Jolt-proofing batteries. I needz it!

[Doc B]

So I've been looking around the forum, and I have yet to run into this conundrum; when my saber gets hit or moves forcibly, the batteries get a sudden jolt and the whole saber turns off. I've tried wrapping the 4 AAs in tape, and that helps maintain a consistent connection better, but it's still not great. Is there any solution, short of wiring in a rechargeable battery to help with this problem? Is this even a problem that others have encountered with their AA battery packs?

P.S. - As a random, tangential comment. I debuted my saber tonight with some local folks that all had non-TCSS sabers. The universal comments on mine were, "[Insert expletive of choice] that's bright! Can I play with it?" Tee hee.

[Skottsaber]

Yeah the best battery solution for everything is a wired pack, and short of taping your pack there really isn't much you can do.

[Azmaria Dei]

soldering your batteries in is the only way i've seen to prevent disconnects like that.

as a pseudo-specific reply to your random, tangential comment, yeah that seems to be the general consensus among people that have only worked with EL blades or MR/FX and such. my chief and a few others from leadership game down to see us the other day and they caught sight of the one i had in my camera bag (which happened to be Ceragan's Reach - currently in my sig). needless to say they all had to see it. ^_^ though mixing work life with my personal life isn't something i really want to do...

[cardcollector]

I have found double wrapping the pack in electrical tape solves the problem. Make sure the tape is super tight. Sure it is a pain to change the batts. but you are assured there are no disconnects.

[Sidd]

If the battery pack is rattling around too much in the hilt you can always put up some grey pipe insulation and slice it up to make a little padded jacket for the battery pack

[Doc B]

Thanks, all. I guess this will just accelerate my plans to completely rewire the interior with a driver board and rechargeable batteries. I just wonder, though, all the people I know that use sabers pre-made by other companies don't seem to have this same problem. I wonder how they avoid it.

[Jedi-Loreen]

I just use a rubber band looped tightly around my battery holders and I have no issues with batteries popping out.

[Doc B]

It's not that they are popping out. Because of the springs in the pack, they have some parallel give. They're not popping out, laterally. I'll try engulfing them in electrical tape, and then I'll just have to move forward with my plans of rewiring it.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Some sound boards are very sensitive to power and even the slightest interuption of power will cause them to turn off. The US 2.5 was very bad about that. The only way around it is to not use spring battery pack. For economy and even the FX sound boards you can use a single protected Li-Ion and just solder a wire to to each end and use heat shrink to cover the battery and wires. If you plan on using a buck puck you will need at least 5 Volts so you would need 2 Li-Ions. (If they are not the protected cells you must have the correct PCB) The battery voltage and mAh needed is also determined by which LED you are using. It is recommended to use a battery pack that is around 1 volt higher than the forward voltage of the LED you are using when using a sound board.

[Doc B]

Yeah. I think part of the problem is that I used a Pololu board to make up for the fact that I accidentally used a momentary switch. The Pololu board seems really sensitive to power interruptions.