Double ended "Glow Staffs": Input on design and electronics

[Bescherman]

I may have to see if I can try a few different thicknesses and test to destruction!!!!

I like your way of thinking!

Hey, it's gotta be done! Once you've made 'em you've gotta break 'em to find out what they can take!

As you are going for double ended spinners, i would not be too worried about how much the hilt weighs. Balance would seem to be far more important, from what i can surmise. From the spinning i have done with the single and double sabers that i have made, the single is more cumbersome, but that is due mainly to the balance. The double saber i have the same amount of crud inside both halves of the hilt, and it spins just dandy, i don't get tired out from it like i did with my single saber before i made adjustments with it to achieve better balance.

I agree that balance is by far the most important criteria and that's my main aim with the "hilt" section. However, in brief discussions with another local staff spinner he was firmly at the opinion that the weight should be at the ends and most staffs were too light.

I'm not taking this as something I HAVE to do, as I'm aware that thick polycarbonate has a reasonable amount of weight. However it's food for thought so I want to keep the hilts as thin and light as poss. I'm also thinking of investigating some sort of rubber "balls" on the end for extra protection and weight.

I reckon that I'll be in a position to order a stock of MHS parts from Tim soon to build a prototype.


Another 2 Questions that occured to me last night:
- Do I need different battery/ LED configurations for different Luxeons, if so what?
- What is the implication of running two Lux III, K2 or Lux V LEDs off the same battery pack?

I know that K2s require more milliamps and Vs more voltage. K2s will drain a battery quicker than Vs due to the mA draw.

If I run the batteries in parallel then the Voltage stays the same but the mA (current) increases so I'm guessing this would be better for K2 LEDs.

Batteries in series = higher voltage but lower current so I'm guessing this would be more suitable for Lux Vs.

I am aware that you can run a mix of series/parallel to increase both voltage and current.

As for running 2 LEDs off the same pack, I'm not really sure if I need to run them in series or parallel or how this affects the voltage and current. I'm an electronics newb so I get confused easily!

Any help on any of the above topics would be appreciated! Thanks

[supertrogdor]

I don't profess to be an electronics genious, but as long as you have the right resistors between the power and the LEDs you should be fine. If it was me i would pick a battery pack with sufficient voltage and run your positive lead strait to the switch and split the line after that with the resistors that correspond with the appropriate LED. You shouldn't have a problem running 2 LEDs off the same pack, unless a spinning show requires your staff to be illuminated for a really, really long time.
there are charts here that will tell you what resistor to use for what LED, or you can go here

[Bescherman]

Thanks for the link supertrogdor (BURNINATION!). Tim gave me the same one in a different thread so it's obviously well referred to!

I'm reluctant to use resistors to bring the voltage/current/whatever down as they gobble up power and lead to a shorter runtime.

I'm looking at buckpucks but I don't fully understand them yet. I need to do some more reading before I start asking questions.

I'll probably need to use resistors in the 555 circuit (for the strobe), in fact I'll DEFINATELY need a variable resistor (potentiometer) if I want to make the strobe speed variable. However, the fewer the unnecessary resistor the better! ....probably.

I'm looking at potentially making my own NiMh battery packs (with a shrink wrap casing) depending on the whole voltage/battery chemistry/different luxeons/blah blah blah issue.

[jjshumpert]

now dont quote me on this but i believe that if you are running like luxs' then the wiring will be nearly identical to a single blade setup... lets say you picked up tims 5w green electronics kit plus an extra 5w green, you should be able to wire it as you would in a single blade hilt, with 2 leads past your resistor, each going to a positive on a lux. then you could come from your negative terminal on the battery pack and do the same split to each lux and it should lite up. doing that will allow you to run both lux on one switch.

it might also be a good idea to have two battery packs wired together in sequence like what mr did on the luke and mace led sabers. the power and resistors would all be the same but you would have twice the battery life

[LAN-ED-TUL]

im not sure on that, let the pro guys answer that one.

i think trogs more on the line tho.

and if your tryin to use one large pack to run 2 lux's, sorry, you'll HAVE to resistor them im sure. on a buckpuck, do-clo has used them, and still runs a resistor on it as well.

if you dont well, POP go the LEDS

[Bescherman]

now dont quote me on this but i believe that if you are running like luxs' then the wiring will be nearly identical to a single blade setup... lets say you picked up tims 5w green electronics kit plus an extra 5w green, you should be able to wire it as you would in a single blade hilt, with 2 leads past your resistor, each going to a positive on a lux. then you could come from your negative terminal on the battery pack and do the same split to each lux and it should lite up. doing that will allow you to run both lux on one switch.

it might also be a good idea to have two battery packs wired together in sequence like what mr did on the luke and mace led sabers. the power and resistors would all be the same but you would have twice the battery life

It would be interesting to run more batteries in whatever configuration if it allowed for a longer battery life with no "bad" effects. I'll have to look into it.

im not sure on that, let the pro guys answer that one.

i think trogs more on the line tho.

and if your tryin to use one large pack to run 2 lux's, sorry, you'll HAVE to resistor them im sure. on a buckpuck, do-clo has used them, and still runs a resistor on it as well.

if you dont well, POP go the LEDS

"POP" goes the weasel!

I suppose that I'm thinking the more resistors I run the more it gobbles up power. I need to educate myself now then come back with more specific questions once I know what I'm talking about. I guess some of this stuff will be on the forums if I look in the right place.

If anyone can give me some leads on my last questions that would be great. A point in the right direction will be fine, I don't necessarily need it spelled out in this thread.

Thanks so much to all who have chipped in so far. I'm gradually pulling together all the pieces of the puzzle!

EDIT: Found this about the series parallel thing. The question has been asked/answered before: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/fo...light=buckpuck

Not too much joy on finding out more about Buckpucks or drivers but I'll have a look round after work... ormaybe tomorrow since it's Valentine's day and I'm going out with the lass!

If anyone has anything to add to this from experience though, please do. I'm still not sure if one setup is better for Vs and one for K2s but I think I can work it all out from the info I have. Just have to go to work now.

[supertrogdor]

I need to educate myself now then come back with more specific questions once I know what I'm talking about. I guess some of this stuff will be on the forums if I look in the right place.

This is soooooo refreshing, keep us posted on your questions Bescherman, we are more than happy to answer anything we can for someone with this attitude.