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The One
10-26-2008, 05:36 PM
I have a converted maul saber from TCSS and the bulb is burnt out. The pins to release the inside are not present and have looked at the tutorial on how to modify it. How do I get inside of it to change the bulb?:confused:

Jedi-Loreen
10-26-2008, 09:51 PM
Change the bulb? It's not an incandescent bulb with a filament that will burn out after a relatively short while, it's an LED, which should last a long time.

If it burnt out, then your saber's probably got some kind of problem that caused it. You need to figure out what that is, if someone can help you get it apart, and tell you what to look for/at.

Lord Dottore Matto
10-26-2008, 10:34 PM
Prob a loose wire. Dude you need help!:(

Master Dru-Er
10-26-2008, 11:08 PM
Hey! No loose wire jokes.:razz:

The One
10-27-2008, 07:54 AM
There are no pins located outside the hilt to remove the electronics, no retention screw to remove the blade, it just slides in and out. There seems to be a thin piece of metal inside the top of the hilt to hold the blade in, and who did the conversion why The Custom Saber Shop did so if anything is messed up it was not me. No blame is being placed, but I was told this was the place to go to get answers. 1st, let me say don't talk down to me, I'm not an idiot. 2nd, I know it's not a light bulb, "big blue", it's a single LED. If you don't know how to get inside the saber to fix it don't reply. I don't like my time wasted with 3rd grade jokes.

Jonitus
10-27-2008, 12:29 PM
There are no pins located outside the hilt to remove the electronics, no retention screw to remove the blade, it just slides in and out. There seems to be a thin piece of metal inside the top of the hilt to hold the blade in, and who did the conversion why The Custom Saber Shop did so if anything is messed up it was not me. No blame is being placed, but I was told this was the place to go to get answers. 1st, let me say don't talk down to me, I'm not an idiot. 2nd, I know it's not a light bulb, "big blue", it's a single LED. If you don't know how to get inside the saber to fix it don't reply. I don't like my time wasted with 3rd grade jokes.

Wow. 2 posts and an attitude already. Okay...

I'd say go and look at the MR Conversion thread to see how a MR Maul comes apart, but it's wasting my breath. Nobody reads anymore. Nobody seeks knowledge on their own - they just expect it spoon-fed to them.

Did you think that the reason you were "talked down to" or "treated like an idiot" is because your post made you come across as such? You gave no indication of any prior search for information, and what info you did provide was vague. Instead, you march on in here and expect the rest of us to do your work for you. Not. Gonna. Happen.

Way to go, Mr. Internet Tough Guy. Way to alienate people from the foremost informational boards on LED lightsabers. I think you just crapped in your own nest.

The One
10-27-2008, 12:59 PM
Look I have researched from here to the outer rim, asked questions till I'm blue in the face, but nothing I have read has indicated the problem I have encountered. I am not trying to be a jerk, but when your told you need help, or that I do not know it is a LED light, that burns me. I am sorry to those that mistook my post as harsh, and I have posted more than twice. I have followed all the rules and never talked down to anyone. I am just a new-be trying to seek guidance from those that can help. All that needed to be said was "more info dude", or "send pics" not that other stuff. I have been patient w/ all for a year now, and am sorry to all for any offensive remarks. Thank you for setting the record straight w/ me. I will be more cautious in the future.

MoonDragn
10-27-2008, 01:49 PM
There are no pins located outside the hilt to remove the electronics, no retention screw to remove the blade, it just slides in and out. There seems to be a thin piece of metal inside the top of the hilt to hold the blade in, and who did the conversion why The Custom Saber Shop did so if anything is messed up it was not me. No blame is being placed, but I was told this was the place to go to get answers. 1st, let me say don't talk down to me, I'm not an idiot. 2nd, I know it's not a light bulb, "big blue", it's a single LED. If you don't know how to get inside the saber to fix it don't reply. I don't like my time wasted with 3rd grade jokes.

If you got the saber at TCSS maybe you need to talk to Tim about it. However, I was not aware that TCSS sold converted MR sabers. Could you have gotten it at Ultrasabers?

The problem could be anything from a short to a burnt out LED to a battery. I would not recomend fixing it yourself if you don't even know how to get inside the thing. Talk to the people you brought it from.

If you need help with the disassembly etc you need to do a search on this forum. There are disassembly posts for every MR in there.

