Future blade technology?

[Novastar]

Maybe that's why he called it a crack dream, lol...

Although--with Li-Ion (and Li-Polymer especially) batteries and THEIR upgrades/innovations--in addition to the LED upgrades... I say...

Only a matter of time.

As it is, there already IS a VERY conceivable battery setup for 14.4v (effectively 15v).

4 Li-Ion, 3.6v, 2400Mah "18650" cells wired for the voltage. When placed in pairs, they will fit inside a 1.5" sink tube, and take up about 5.5".

I'm sure this is a feasible amount of juice to get within a fairly reasonable amount of space.

And chances are--it's just going to get better. I'm looking forward to seeing "less wide" lithium polymer battery setups. Right now, they're almost too wide to be of much use.

[Ryma Mara]

From what I understand yeah the Li-Ion will push alot of power for a small amount but dosent ahve that great of a run time. and to me runtime is more important, I dont care if its rechargable or not, and iam sure others feel that way too.

Iam sure they would rather have more fun playing and showing off or whatever it is that you do with our hobbie here. than waiting for them to recharge more often than needed.

But thats my oppinion take it with a grain of salt.

[jedi tom]

if we're talking future lightsaber blades hows abouts a REAL LIGHTSABER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! derrrr

[Ryma Mara]

Its been talked about and currently at out technological state noone here is gonna have the funding to actually try it and if they do there gonna want to keep it to them selves.

[Novastar]

From what I understand yeah the Li-Ion will push alot of power for a small amount but dosent ahve that great of a run time. and to me runtime is more important, I dont care if its rechargable or not, and iam sure others feel that way too.

Iam sure they would rather have more fun playing and showing off or whatever it is that you do with our hobbie here. than waiting for them to recharge more often than needed.

But thats my oppinion take it with a grain of salt.

Ryma: Actually the run-time is just fine when you crunch the numbers. A SINGLE 3.6v 2400mah (18650 cell), which is effectively 4.2v initially... will get you about 2 hours and probably a bit more, but I'll be conservative of run-time.

I haven't fully tested run times, but I CAN say that my "Flange" saber, version 1, with FX board, 7.2v Li-Ion regulated to 5v (so, turning about 2+ volts into heat) running a K2...

...lasted 1 hour and 38 minutes on an initial NONSTOP test
...lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes on a second NONSTOP test

Nonstop means I never once shut it off. It got pretty hot hilt-wise, heheh. I kept triggering it during a car trip to prevent the FX board from timing out at 2 minutes (they do have that function). And remember, this was shunting about 2v+... into HEAT via the regulator. Because the FX board cannot handle 7.2v.

ANYhow. Li-Ions are also lighter weight than any other battery (lithium is the lightest metal in the periodic table), and are better for the environment... for those who care. I do.

Additionally, I think it is more "lightsabery" and future-like to HAVE a rechargeable saber... and it also doesn't limit WHERE you install your battery setup.

Also, Lithium Ion batteries pretty much maintain their voltage throughout a charge cycle, so you will not see (or hear) a "low battery". Granted, this is mainly because the PCB on the battery will cut out power to any device so that the Li-Ion cell is not discharged below something like 3v.

Finally, compartively--Li-Ion is in its INFANT stages. Alkaline has been around for years. So was EL for some time before high-powered LEDs came in to kick EL's arse.

So... in terms of real-time data and crunching numbers... Li-Ion is dandy fine.

Ryma, you may have been thinking Lithium 3.0v batteries, which are NOT the same as Lithium-Ion. Just as Lithium-polymer differs from Lithium Ion.

Lithium Polymer is often used in cell phones, laptops, etc.

You'll notice that most cell phones can last hours on stand-by... but about 2 to 3 hours on "talk" mode... About normal for handheld batteries.