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thornwolf
05-16-2008, 06:59 AM
Last night I screwed up my soundcard when the switch wires snapped off the board. I took my cheap soldering iron and attempted to reattach the switch ports it worked once. later the other switch wire popper off during installation and this time my soldered connection did nothing. Upon checking it out my solder bridged the gap to another soldered point, and since nothing is happening i'm guessing I shorted it out. Am I correct?

I had a problem with the installation, as the 1.25 sink tube really didn't fit well in my ribbed extension as the internal diameter is samller than the 6 inch extension. Currently I have a 6 inch hilt 1 with the ribbed extension and last night there was no way for a speaker, the soundcard, and the 4.8 volt battery pack to all fit in the hilt piece. As a result of being over forceful, I ruined the setup, and set myself back at least a month and probably wasted a good soundcard.

Does anyone have a suggestion for putting a soundcard in the ribbed extension? Should I just continue to file down my 1.25 pvc holder, or do something new? I was thinking of continuing to cut the section I made to accomodate the inside of the switch all the way from one end to the other. This way when it can fit inside the ribbed extension, as the cut ends will tighten back together filling in the open side as the switch will now be much lower in the hilt piece and not against the sound card.

Sorry to rattle on, but to have it working in your hand, and have it all sorta blow up after working on it for weeks really is frustrating.

xl97
05-16-2008, 07:57 AM
does the card fit snug in there WITHOUT the pvc sled? they are nice and can be a great dvatange.. but it doesnt HAVE to be used (re: a sled/container..etc)

I actually got my Plecter Driver board & Hasbro Qui-Gon card stacked on top of each (back to back) with a 'shim' (plastic protectant) between the two. BOTH of these stacked like this STILL fit into a film canister.. which isnt very 'long' at all.. that leaves the rest of my hilt open for whatever I need it for.. speaker/chamber/batteries....etc..


maybe your board can be trimmed down?


also for you bridged solder...

1.) if you fired it up with it like that.. it may NOT be fixable..

2.) if you remove the solder or cut the ;trace' to each other it should work.

3.) when doing soldering.. Im such a bad solder'er... that I cover EVERYTHING that I am NOT soldering with either TAPE or anti-splatter spray/grease like used in welding..

that way if anything does fall or get where it was supposed to.. it wont bond to anything or make a contact.

thornwolf
05-16-2008, 09:26 AM
Yeah, I figured I had more than enough room, but kept having problemswith getting the wiring to fit. I think it was the result of not thinking things through when I built the circuit so it looked great on the table, but I based my wire lengths and all on the card being in the neck so when I tried to put it in the hilt I had problems. I guess thats why I got a spare card, and I'll learn from it.
Mostly the culprit was the thick male battey cable I put on to use with the recharge pack. It didn't go the way I wanted and thats what snapped the other wires.

Oh well, I still have the speaker, the recharge pack, and all. So I guess its take 2.

Thanks for the advice on the soldering. I am new to it and don't really have the dexterity yet to work on the circuit boards. Plus my soldering iron's tip is as large as a buick compared to the tiny spots on the board. I tend to use way to much solder.

xl97
05-16-2008, 09:53 AM
Join the club.. my soldering skills are 'ON NEED TO USE ONLY' based.. LOL

but taping everythign off except the 1 little pad you are working on give you better confidence and a focused area to play with.. without harmign the other areas.. use electrical tape.. somethign that ISNT going to leave a sticky residue (ie: duct tape) once you lift it off..


also.. once you get a wire soldered on correctly.. (nice shiney silver bead/spot for the solder... NOT a dull..or COLD joint) put a tiny dab of glue from a glue gun on it.. it will secure it down.. whatever angle you need.. and help protect form movement that can harm other joint/wires..

Shadeslinger
05-16-2008, 01:58 PM
Funny you mentioned that thornwolf...