Jonitus
10-27-2008, 03:13 PM
As far as I know, Tim doesn't sell and never has sold converted sabers. He sells parts and pieces. I've been at TCSS a LONG time, and I've never seen it.

Where did you buy this saber from?

Could it be that what you are referring to as "built by TCSS" is in fact only the blade/LED holder in the saber? I'm willing to bet it is. Likely, someone used the TCSS blade holder and then did the electronics conversion themselves.

If you're having problems, then it could be anything. If you let us know who you bought it from (if it was ebay - who was the person selling it), we may be able to tell you what to do next.

Right now, it's impossible to troubleshoot a saber we can't see pictures of and don't have much information about.

Most important thing right now is - DON'T GET FRUSTRATED. Yeah, it sucks your saber isn't working. Calm down, think about things calmly. Give us some info we can go off of, and we can systematically track down your problems and tell you how to go about fixing it.

Lord Dottore Matto
10-27-2008, 03:23 PM
Look I have researched from here to the outer rim, asked questions till I'm blue in the face, but nothing I have read has indicated the problem I have encountered. I am not trying to be a jerk, but when your told you need help, or that I do not know it is a LED light, that burns me. I am sorry to those that mistook my post as harsh, and I have posted more than twice. I have followed all the rules and never talked down to anyone. I am just a new-be trying to seek guidance from those that can help. All that needed to be said was "more info dude", or "send pics" not that other stuff. I have been patient w/ all for a year now, and am sorry to all for any offensive remarks. Thank you for setting the record straight w/ me. I will be more cautious in the future.

Apology accepted, my post, if you had actually thought about it, was meant to suggest a legitimate possible problem to you. I have converted >25 MR sabers and wires coming loose is a common problem for folks who do conversions and posess poor soldering skills! Takes a big man to apologize, so I give you props for that, just thicken your skin in the future!:p

Strydur
10-27-2008, 05:08 PM
I talked to him..What he meant was it had been converted with a TCSS conversion kit.

Jedi-Loreen
10-27-2008, 07:16 PM
Your first post here did not indicate that you knew anything about what an LED is, or what was actually making your saber blade light up. A lot of people know that the older Hasbro sabers had an incadescent bulb in them, not an LED.

I just thought you were someone who bought a converted MR saber off of ebay and didn't know anything about it beyond how to turn it on.

If you have seen as many posts from lazy newbies as many of us have, then you'll understand why I responded the way I did.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about MR conversions, because, frankly Master Replicas sabers don't interest me, so I don't own any.

But I am not an idiot, either. If you look at my registration date, you will see that I have also been here a very long time, as well.

So, maybe if you cool your jets, drop the attitude and ask your questions in a civil manner, you will get the help you are asking for.

I aplogize for my first post, but you did kind of bring it on yourself, to degree, with the way you posted.

Perhaps if you had started out your first post stating that you had been looking for answers, to no avail, then maybe people would have been more understanding. This is a community of both give and take. You need to give an indication of what you have searched for and where, and maybe people here could be more helpful to you.

I guess I should just leave the posting to newbies to people with more patience than I often possess. Some times I'm better at doing that than others.

And I don't know if you meant something snide by calling me "big blue" or you were comparing me to the IBM computer, either way, that comment wasn't appreciated. :|

The One
10-27-2008, 08:55 PM
I got the saber open and it seems to be a short due to poor soldering skills. It was a DIY kit from TCSS NOT a custom job from TCSS. Bad use of wording on my behalf. THANKS to all for your help, and once again THANK YOU for all of the constructive criticism, and sorry for the bad attitude, it WILL NOT happen again. I was frustrated that after all the days (3 to be exact) searching I could not find what I was looking for. You are all Jedi Masters and I will try to word things differently next time. A BIG THANKS to Tim who after seeing pics led me in the right direction.:D Any suggestions on how to re-solder the wiring? :D:D:D:D:D

Jonitus
10-27-2008, 08:57 PM
We'll need some pictures of this. Depending on what's going on, we can direct you. Can you solder? Do you have the tools to do it?

