some questions from new sabresmith

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05-22-2018, 02:03 AM
Shaonin

some questions from new sabresmith

Ladies and gentlemen, Aliens, good morning.
I've been thinking about making my own sword for a few years now and I finally have the means to get started. I recently decided to go for it, after going through the CF8 manual (then the CF9 after placing my order with JQsabers and receiving a CF9 to my great and happy surprise). Here is the wiring diagram I made from this manual, if you would take a look to check:

image

Be indulgent I did this with paint and the pictures from Erv's manual. Finally on the wiring I'm pretty sure of myself. On the other hand, it is for the calculation of resistances that I have a doubt. If I wanted to make a sword with only one color I would not have had any problems, the formula is clear.

On the other hand, since I'm going to color mix, as much on the CC as on the quad cree, do we agree that the card will act either on the intensity or on the voltage to vary the luminous intensity of each "sub-led" (I couldn't find the info in the manual, I may have missed it but I reread it in its entirety at least 10 or 20 times already)?
So what value do I take for the resistance calculation? i suppose Max value (20mA)? will it still be bright when lowering this value when color mixing??

Another small anxiety, the electrostatic shock. I've seen many warnings in the manual but we agree that if I put a bare wire around my wrist that I plug to the ground, neither I nore my card risk nothing right?

Forgive my ignorance Masters, as much for the rest of the DIY is fine but for electronics... I know it's sensitive and I'm hyper afraid to burn the card or chain-burn LEDs.

P.S : I'm french, please don't mind my spelling/grammar.
05-22-2018, 05:07 AM
RavenXp

The wiring looks alright to me. The accent pads look like they're going to a crystal chamber. If that's a RGB chamber you want to match the blade color it would be easier for color balance to wire it to the same lines going to the main LED lines, just use the appropriate resistor for it. As for resistance values, the board uses current to the LED to determine brightness, usually 1A or 1000mA. When wiring a star I usually just assume 1000mA as a base for resistor calculations. I'm sure more experienced saber Smith's here can guide you further since I'm only working on my second build.
05-22-2018, 05:10 AM
Forgetful Jedi Knight

Welcome to the Forums! The formula is the same.

The accent LED calculations will mostly depend on where you are attaching the Crystal chamber LED to. IF you are using the accent LED pads (which you are in your diagram), they put out a maximum of 3.3V and 18mA and you make your calculations based off of that (for the battery output part of the calculation). The chamber colors won’t be perfect, but it will be pretty close.
05-23-2018, 04:50 AM
Shaonin

Quote:

Originally Posted by RavenXp

[...] If that's a RGB chamber you want to match the blade color it would be easier for color balance to wire it to the same lines going to the main LED lines, just use the appropriate resistor for it. [...]

Yes it's an RGB crystal chamber, and I wired it that way because the documentation of the CF9 board tells that the accent pads number 5 to 8 are for copying behaviors of channels 1 to 4. I prefer to use them since they are designed to do that. I verified it with Erv'. I may add an "electric blue" led (if i find one) on pad 7 to copy the behavior of the FoC and mimic some electric arcs in the hilt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forgetful Jedi Knight

Welcome to the Forums! The formula is the same.

The accent LED calculations will mostly depend on where you are attaching the Crystal chamber LED to. IF you are using the accent LED pads (which you are in your diagram), they put out a maximum of 3.3V and 18mA and you make your calculations based off of that (for the battery output part of the calculation). The chamber colors won’t be perfect, but it will be pretty close.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RavenXp

As for resistance values, the board uses current to the LED to determine brightness, usually 1A or 1000mA. When wiring a star I usually just assume 1000mA as a base for resistor calculations. I'm sure more experienced saber Smith's here can guide you further since I'm only working on my second build.

Ok so if i understood right, even when color mixing i do the math with the max current value for both accent leds and the Quad cree.

Thanks masters, you really helped me here! but still have one question about the electrostatic choc, is my idea of bare wire plugged to ground a good idea?

Thanks again and may the force be with you both....

... always!:D;)
05-23-2018, 09:08 AM
Tom Tilmon

If you ground yourself, you could reduce the chances of sending an electrostatic discharge from your person. You still have all your tools to worry about too. Mainly, your soldering iron. It won't hurt to ground yourself, but I don't.

Tom
05-24-2018, 02:46 AM
Shaonin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Tilmon

If you ground yourself, you could reduce the chances of sending an electrostatic discharge from your person. You still have all your tools to worry about too. Mainly, your soldering iron. It won't hurt to ground yourself, but I don't.

Tom

Ok, i already made sure that my soldering iron is ESD protected. I was really afraid to damage the card with my own electrostatic charge while handling it...

By the way FJK, maybe you should add a note saying the formula is the same for color mixing and RGB leds in your tutorial "FJK’s “Down and Dirty” guide to Ohm’s Law" ? I found it very helpful but was afraid it wouldn't work like this in color mixing...

anyway, thanks to you all masters! you were very helpful ^^

may the force be with you all.