First Build

[winterg]

Well, technically it isn't my "first" build. That was a Home depot special that I was rather proud of back in the day. And my second was an MR Mace Windu Conversion. But this is my first LED saber from scratch.

I hope I calculated my resistors correctly. I have watched so many videos and read so many posts and websites about Ohm's law my head is swimming.

My electronics:
Green/Green/White Cree XP-E2 CopperNova

Green: 1000mA = 3.7v

White: 1000mA = 3.15v

Li-Ion 18650 3.7V (rounded up to 4v)

Green
R = (4 - 3.7)/1 ----> 0.3/1 ----> 0.3 ohm
P = 0.3 x 1^2 ----> 0.3 w

White
R = (4 - 3.15)/1 ----> 0.85/1 ----> 0.85 ohm
P = 0.85 x 1^2 ----> 0.85 w

Am I doing that right?

For the green, I was going to use the .3ohm 1w resistor, but one of the tutorial videos by Rob, he said he always goes with a 3w resistor so I opted for the .5ohm 3w on each green LED.

Does the white FoC even need a resistor since it is only ever on momentarily? If i stick with always using a 3w resistor, would a 1.2ohm 3w work?

[darth_chasm]

There's no need to round up on your battery. They charge to 4.2 but drop to 3.7 very quickly. You can get away with a minimal resistor on the greens or dare I say, skip it and use the drive settings if you're using a plecter board.

White resistance is .55. If thats your flash on clash led then you can get away with the .5 resistor or play it safe with the 1 ohm.

[winterg]

I'm using a NBv.4 if that helps.

So I should be OK with the .5ohm 3w on all three LED, then.

[darth_chasm]

Yeah it should be fine. If you do want to save room you can change the drive on the greens to say 980 and skip the resistors. But thats totally up to you.

[winterg]

Too late. They're soldered.

[winterg]

So I have completed my first build. Rather than start a new thread, I figured I would just add on to this one.

I ordered a ton of parts after watching some excellent TCSS tutorial videos on YouTube.





Following the tutorial I wired everything up. Because I was following the video tutorial, I only used resistors on my green LED's. After reading several discussions here, I added the resistor to all three LED's for my final build.



I wired everything up without a hilt first just to make sure I was doing it correctly to help my understand what goes where and why. To my astonishment, it all worked the first time!



Drilling and taping the holes for the blade retention screw and covertec clip went off without a hitch.



Likewise, I was pretty amazed how easy the chassis was to build. I can't give enough praise to the awesome tutorials and posts here that make building a saber so fun.



I got everything soldered up and tightened down with no difficulty. It almost looks professionally done!



That first time you power up a lightsaber you build is a magical moment.



Let's see how long it take me to cut my hand off!



Thank you to all the people here who take the time to answer questions and post tutorials. You are the ones that make this so enjoyable.