How is the battery pack secured?

[Phaeron]

Hi all. I'm new around here and am preparing to build my first saber. I've been reading the tutorials and deciding on the different components I want to use. I haven't really seen this explicitly addressed anywhere so I was wondering... how are the battery pack and driver/sound board (if I choose to use one) secured inside the hilt?

If I am swinging my saber around I don't want the batteries sliding up and down damaging things.

Thanks in advance for the help and I'm sure this is just the first of many noob questions to come

[987654321a]

the batteries are going to be secured in a battery holder, and dont worry there would be so much wiring in it so that the batteries wouldnt damage the saber itself.

[Ryma Mara]

I would suggest some tape to keep the batteries in and to keep the pack from braking. then wrap it with something to keep ti from flopping around inside.

I cracked my battery holder when I dropted it last. Iam to the point to where Iam saying to hell with it, I drop it I drop it.

[987654321a]

for the 4AA or 4AAA for mhs you dont need tape it fits snugly in the hilt. but for the 9 volts you need something for it.

[Madcow]

Good question Phaeron,
Depending on your sabers design there are many things you can do. I like to make foam or rubber spacers between components, they keep everything tight and in place. They can also help keep things like sound boards from making accidental contact with the metal inside of a hilt - to avoid shorts.

MC

[Novastar]

I agree with Madcow, and it's sure he's been making sabers A LOT longer than me...

The recommendations I can give are as follows:

* If possible, avoid cheapo battery "spring" packs--ESPECIALLY when using "momentary" button setups. If the springs briefly lose contact with the batteries during sabre "action" (or saber gesture detection as Erv says, hehhe)... the driver board will shut off and won't come back on until you press the button again.

This is hardly surprising, considering the "clash" sensor on an MR board... is a spring.

This is also why I prefer rechargeable batteries and adding a recharge port. Batteries that are soldered in place... can't run into the above momentary vs. latching issue. Less fiddling around with batts / de-construction too.

* Isolate EVERY wire/solder joint/copper area that you can. This means by tape, by padding, by whatever. By doing this, you rule out short-circuits or grounding issues coming from all over the place. If you have a problem AFTER you do this--you can bet that it's a broken connection... and not just a tough-to-find short/ground.

* TEST your leads/solders! Since your solders are having to stand up against dueling (ok, we'll call it 'spirited dueling' like Hyperdyne does)... if you can break you solder joint by pulling on it a little... it sucked road nachos to begin with. Punish a solder joint a bit first... BEFORE wiring up! If it shows no signs of fear... you're cool and the gang.

There's more but that's good for now...

[Phaeron]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the feedback. I like the idea for foam padding. The thing is, I plan on using a sink tube as I really want to "make" my own saber, not just snap one together like from the MHS.

Is there going to be enough room in a standard sink tube hilt for the battery pack, driver and sound boards, speaker, etc? Will everything fit?


Oh and I have been reading some basic tutorials on soldering and the like but I was wondering if there are any good, cheap projects I could get some practice on before trying my saber? I don't want to fry anything due to lack of experience.

P.S.
Oh and btw I am not in any way suggesting or implying that using the MHS is somehow worse or an easy-mode way to get a saber or anything... I just feel that the experience I am looking for will best be met by designing and cutting up my own tube. However, I will definitely be utilizing things like the MHS to sink tube adapter, as well as all the electronics here in the shop.

[Lord Maul]

when i first soldered, i just did it on spare wires. i did 2, 3, 4, and 5 wire joints, and haven't fried anything yet

[Jay-gon Jinn]

You should also have plenty of room inside your sink tube for all the electronics. I built one using a combination of MHS parts and a sink tube, and have a ton of room inside for the electronics. It was also suggested to me to wrap the battery pack in bubble wrap to keep it from moving around inside the hilt. It works pretty good, and you'll get some from Tim in the box your stuff comes in, too! If you do this, I'd als o suggest using a rubber band or a hair/pony tail cord wrapped around the battery pack to keep them from falling out, if you use the 4 AAA pack in the hilt electronics kit.

[LAN-ED-TUL]

to support all of my hasbro boards i used in my built sabers, i used a trophy collomn i got for free from a trophy makin place.

the ones i got, were al;il bigger than the hilts, so a lil sanding down the outsides to fit perfectly inside the hilt, and the centers are drilled out for the bolts they run thru them to make the trophys, so a lil dremeling the inside out a bit more, and then make a cross cut with a hacksaw blade down the inside on opposite sides so the hasbro board slides right in like on rails. with just enough snug to keep it in place. run the led wires out one end, and the speaker wires and speaker out the other.

on the led end, i take the mothion and impact sensors and use a small wood screw to mount them right to the rim of the colomn. i have done 3 sabers like that, and all work perfectly.

of course i make a wood or pvc pip ring spacer for the speaker front , and another for the back side to keep anything from smackin it, and it movin around. these are loose enough they will slide out to be able to get the batt pack out.

i use a thin foam sheet wrapped around batt pack holder just to help from arcing out on hilt JUST in case.