No worries! I looked those over and would have got them, but no holder and I despise paying for shipping from two sources. I ordered one offline with a holder in the meantime. I see some MHS sabers in the future once my buddies see even this basic one. Everyone was gun-ho for a pre-wired sparring saber, now they are just seeing basic progression pictures and subtly hinting that they would like one down the road. Linked them TCSS/MHS and they love the freedom of design.
I finished wiring & soldering my first highpower LED, and wow. 700mA was bright enough to almost fully illuminate a 4' PVC pipe.. without any diffusion or end cap. I connected my positives enough times tonight and practiced some cram-fu to ensure my build would hold up/soldering was in proper order. It does appear to be both durable and functional. Also just cut off the dimmer leads and sealed them over with electrical tape, as advised.
I cannot wait to try this setup with an 18650. I should have my blade supplies tomorrow, and hopefully will be able to share some pictures of the finished saber. I haven't done a battery life test on this one so far, but I imagine the 4 AAA's will burn out after 2-ish hours or at the very least dim substantially. 18650's should arrive in a few days.
Now, as far as 18650's go- even using a protected battery has some risks. I take its well advised to have a small "vent" hole in the extremely rare case that it malfunctions, in addition to ensuring the battery holder is snug without being airtight, right?
Thanks again for the input Miraluka! I'm enjoying the DIY aspect of this so much. I also have been playing around with a few MHS setups.. Okay, maybe its around 5-6 setups. But hey, we all start somewhere in this hobby. Hopefully I'll be able to help some new members out once I finish a few builds and pull the trigger on a MHS saber for myself down the road.
EDIT: Is it still advised to use an 18650 with a resistor over an 18650 with a 700mA driver? I do have the drivers just kind of sitting around at this point, so I figure it couldn't hurt.
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