Help with wiring an AV Latching Switch

[blakejolly]

Hi guys,

New to the hobby, getting started by building a semi Starkiller-inspired piece. I've been looking over my wiring stuff and I realised that I'll need different resistors for the AV red circle latching switch from TCCS than I'll need for the Luxeon. I'll be using a 9V battery, as I'll need the Vs. I'm using a Luxeon Tri-star, red, 6.3V, and 700mA. I'm going to use a buckpuck on that.

Where I'm confused is how I should rig a resistor for the AV switch. It runs at 2.1V and 20mA, and I'm not sure on either the resistor I should use, or exactly how to wire it up in relation to the rest of the electronics. I've read through all the stickied wiring guides, but they didn't really cover this. Apologies if this has been dealt with elsewhere, I spent a few hours over the last week or so looking through the forums for information specific to this question, but unfortunately turned nothing up. Search function gave me zip, so I thought I'd post and see if anyone knew.

Cheers,

Blake.

[Silver Serpent]

9v batteries are a very poor choice for LED lightsabers. They're not designed for the power output we need in this application. I would strongly advise you use 2 Li-Ion batteries instead and make a 7.4v pack out of them.

http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz will help you select an appropriate resistor. Wire your switch LED in parallel with your main LED, and they should both turn on at the same time. Be sure each LED has the correct resistor wired in series with it. If you get them mixed up, you'll likely blow out one or the other (or both).

I know some of the tri-star LEDs have issues with optics. It can be difficult to find tri-star lenses that illuminate a blade properly. Just something to be aware of. I know some people have had success with them.

[blakejolly]

Cheers, I think I've worked out the wiring issues. On the battery issue though, I can't use only 7.4V as I think I need more to actually power the whole thing. Is is possible to wire 2 Li-Ion batteries together? This of course means that I'd have to look into recharge ports, etc, which I was kinda hoping to avoid on a first-time-around build. :P But thanks for the reply, it's given me something (else!) to think about.

[Silver Serpent]

From what you've listed, the highest power item you're running is the 6.3v Lux red LED. A 7.4 pack would be more than enough to run that.

Yes, it is possible to wire two Li-Ion batteries together. Azmaria Dei has put together a wonderful tutorial on this. http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...-Battery-Packs

Remember that a single Li-Ion is 3.7v, so to make a 7.4v pack, you need two batteries in series. Recharge ports aren't terribly difficult. If you're already making the jump to building Li-Ion packs, you might as well wire in a port as well.