The One
10-27-2008, 09:01 PM
I got the saber open and it seems to be a short due to poor soldering skills. It was a DIY kit from TCSS NOT a custom job from TCSS. Bad use of wording on my behalf. THANKS to all for your help, and once again THANK YOU for all of the constructive criticism, and sorry for the bad attitude, it WILL NOT happen again. I was frustrated that after all the days (3 to be exact) searching I could not find what I was looking for. You are all Jedi Masters and I will try to word things differently next time. A BIG THANKS to Tim who after seeing pics led me in the right direction. Any suggestions on how to re-solder the wiring? Big apologies to Blue 8 I don't mean any harm.:-(

Lord Dottore Matto
10-27-2008, 10:08 PM
Wow, sounds like my suggestion was rather insightful (since it looks like it was RIGHT)! :lol: I'm glad you found it. If you can solder, follow this link and it will get you where you need to go!http://www.ultrasabers.com/v/diypdf/index.html

See what a little communication can yield!:mrgreen:

MoonDragn
10-28-2008, 07:41 AM
We need to get rid of those saber makers with bad soldering skills pawning their work on the markets. Can you imagine if someone made a saber with lithium ion cells with bad soldering and sold it? Somebody out there could be exploding.

The One
10-28-2008, 11:26 AM
I have pics for the poorly done soldering job on the maul everyone has been helping me with. The funny thing is that everything sound, and light work outside the hilt, but when inserted back into the hilt, I only get sound. I am not sure exactly what I am looking at and if these are bad angles let me know and I will get better ones for all. Again, thanks for the help. I am not a photographer and know these look horrible, and am working on better ones. SORRY

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Lord Dottore Matto
10-28-2008, 11:35 AM
The pix are too blurry. What I would do in this case is take the thing completely apart (the conversion anyways) and start over. The link I posted before will walk you through it. And don't use scotch tape like the idiot that originally did the conversion! Only use electrical tape or heatshrink (I think ultra suggests electrical tape in the tutorial)

MoonDragn
10-28-2008, 12:15 PM
Actually its very obvious whats wrong. One of the leads is touching the metal heatsink. Put some electrical tape on all the exposed wires and contacts.

If thats not it, then make sure the front of the LED with the exposed contacts is not touching metal.

Lord Dottore Matto
10-28-2008, 12:24 PM
Actually its very obvious whats wrong. One of the leads is touching the metal heatsink. Put some electrical tape on all the exposed wires and contacts.

If thats not it, then make sure the front of the LED with the exposed contacts is not touching metal.

Wow, good eyes bro, It just looks like a mass of nothin' to me in those pix!:shock:

I'd still resolder and heatshrink everything so there are no further problems!:cool:

MoonDragn
10-28-2008, 12:31 PM
well I can tell from just his explaination. Thats usually what happens when you get sound and no light, because the wire going to the light is being shorted out.

But the picture with the heatsink on one side confirms it, you can clearly see it exposed in one picture. if you connect those two halves back together the solder points are going to touch the heatsink.

The One
10-28-2008, 03:42 PM
Would it be easier to tear apart the old soldered piece and practice soldering it and just but a new DIY Luxeon conversion kit? If so what are the pieces I need. I have been to the TCSS shop, and am not sure what I am looking for. I saw something for $19, but it said I needed other pieces ie lens etc. Not sure what to go w/ Lux III, or other that could make it brighter.

Jonitus
10-29-2008, 11:49 AM
You don't NEED to buy anything. Your LED is fine, the optics are most likely fine, your soundboard is fine.

What is NOT fine is the wiring between the LED and the soundboard. You'll need to repair that. Once you do, and your connections are solid and protected with heatshrink, you won't have problems anymore.

If you WANT to change the LED, you're in the position to do it now. You've already got her torn apart. For the Maul, pick any color of Lux III that you like, 5 degree optics. What kind of blade is this saber equipped with? Maybe a change of blade is in order if you're looking for brightness.

Lord Dottore Matto
10-29-2008, 11:58 AM
[QUOTE=Jonitus;108080]You don't NEED to buy anything. Your LED is fine, the optics are most likely fine, your soundboard is fine.

What is NOT fine is the wiring between the LED and the soundboard. You'll need to repair that. Once you do, and your connections are solid and protected with heatshrink, you won't have problems anymore.
QUOTE]

Exactly! Just redo the soldering, heatshrink it and you've got it! Oh yeah, if you want to change the color all you really need is the new LED in whatever color you want.:p

The One
10-30-2008, 04:58 PM
Thank you to all who have taken the time to help me. I really appreciate all the knowledge I have gained from all of you. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!:p:p:p