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Hello everyone,
I want to build a color changing lightsaber like this one in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHTcL2RPeRQ
However, I don't know what LED did he use to do that. Does anyone has any idea what kind of LED do I need to make a color chaning lightsaber? or what kind of flashlight did he used?
I tried to email him, but he did not reply at all. I hope one of the experts in this forum can help me.
Thank you
Obi-Dar is a member here, so maybe he will chime in. However, RGB LED flashlights are pretty common and a lot of them use the same driver/LEDs so a little bit of searching would probably have yielded you the result. If you haven't wired up and assembled a simple single color hilt first, I would suggest doing so before trying to tackle an RGB color changing saber. Obi-Dar is an experienced builder and has been doing this for a long time, so things that may seem simple or look easy generally aren't and only look that way because of the experience of the person demonstrating it.
Welcome to the forums, there are numerous tutorials and vast amounts of stored knowledge here to help you. It helps you more though, if you help yourself as this is a DIY hobby, and you learn better by searching and reading a LOT and then trying things yourself to experiment.
I did sucessfully convert one of my lightsabers to a single color P4 LED. I want to do something new :p . I found the post of Obi-Dar, but the picture are not working.
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=4127&page=3
I bought a First Alert 10 Color LED Flashlight , but the blade is very dim with that LED. Did I made something worng? Did I buy the wrong flashlight?
I tried to PM Obi-Dar to ask him if he can repost the photo, but it is not working. It said something like I do not have the premission to do so...
You're not a member long enough or have enough posts to send PM. Can't recall but I think you need to wait 2 weeks.
Maybe you could run a brighter LED with it...
He did say it was dimmer then a Lux 3 though.
Is there anyone can PM Obi-Dar for me to request a repost of the photos. 2 weeks are too long to wait :( Those photos are very valuable to me. A photo is better than 1000 words. There are like at least 5 photos, so they worth at least 5000 words :) .
Thank you
I agree... Need Photos. Help me Obi-Dar you are my only hope.
Oh wow. Why didn't I see this before? I guess I should check in a little more often. I'm truly sorry. I wasn't deliberately ignoring anyone.
I don't know what happened to those pictures. I'll go looking for them. I'll update this post later with them, and some info about what I did.
Edit:
The flashlight is a Spectrum Multivision Tactical Flashlight. I couldn't find much about it online, but here's a review of it on Candlepower Forums:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...red-Flashlight
From what I can tell, they're pretty hard to find, but there are other flashlights like it that may do the same thing.
This is what it looks like.
Attachment 5062
This is the stock LED.
Attachment 5063
On the left here is the underside of the LED with four pins. It was still in its housing here. On the right is the control circuit. The four pins go into the four sockets. There are three positives and one negative. You can see the mini-tactile switch that changes the colors on the bottom. If you flip it over, there are solder points for the switch and LED contacts. Sorry, I don't have a picture of the other side.
Attachment 5064
The flashlight runs on three AAA batteries for 4.5V. I ran the saber on four AA NiMH batteries for 4.8V, and it was fine. I don't have a picture of how to wire it up, but basically, you need to find where the battery positive and negative go, and supply your power there. Put a latching switch in that circuit to turn it on and off. Solder wires to the mini-tactile switch on the board, and run those to a momentary switch that will control the colors.
For the LED, you can solder to the solder points on the back side of the control circuit. One positive for each color, and one negative. I would suggest that you abandon the flashlight's stock LED, and find a 3W RGB LED. I won't link to them here, but they are cheap and easy to find.
I make no promises about how bright this will be. I used the stock LED, and it was pretty dim. You may get better results with the 3W, but I'm not sure. To be honest, I never measured the current output.
I hope that helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask
I have the three watt and it is much brighter. I am just having trouble finding the right points to solder for the latching switch and the right place to solder for the battery. Did you desolder the little aux momentary switch? Did you also pull the spring in the back? And, what kind of blade holder did you use to mount the LED? Sorry for so many questions but I am really excited about getting started. I really appreciate your help. I cant wait for the photos so I can get started.
I might be easier to de-solder the little switch, and solder your wires there. If I remember correctly, I took the spring off and soldered the positive to there. I can't remember where I stuck the negative. The flashlight uses the aluminum body as a ground, so look for the spot where the control circuit would contact the body. I'm not sure where mine even is now, so it would help if you could take a good close up picture.
As for the blade holder, any of the ones in the store here will work exactly the same. I'm assuming that you are using the copper MHS heat sink to mount your LED.
I put mine in this saber:
Attachment 5067
I eventually upgraded this saber with a CF, then upgraded it again with a facelift. I sold it a few months ago, and the new owner has plans to give it another facelift.
You said you are waiting for pictures. What pictures are you looking for?
There were pictures that you posted some time ago that was dated and therefore cannot be seen on the old "my color changing forum." It supposedly shows pictures of how you had the guts soldered. I know that you used a different battery compartment for the NIHM batteries. do you think you soldered the negative that way?
Thank you so much for your help. I have started and it is looking good so far.