MWS 700mA Buckpuck with Charge Port

[DarkarNights]

I could be wrong, but I think R- should be on the ports center - lead.

[Darth Animus]

Ok, so, I wired up the charge port with the center lead going to the R-, and the saber turns on when plugged in. I don't know if this would fry anything, but thankfully it only flickered as I used the wrong charge plug that wouldn't fit. I will go back to standard AA's for now.

[DarkarNights]

Do you mean saber turned itself on upon inserting the charger plug (I can't imagine this)? Or did you mean that it turns on if you press the button while charging? Which you should NEVER do, per the buckpuck's instructions "only charge with switch turned off". You may damage your components by doing that. This is because the way you now have it wired does'nt take advantage of the plug's kill feature (which would be per Sloth's diagram). There's nothing wrong with how you have it wired now, as it's the way Tim designed the MWS puck to be used, just follow the safety warning . Also never use a charge plug that doesn't properly fit, because a snug fit is crucial to how these plugs are designed to function. P.S. post up a pic of your wiring just to be sure you have it right.

[Darth Animus]

The saber turned on when I tried to plug it in, (switch was off) but it turns out the port I got at an electronics store is not the same size as the one sold here, so that may be the problem... lesson learned, don't try to mix vendors :P

I had this port laying around because I had lost the retaining nut on another saber port, and the nut on this one fit, so I figured the plug would, as well. Nope. So maybe the correct part would actually work. As far as wiring, it was center negative to R- and + to R+

[DarkarNights]

I think something is wired wrong, that behavior should not occur even with the wrong plug size, because with the switch turned off there should not be a closed circuit supplying any power to the LED. Please get a picture up of your wires, because this is weird and shouldn't be happening and could cause harm to your components if left unfixed.

[Darth Animus]

Sorry its been a couple days, but here are the pics of the wiring.


The Negative is to the Center Pole, the Positive to the, well, Positive.


The wires go right to the MWS buckpuck in the correct connections.

From what I can tell from the pcb on the puck, wiring in the charge port is basically the same thing as splicing in the wires from the port directly to the battery wires.

[Darth Animus]

Ok, upon acquiring the proper, M (2.1mm) sized port, not N (2.5), things appear to be working correctly with wires just twisted on. Charger light comes on, saber stays off. The wrong port may have been shorting out with the too-large plug.

[Darth Animus]

New development... saber flashes on briefly when inserting plug, then turns off again, and appears to charge normally. Guess thats what I get for using parts from Resistor Hut. Plug seems a little loose, as well, similar to another thread I saw. And if I jiggle it, the saber flickers.

[DarkarNights]

This flickering behavior is happening with the switch in the off position?

[Darth Animus]

yup, switch off. The saber seems to charge fine when the plug is sitting naturally, but any lean towards the edges will turn on the saber, so something is shorting to bypass the switch... i may have to make sure the switch leads aren't touching the inside of the hilt. Or maybe its just a cheap port and the shut off doesnt work properly :P