Houston, we have a problem..

[JTF91]

Hey guys,

So I've actually been a member here for years.. but I've forgotten my log on details.

Recently I purchased one of Tim's Li-Ion smart chargers for one of my sabers, and was delighted when it arrived in the mail yesterday. Unfortunately I'm a big stooge, and forgot that you guys have a different power plug.

I work at an electronic retailer, so picking up an adaptor wasn't an issue.

I'm now home, and I've plugged everything in.. but It's not charging.

My setup is two 3.2V cells, so I've stuck the charger on the 7.4V setting.. I get a boot sound, and I've even got as far as it trying to fire up, but then it dies and replays the boot sound again. The light turns red for a moment (assuming to indicate that its charging) but when the boot file loops again it turns back to green.

Did I fubar it? Is it the adaptor? Please tell me I'm just a moron and It's an easy fix - I love this thing and spent a lot of time and money has been invested into it.

Thanks,

JTF

[Silver Serpent]

It sounds like the recharge port isn't wired properly. When you plug the saber in for recharging, all power should be cut off to the saber electronics.

[JTF91]

I went and tried to plug it in my pc via the RICE port that's installed.. not sure what I did, but not it wont do anything at all.

Think I may have shorted it out. Pretty devastated, thing was my pride and joy..

[Silver Serpent]

It sounds like the batteries are dead or nearly so. You'll need to show us pics of the wiring, especially the recharge port.

Once the recharge port is working properly and you get the batteries fully charged, the saber should work properly, assuming everything else is wired correctly.

[JTF91]

It has been sitting dormant for months without being recharged, that might have done something no?

I took the SD card out of it while it was running, and I've only just read that that's a big no no.. I think I might have fubared the board..

It's a little hard to take photos of the wiring, as it was custom made for me and most of the wiring is hidden in the custom chassis and main body piece. It was working perfectly when I received it, I just used it so much the batteries died, and I haven't got around to recharging them until now.

[Silver Serpent]

Li-ion batteries shouldn't be left in the discharged state for long periods of time. It may take a bit of work to get them recharged. Worst case scenario, you'll need to replace the battery pack.

Pulling out the SD card *shouldn't* mess up the board itself, but you may have damaged the SD card or its contents.

I would shoot off an email to the person who made your saber. They may have some insight into the wiring. Most sabersmiths wire up a recharge port so that all power is cut to the saber electronics while there is a plug inserted. If you can get the saber to produce the boot sound while it's plugged in, then you have a nonstandard wiring setup.

[FenderBender]

If the smith used the correct methods your pack should have a protection PCB wired to them that keeps them from discharging too much (cuts power off) or over charging. You should never be able to power a saber on while it's charging. If you can, then the recharge port wasn't wired properly and you can screw up the soundboard by trying to power it with a charger connected. Your saber needs to go to a qualified professional to be looked at and have the recharge port re-wired (assuming that's the only thing wired wrong).

[Silver Serpent]

You stated your batteries are 3.2v? At first I thought that you made a typo and meant 3.7v. Are you running LiFePO4 batteries in there? If so, you may need a different charger for that pack. Those batteries have a different charging profile than the typical 3.7v li-ion batteries.

[JTF91]

They are two trustfire 18650 cells wired together, I just looked and they are actually 3.7V, my bad. Does that mean the 7.4V setting I had them charging on was wrong?

Regardless, the entire saber is now non responsive, it does nothing when I plug it in now, not a peep. The light on the charger doesn't even change, it stays green.

I have no idea what's wrong with it, but I can tell something has gone horribly wrong. Honestly think it's ruined..

Begrudgingly, I may need to start from scratch. It's a shame, because the people I was dealing with were actually really nice and helpful, I think whatever damage has been done was of my own doing..

Spent a small fortune on this thing, it's a pain in the rear to see it become a paper weight, but these things happen. Might look into another in the near future, will get everything done by the one person to avoid this happening again though.

Thanks for your help anyway guys.

[Silver Serpent]

If they're wired in series, then the 7.4v setting is correct. If the batteries have drained below the recharging threshold, then you'll most likely need to replace the pack.

Sometimes the recharge port goes bad. Some of the older versions were somewhat fragile and tended to break easily. You may be able to fix it by replacing the recharge port, but without pictures of the wiring (or pictures of any sort at all), I can't help you further.

I wouldn't call it a paperweight just yet. It's certainly possible to repair the saber, though some fixes may be more expensive than others.

If the saber is outside its warranty period from the sabersmith, and you're uncomfortable attempting the repairs yourself, I would recommend heading over to the FX-Sabers forums and asking one of the professionals if they'd be willing to repair your saber for you.