I have a ribbed extension and 7" hilt piece. Last night I had everything wired up ready to go. My MR board was in a "sled" (piece of housing from a previous conversion) in the ribbed with everything else in the 7". Well, there was enough play for the sled to turn inside the hilt but I guess not enough to keep the wires from twisting when I screwed everything together, so you guessed it, I snapped the positive battery wire, both speaker wires, and one switch wire from the pcb. To top it off like a further idiot, the batteries were in the holder and apparantly pos wire touched the board and wasted it. I was quite livid. Now I have a $35 clash sensor...maybe. :(

Novastar
05-16-2008, 02:59 PM
Thornwolf... at least YOU can now understand and appreciate how much work it takes to fit a bunch of stuff inside tight spaces. :)

My only suggestion is... plan, plan, plan, PLAN prior to putting a saber together, and even the wiring. Mockups are GREAT... I made a goofy little "foam CF" along with other "fake" parts that I can:

* Lay out with wires "taped" to them to simulate spacial concerns with a better degree of accuracy than just "measuring air space", lol. Especially when considering have wire "slack", or avoiding it if required

* Understand the entire "does it fit with the current OD into that tube" better

* Look at the electronics vs. the hilt and identify where quick disconnects are REQUIRED... where they are not... and where they make things easier

* Re-configure the fakey parts to see if things could work better in a differing order

* Re-use the mockup parts for later projects

Additionally, I always leave an extra 0.5" at the very least... even when I've TOTALLY figured out that it all fits without it. The weird thing is... in the end (thus far)... that 0.5" has ALWAYS gotten used up...

I don't know *WHY*, but... welcome to the life of a saber designer: hopelessly shoving electronics where they do not belong, only then to bash the bloody 'ell out of it, further--to expect everything to stay put and not burst into a million parts... lol.

I mean... come on everyone. Let's be honest: SOMEtimes putting the electronics into a sinktube or MHS is... just like trying to stick your dork into a cheerio. It just doesn't seem possible. :)

thornwolf
05-17-2008, 04:42 PM
The mockup is exactly what I plan on now.

Using my fried sound card as a basis, I can now better plan the use of my space. I also have a spare 6 inch piece of MHS, so I can better estimate the lenght of wire I need.

I found it humerous that I was able to build 3 sabers in a few hours, but the sound has taken my forever just to screw it up.

But, I'm ready to go again but with a better understanding of what I need to do better.

And you're right I do have a better understanding and appreciation of space management.

LAN-ED-TUL
05-17-2008, 05:45 PM
i usually always countertwist the wires some so when parts are screwed together, they dont yank loose or rip off, so far i havent had any snapped off wiring, knock on wood!!!!

eastern57
05-17-2008, 06:35 PM
I'll add to what Novastar said - btw, everyone, good advice.

Things I do:

- When it comes to screwing together two relatively major pieces (e.g. 6" and ribbed section) around your components, I like to cut down on girth rather than length. Meaning, if I make the component bundle skinnier, it's easier for the MHS parts to rotate around them. Then I'll augment the extra space with strips of plastic, cardboard or whatever's around.

- Wire control.
- Only use as much wire as necessary! I learned the hard way as well... the more wire you use, the more wire you have to smash, cram, squeeze, bundle, etc.
- Keep them controlled. Tie them up, bundle, twist, whatever it takes, a tidy hilt is a happy hilt.
- Find skinny wires (like 26 or 28 gauge). IMO, they're just easier to work with and control. They're obviously not as rigid and you end up using less solder. They're fine for most wiring jobs. For speakers that I mount in the pommel, I use a few extra inches of skinny wire, so when I screw on the pommel, the stress is almost non-existant, and there's less space issue since they're skinny wires.

And last but not least. Practice Soldering! It's a skill. How do you improve skills? Practice, Practice, Practice...

:)

LAN-ED-TUL
05-17-2008, 07:36 PM
for wire right now im usin the 3 pack set from RS of 22 gage wire. works pretty well.

its got a red green and black spool in the set. its small enough in size and it solders easily without holding the heat to it too long. (back when i used the old screwdriver style iron) now i got me a 2 step gun and it works great. heats up fast, so you dont have to hold the heat thee like a iron will. on and off and done.