Putting a Windu Soundboard into custom hilt

[TenFootNine]

Hey everyone,
since the store is all out of NB Boards at the moment I am planning on taking the electronics out of my Mace Windu and install them in one of my other hilts to add sound.
I know there are tutorial for taking apart the Windu etc,
but what do I have to look out for?
I wanted to use the battery holder and speaker section as well, so I wire the LED onto it all like in the tutorials, but what then?
If someone could write up some sentences, that would be great...
- Can I use any (latching)switch?
- Do I need a resistor (In the conversion tutorials it works without one)?
Since all the tutorials are for conversions they all retain the original housing and switch...
Is there any kind of tutorial for what I'm planning?
Any help appreciated!
Sorry again for taking up your time to help me out.

[TenFootNine]

Nobody?
Really any help appreciated.

[DarthFender]

It might help if we knew which Windu board you are referring to. I will assume that you mean either a Hasbro Force FX Mace Windu or an older Master Replicas Force FX Windu. If so, then any latching switch will work.

Also those boards dont generate enough current to overpower a high power led like the Rebels or the Crees, so no you wont need a resistor.

But what do I know, I'm just guessing at what board you have. Check for more information over in the MR/Hasbro threads.

Also the NBs will be back in stock in a couple of weeks and it's a much better option. Trust me on that.

[Whi-ja]

The Mace can be frustrating only if you're disorganized a bout the disassembly. There are lots of little bits that can get lost or mixed up with others.

It wd help to know which year and manufacturer of board you're using, but they can handle 3-6V typically and normally only put out just around 900mA and can be used with no resistors on the LED.

However, you might want to rethink using the old battery/speaker pack. By the time you fiddle around adapting all the pins and plugs and spring-activated pressure plates in there, you cd have wired up five rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (like this http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Pa...-P853.aspx)and custom speakers (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/2W...aker-P662.aspx) sold in the shop here and even thrown in a recharge port just for good measure. And as you see from the pic, you'd probably save a ton of space too, depending on whether your Mace uses the common 6x AA setup.

Other than that, the board isn't quirky or weird.
If you have a 6xAA version of the Mace, the speaker wire uses a common positive, and there are two "positive" wires comin from the battery to the board, and you can solder them to a common positive lead going to a custom battery pack if you take my advice and discard the bulky battery pack and tinny speaker that come with the Mace.
image.jpg

Oh, and please remember to electrically insulate you board. Wrap it in heat shrink or electrical yape or something if you take it from the plastic mounting where it sits in the MR Mace!

Anyway, happy building!

[TenFootNine]

First of all, thanks to both of you for the replies.
Yes, it's a MR Wundu of course.
I have now taken it apart and I would take your advice and add a custom battery pack and speaker. I wanted to use 2x 14500 LiIon which put out 7,4V together. Is that enough to power the board? A third one would push it to 10.1V... Does that work?
Also, I've taken a picture of the board housing (which I'd like to keep for various reasons). I someone could tell me (or draw in the picture) which of the 5 pins are the positives, which one is the negative, and which ones are for the speaker.
As I Said, I hate wiring
Edit: Nevermind, they are marked I have to use it without the housing nevertheless, because of space... So I have to figure out which wire does what...

So, apart from the voltage question, the only thing bugging me is the switch... The original switch slides up to activate... I guess I'll have to remove that and then see about how I solder the alternative switch

WP_20150409_14_16_54_Pro.jpg

[TenFootNine]

Ok, I am a couple of steps further now...
- Battery: Done. 2x 14500 work perfectly, at least for the board
- Speaker: Done. Hav to see about a housing though
Ordered the green LED, so I am waiting on that to try if this lights up. It should. I have put JST-Connectors whereever possible, so the LED, Switch and Battery holder will be unpluggable.

The real issue is space... I want to put this in my custom Luke ROTJ, and there is basically no space at all...
The board (which I have to take out of the housing...) barely fits in the ribbed section, and the batteries only fit with a trimmed down battery holder in the rear behind the switch.
The switch I have yet to replace (once the board survived the extraction from it's housing, since the motion sensor unit is glued down this will be a real nightmare...), but this shouldn'd be hard to do.

Apart from that, all is well.

[Whi-ja]

Dear Lord, have you fried your board yet? MRs are designed to handle 3V to 6V MAX. Two 14500 3.7V batteries wired in PARALLEL will work safely, but wired in series (pos of one to neg on the other) runs the risk of destroying your work.

[Whi-ja]

Any latching switch should do, and the Mace tutorial in the MR Conversion section of this forum answers your LED voltage (pos vs. neg) question. As for the ROTJ hilt, take a pic of anything you can't figure out if you hit a wall. TTYL!

[TenFootNine]

Thanks Whi-Ja!

Yes, Board still working despite my newbie-skills at wiring
I'm actually nearing completion, soundboard fits inside the ribbed section, LED in the neck, and Battery pack behind the switch... well...
- This is where I'm not sure what to do.
At the moment I'm using an 18650, which does the job really well, but doesn't fit all the way in the hilt.
Now when I exchange it for a 14500, the saber doesn't power up. I'm recharging the 14500 right now and will see about it then. Anything I'm missing? It should work as it is, right?
- 2nd question would be, are the any "slim" lenses out there, or can I trim the lens down? I am short by maybe 2.5 mm so the whole assembly fits in the neck... It works without the lens, but it of course isn't as bright... If I trim the lens, which side?

[Whi-ja]

I'm glad you're making such progress!

I can't think of any reason that the 14500 3.7v battery shd have trouble powering the MR soundboard as well as an 18650. The 14500 just has less current capacity, meaning you'd have to recharge it more often. If it doesn't work with the 14500 after full charge, it may be that your LEDs are drawing too much power, and the PCB in the battery (the electronic fuse box, so to speak) is shutting down the circuit to prevent battery melt-down. In that case you'd need to put slightly higher-value resistor(s) on the LEDs to make it manageable for the battery. Or you cd try another 14500 and see if its PCB will be more tolerant (get it? Engineering joke) of your needs.

For the lens, you want it centered on the LED. So if you shave one side, you want to wear them all down. A Dremel sanding wheel might be overkill. I think I'd just get a small file and manually turn the lens outer diameter against the file so that all sides are worn down the same. You want to put a bit of masking tape in the center of the lens before you start, to prevent scratching the lens durin work, and of course clean it well prior to installation.

It sounds like you're almost there. Good luck!