Recharge port hookup

[Phiily Manyaan]

Could you tell me if this is correct?

[eastern57]

Not quite. The battery neg goes directly to the recharge port only. The other neg (on the recharge port) goes directly to the negs of both pucks. The Pos from the battery goes to both the recharge port and the switch. From the switch - you got it right.

[Phiily Manyaan]

Like so?

Sorry for the sloppiness, Apple Paintbrush is a horrid program compared to MS Paint...Only thing Microsoft got right, that and Xbox.

[eastern57]

getting closer... the battery neg goes to the recharge port ONLY, not the switch, so undo that.

[FenderBender]

Im having a problem with a recharge port that I just wired up. Its got a vader board and a 4AAA pack, I followed the diagram to the T. Everything works fine, but when I insert a kill plug ( non wired 2.1 plug) it turns just the LED on. Wierd. Any thoughts?

[Novastar]

Fender... short of me needing to physically see a photo of the wiring (and how the port is MOUNTED)...

...I'm going to venture a guess that you are experiencing the "shorting out to the hilt/body" problem that I've been trying to figure out over here on my end with two sabers of mine.

My guess is... when you insert a "dummy" metal port--it is somehow allowing current to flow through (get this)... the BODY OF YOUR SABER. Yes, that's right, the saber itself might be allowing some current to get through to the LED.

Why the LED and not the board? Well... my experience is limited, but... here's my guess. The board is isolated from the metal body... but the LED... maybe is NOT. What color LED are you using? I'm going to guess it's a Red or Red-O or Amber Lux III... although it doesn't have to be for this to occur.

Anyhow... here's a test:

* Try all of this with the port and/or all of the wiring UNMOUNTED. In other words--wires aren't all tucked away in the hilt, just testing the electronics + emitter/LED/heatsink/light, etc.

* Try your kill plug. Do you get the same result.

I'll stop there for now.

[FenderBender]

Ill test that in a little bit, though it does make sense and was running along the lines of the conclusion I was coming to. There is a little tab on the outside of the jack thats part of the kill switch, it bumps out just a tad when you plug anything into it. That maybe whats doing it. Is there any way to insulate the LED/heatsink without changing the space dynamics where its housed? I am using a green P4, and the heatsink is pure copper and sitting directly in the hilt so maybe that theory holds some water. Ill test things and see about a way to insulate the LED. Why doesn't this happen to people more often though?

[Novastar]

My guess is... it happens all the time. It sure to 'ell happened to *ME* a lot in the course of BOP I & BOP II... in different ways... with different setups... and actually, some of it was Corbin's discovery when working on the Necrolosis Staff for BOP I (since at that time, I knew jack about LEDs, sabers, circuits, etc.)...

Anyhow... I think you should try what I said. But... since you posted again with a bit more info... you can use thermal TAPE, which is usually non-ELECTRICALLY conductive... yet still dissipates/distributes the HEAT. So... yup, try that IN LIEU OF the thermal paste one might use between the sink & LED.

Personally, I've never done that--I've always found a way to prevent the short in another fashion (since it can be cut off in many ways)... but... I'm guessing that SOMEDAY I'll run into a saber on which it is impossible to go without thermal tape...

[Jay-gon Jinn]

you might also want to make sure that the wires to the led aren't touching the aluminum star pad at all, too. I've had that problem recently myself...I had stripped too much wire of the wire and after soldering the leads to the pads of the star, the stripped section of wire was touching the star and causing it to ground to the body of the saber.

[Lord Dottore Matto]

I thought I would add Erv's tut here because it is VERY clear!