Stock Hasbro saber won't shut off

Here's a real odd one for you. The other day my unmodified Hasbro Obi Wan saber started to just power on and off all by itself, and I didn't even realize it was happening until I witnessed the event with my own eyes. Only at that point it would not shut off! I've tried pushing the switch back and forth, which only yields a momentary flicker of a shut down. I replaced the batteries with a freshly charged set and it powers up as soon as I tighten the pommel over the speaker module.

This saber has been a display item for 99% of the 3 years I've owned it, just the occasional twirl and shake to set off a clash, so I can't see any physical damage being the cause of these sudden symptoms. Any ideas as to why my saber acts like it's possessed? And is there any way of fixing it?

QJ

I'm afraid you probably won't discover the cause of the problem unless you dismantle the hilt. Hasbro does have a rep for poor soldering and weak wires, so it's possible something broke or shorted inside. Personally, I would use this an excuse to do an LED conversion.

it could also be stuck in demo mode, dur to something dying on the board.

If its a force fx, then the problem is the switch leads shorted due to a bad factory solder joint.....if that is the case, i would go with DarkarNights suggestion (personally i can't leave
things alone. plus it just looks better converted)

I agree with schmoetech. The reason that its happening is that one of the switch wires is touching the hilt causing it to complete the circuit and turn on. Dismantling it and correcting the solder points is the only thing that you can do to fix it.

Thank you all for the help. I really wasn't looking forward to tearing into it, but I guess it has to be done. I'd much rather build up a new one, but my budget for that has been a bit sparse.

Good luck to you buddy. I hope you manage to fix it. Don't forget to put some heatshrink on the solder points!