually a U-shaped band of metal.

http://i1024.photobucket.com/albums/y303/jsummit/tactile%20switch%20diagram_zpshd7wilat.png

By looking at it, I assume one side is negative and the other is positive and the plunger has to connect the 2 to complete the circuit. You only need one of the 2 posts on either side to do the trick. I faintly recall Tim of TCSS confirming this. I wired them this way and things worked out fine.

[jsummit]

15001 Here's another pic just incase the photobucket didn't work.

[darth_chasm]

15001 Here's another pic just incase the photobucket didn't work.

Per this image, which two posts did you wire? You can just mark them with red dots that should be fine.

[darth_chasm]

Eh I got bored and wanted to use my new workbench anyway. Take a look at this video. It will show you how the internal configuration works. There is also a drawing and schematic I swiped from digikey that illustrates the relationship of the posts to the circuit with corresponding numbers.

I can see how visually, those side contacts could throw you off. Especially if you don't have a multimeter to test your hypothesis.

The reason I asked how you wired is because I believe you said that you wired them diagonally. Which is fine and I did mention that in my post above and the first video. That does work. You don't necessarily need to wire ones on the same side. It just makes routing easier in most cases.

Anyway, you'll see in the video and schematic below that the original crude image I posted is correct and I just wanted people that may come across this thread to have the correct info.


https://vimeo.com/203940851

15002
You'll see a similar drawing for the short tactile switch on the product page here (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/SPST-Momentary-tactile-switch-P261.aspx) under the dimensions tab .

[jsummit]

Awesome, got it! Yeah, I soldered diagonally and they work great! I'll make a demo video of it shortly and post it. The saber hilt turned out great! It was my first time doing acid etching on it too! I etched a very Dathomiran Darth Maul tribal tattooing on it! Thanks again for all our help, I really appreciate it! Love the saber-smith community here!!