Has anyone else had this problem?

[TRex]

I turned on my sabers today to admire them, as I often do, to find out that when I turned them off all they did was get dimmer. It took them a solid 15 - 20 seconds to turn off entirely. I've never seen this happen before with them, they've been in perfect working order since construction and have yet to be used for sword play. And the really odd part is they both just started doing it at the exact same time. They're both running royal blue rebel star LED, with the appropriate wiring setup (purchased the modular wiring kit) and a red guarded button. I know next to nothing about electronics in these so I figured this would be my best bet.
Anyway, thank you in advance. Hopefully somebody knows what's happening.
Ed

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Do these have any sound boards in them? I know that with some of the MR/Hasbro sound boards when the batteries get low they can do strange things like that. I would try changing/charging the batteries and see if that fixes your problems.

[Strydur]

This may be a issue with the buckpucks. According to the manufacturers it is fine to wire a switch to the ctrl/ref wires and when you close the switch it turns off the output. The way this works (if I understand it correctly) is like shutting off a hose by kinking the hose rather than shutting off the valve. So when you are turning the saber off it may just take a little bit for it to fully kink the flow. If this becomes a issue I will switch to cutting off the power side and just use 4 wire buckpucks for the MWS.

[TRex]

Do these have any sound boards in them? I know that with some of the MR/Hasbro sound boards when the batteries get low they can do strange things like that. I would try changing/charging the batteries and see if that fixes your problems.

There's no sound board in it, I wasn't feeling brave enough to try and add sound in. The batteries are pretty new and the saber's spent less than 1/2 hour total time on.

This may be a issue with the buckpucks. According to the manufacturers it is fine to wire a switch to the ctrl/ref wires and when you close the switch it turns off the output. The way this works (if I understand it correctly) is like shutting off a hose by kinking the hose rather than shutting off the valve. So when you are turning the saber off it may just take a little bit for it to fully kink the flow. If this becomes a issue I will switch to cutting off the power side and just use 4 wire buckpucks for the MWS.

If that's the case that puts me at ease somewhat, I was going crazy trying to figure out what the problem could be. Next time around I'll try to wire things up myself, using some of the other components you have for sale. My only problem is I'm not at all electrically inclined, so that will be an adventure and a half.

[Silver Serpent]

If you'd like to change it up with the existing parts, it's not terribly difficult. Be sure you have the following: Soldering iron, solder (60/40 leaded solder is excellent), and heatshrink. Wire strippers are helpful as well.

Step by step instructions:
Disconnect everything (especially batteries)
Locate the wire on the buckpuck that is labeled "VIN-" (it should be black) and cut it in half. Cut off the JST connector for your switch.
Trim a bit of insulation off the 4 freshly cut wire ends, and tin the wire with a bit of solder.
Slide a small piece of heatshrink onto the wire leading from the buckpuck.
Solder the wire leading from the buckpuck to one of the switch wires.
Slide heatshrink onto the other switch wire, and then solder the remaining two wires together.
Move the heatshrink so it covers the new solder joints, and heat gently with a lighter until it shrinks tight.

You can then plug it all back together, and just ignore the buckpuck's JST plug that you previously connected the switch into (REF/CTL)

I don't know your level of electrical experience, so I kept it as simple as possible.

[TRex]

Thank you for the instructions. My electrical knowledge and experience is non-existent. I actually had no idea what you meant when you said tin the wire until I got further into the sentence. My next project is going to be all done by hand so I need to learn how to do everything. That will definitely help me though, especially now that I know what "tinning" is. I'm going to check back here when I order all the wiring parts and make sure I get everything I need to hopefully do things right the first time.

[Silver Serpent]

In the meantime, since you've said your experience is non-existant: http://youtu.be/AOdnGUMi7lQ

It's a really great soldering tutorial by Erv. If you haven't heard of him yet, he is the guy that designs and builds the BEST saber sound cards in the world!