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Thread: Hasbro "Blade Builder" Tear-Down Guide

  1. #1

    Default Hasbro "Blade Builder" Tear-Down Guide

    Hasbro is out with a new line of cheapie lightsabers for 2015: The "Blade Builder" series is here! I find this branding unintentionally appropriate since many of these will be stripped apart by saber smiths looking to add sound to their custom builds.

    What I present here is one possible way to take it apart to get those wanted parts without breaking them in the process. I'm sure there are other ways and probably even better ways, but this is how I did it. Hopefully knowing what it looks like inside will help others come up with their own ways or improve on the process.

    First, a few words on safety: I wore safety glasses and gloves while doing the most aggressive parts of this procedure. I suggest you do the same. The edges of the plastic can be sharp and you never know when a piece of it may break off and go flying at your face or slice up your fingers.

    Ok, now that's out of the way so let's get started.

    I started with a Luke ROTJ version.
    P1010025.jpg
    P1010027.jpg

    I took some channel-locks and twisted the plastic collar piece at the bottom of the hilt. Mine snapped off pretty easy, but make sure not to be wimpy about applying more force (use the Force!) if it's needed.
    P1010028.jpg

    Next, I stuck a flat head screwdriver in the bottom and wedged it between the inner and outer tubes that make up the bottom of the hilt. I was able to crack it open pretty far with one screwdriver, but ultimately I used two to pry it open. Combined with gloved hands, I was able to get it to crack all the way open. Part of the rib section eventually snapped enough.
    P1010029.jpg

    The sound board is near the top of the hilt as I expected it to be (that's why I started working from the bottom and moved up while cracking it open). The switch will fall out of the slot as you open it and the speaker is mounted on the opposite side (on the right in this picture).
    P1010031.jpg

    Here, I removed the single screw holding the board in. It's pretty tinny, so you'll need a smallish Philips head screwdriver.
    P1010032.jpg

    Now the board should just hang free on the black and red wires.
    P1010033.jpg

    Next, I snip the wires for the speaker (green) and the red and black power wires with cutters. That freed the board.
    P1010034.jpgP1010036.jpg

    If you want the speaker, pull it out of the other side.
    P1010037.jpg

    The wires:
    Black = Battery Negative
    Red = Battery Positive
    Yellow (x2) = Activation Switch
    Green (x2) = Speaker (16 Ohm speaker is expected! Be careful!)

    The LED is soldered to the top of the board. Positive is on the right, negative is on the left. You can solder wires right to the little solder blobs on the board or you can snip off the LED and solder wires to the nubs there if you'd prefer. The positive side is always high while the negative side only goes low when the saber is activated, so when using the FET trick, you'll want a P-channel FET.

    I have no idea how much current the board will supply; I used the FET/Transistor trick to power my LED.

    After this, it's pretty much just copy-paste from the other cheapie board guides on this forum. Wire it up the same as any of those and enjoy.

    Here is a video showing how they operate in one of my custom sabers.
    Last edited by JakeSoft; 05-12-2020 at 01:02 PM.

  2. #2

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    Great teardown. Looks like a very similar board to the Hasbro 2010 boards.

    Mind sharing a link to your FET/Transistor trick?
    When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

  3. #3

    Default

    By FET/Transistor trick, I'm assuming he means the one in this thread: http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...w-DVD-Tutorial
    We all have to start somewhere. The journey is all the more impressive by our humble beginnings.

    http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz for the lazy man's resistor calculator!
    http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...e-to-Ohm-s-Law for getting resistor values the right way!

  4. #4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Silver Serpent View Post
    By FET/Transistor trick, I'm assuming he means the one in this thread: http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...w-DVD-Tutorial
    Yup, that's the idea.

  5. #5

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    Ah, so just using a mosfet as switch.
    When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

  6. #6

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    What do I need to change the speaker to the premium in the store? A resistor I'm guessing?

  7. #7

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    I think all of the speakers that the shop sells are 8 Ohm, so if you add an 8 ohm resistor to one of the speaker wires then it'll probably work OK with the speakers that the shop sells. 8 Ohms + 8 Ohms = 16 Ohms in series.

  8. #8

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    Hey everybody. I'm working on my first saber with sound and I have looked over the old hasbro board diagrams but my electronics terminology is fairly week. Can anybody tell my what p-channel FET means in regards to using the transistor on this new board. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

  9. #9

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    When using a FET as a switch, a P-channel MOSFET will turn "on" when it's gate pin is pulled low (negative). An N-channel MOSFET will turn "on" when it's gate pin is driven high (positive).

  10. #10

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    Will wiring in a speaker from the store improve the sound quality from this board? Or is there a way to make it louder?

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