"Make your own" hasbro sound board

[cardcollector]

Hey everyone,
I just recently gutted a "Make your own lightsaber" hilt and I've seen the tutorials and schematics for the force-action and was wondering if I could hook up my soundcard the same way as the older cards.

The reason I ask is it has ALOT more wires than all the older ones. (4-5 to be exact).

This is my first post and I have no experience with any kind of electronic hook-ups so any help would be greatly Appreciated.

[Donnovan Sunrider]

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=6571

Look around a bit when you need info, it's usually been answered already. This thread was even still on the front page of this very category.

[cardcollector]

I did look there but I don't have that set.:-? I have the hasbro 2005 "Ultimate lightsaber" kit. Would I still be able to use that schematic for my soundcard?

[Ideal]

it's really a matter of looking at where the wires go while still in the saber. i took apart a obi-wan that i bought like 4 years ago, and just looking at how it was set up originally, i could pretty much tell how to set it up to run a lux

there are tons of diagrams on here, i would suggest laying your electronics out on the table and looking at each of the diagrams to see which one it matches or comes closest to. the sound board itself should have minor labeling to help out as well.

if all else fails, post a picture of it and see if someone can help out by labeling the wires (just make sure to include everything in the picture)

[cardcollector]

Thanks! I'll probably do that.:)

[cardcollector]

I posted some pics to see if any one could help. I Did look at all the schematics at http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=372&highlight=hasbro+sound+module

so any other help will be appreciated.

[Jedi-Loreen]

That looks like the bottom of the board.

Can you post a pic of the other side?

[cardcollector]

Sure- Here it is

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Can you tell us what the wires on the board were attched to in the saber?

[cardcollector]

The Red, and Blue ones were connected to the lamp.
The short black one was connected to the spring for the C batteries
the gray ones are connected to the speaker
and the Yellow and black ones together are for the sound changer
The switch is on the bottom of the board- I posted a pic of that 2-3 replies ago.

Thanks for your patience- I really appreciate it:)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Okay, this looks fairly simple....I believe the orange is the positive for the lamp or in your case now, the led, and should also be shared by the positive to the batteries. The blue should be the negative for your led. The black like you have said is for the battery negative. This set up is very similar to the old Qui-gon Jinn soundboard from the 1999 toy of the same name. The swithes going to be a bit difficult for you, as you'll have to solder wires to the traces on the board underneath the black rubber button. It should look like this underneath the button:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/000_0778-1.jpg
You'll have to solder wires for your momentary button to the traces on the board. This pic shows an old Vader board that had the button on the board as well. The white wires are the switch wires.

As a caution, I would suggest that you DO NOT give this soundboard any more than 4.5 volts, as it was intended to run a light bulb similar to a flashlight, correct? I'm assuming it ran on two C batteries? you should be able to run a Luxeon III directly from the sound board.

[cardcollector]

Okay, so I just attach a wire to each side of the traces for the switch, and don't use a resistor. All powered off a 4 AA cage- Right?:???:

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Okay, so I just attach a wire to each side of the traces for the switch, and don't use a resistor. All powered off a 4 AA cage- Right?:???:
No, if you use 4-AA's you'll burn up the sundboard, as 4 AA's = 6 volts, which is what I said NOT to do. You'll have to use three..get a single AA holder from Radio shack, and a 2-AA holder and wire them together in series to produce 4.5 volts. Attach the positive from the single holder to the negative from the double holder and then use the left over leads to run to the sound board. Use sme double-sided mounting tap to attach the two battery holders back-to-back.

[cardcollector]

alright I'll do that. I will let you know how it turns out- but it may be a bout a week before i get to try it!

[Darksaber 3]

Dude, thats the same sound board I have. Post some pics when you're done, will you? I wanna get mine hooked up. Good luck.

[cardcollector]

Will Do.:)

[cardcollector]

It Worked!!! :D:D:D here ar the pics as promised...
1009

1010

1011

1012

if you look you can see that instead of soldering the switch wires to the threads I put the on the squares above them.

Thank you so much Jay-Gonn!!!:smile:

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Good job! You've taken that first step into a larger world! (Sorry, I had to!)

Now work on replacing the electrical tape with heatshrink tubing....the electrical tape will eventually cause your components to get all sticky and make a heck of a mess inside your saber.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Good job getting it working, but do replace the electrical tape with heat shrink like Jay suggested. That will involve desoldering your connections to slip it on, though, if they are already soldered.


Is this the first time you have ever soldered? It kind of looks like it.

You really need to redo your solder connections where the switch goes onto the board. See how you have wire strands sticking out from the sides of the wire on the right? That's bad, they are about to short to the other pads beside them.

That's also not a good way to solder. If you move that switch a few times, those strands are going to break and the wire will come right off the board.

You should desolder both the switch wires, cut off the exposed wire and restrip it. Then twist the strands tightly and tin the ends before you solder them back to the board. If you don't know what tinning is, touch your soldering iron tip to the end of the wire for a few seconds till it heats up, then with the tip still in contact with the wire, touch your solder to the wire till you get some solder flowing onto it nice and smoothly.

When you solder a wire onto a board, don't blob it on, add a little solder to the pad first. Move your tinned wire near the pad, touch the solder on the pad to heat it and reflow it and set your wire down into the solder, remove the iron and hold the wire till the solder cools and sets. Then you will have a nice, neat and strong connection.

They are some, hopefully helpful, suggestions from someone who solders professionally. ;)

[cardcollector]

I tried to heatshrink one of the connections with a blowdryer for bout five minutes and it didn't work:-? so how do you do it?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I use a lighter....hold it far enough away from the flame so that you don't set it on fire....just close enough until the heatshrink shrinks.

[Scrythe]

I tried to heatshrink one of the connections with a blowdryer for bout five minutes and it didn't work:-? so how do you do it?

I've heard that using a lighter works well if you use the HEAT and not the FLAME. I've never tried this, but if I had to, I'd make sure it was an adjustable bic lighter turned all the way down.

Using the heat off a soldering iron works wonders for me. Just make sure you don't melt the jacket of the wire itself!

[Jedi-Loreen]

I find using a soldering iron on heat shrink to be too slow.

I just keep a cheap, adjustable, disposable lighter in with my soldering stuff.