Jay Gon's RLSA EL saber conversion (CF V4)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

So the next thing I decided to do with this one was to modify the original "clicky" switch to include a momentary....yes, I know it's not necessary with a CF but I might want to swap it out someday for an Ultrasound and then I'd have a switch all ready for it. So, I used my hobby knife to and a small flat screwdriver to pry it apart:

Here's all the pices:

I won't be using the spring, so I'll set that aside....first thing to do is to hollow out the bottom of the swich housing:

Next, I took the white piece of the switch plunger assembly, and using my cutting pliers, snipped off the cap-end:

This will allow the metal piece to go all the way up into the plunger, leaving a bit more room for the tactile switch's button.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The switch re-assembles like so:




I checked the fit, and it needed a bit more material removed for the electrical contacts to clear, so I used the rotary tool and removed a bit more material, then soldered wires to the tactile:

[Jay-gon Jinn]

And then re-assembled the switch:

With that out of the way, I made up the mount for the Aux. button:

I'll be using the same method for mounting this button as I did for the recharge port:

I'll use some hot glue to hold it place:

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I then soldered up the negatives for the switches to the negative battery terminal on the recharge port:

Wow....look at all the wires!

I hope this works.....they should line up inside the hilt like so:

[Jay-gon Jinn]

So, does it all fit? Well, yes, and no. Here's the electronics going in:

I slid the battery holder with the CF mounted on it into the saber, and then squeezed and compressed the pvc holders for the recharge port and the aux button together, and pushed them into the hilt:

Once the recharge port and the button post hit the holes, they should snap into place.....

SUCCESS!!
(well, sort of....read on!)
This worked very well, I must say. The button clicked just fine, and the recharge port port was held securely in place...the only problem was, there was very little room to get into the hilt to install the main switch...after some finaggling around with a couple of screw drivers and a maglite so I could see what I was doing, I got it in place:


Here in this next pic, you might be able to make out how the pvc holders fit:


Unfortunately, though, these holders are hard to remove...which I had to do, as I found out that there just wasn't enough room for the battery pack and the wires to compress into....and it caused a short on the recharge port. I caught it very quickly, so I don't think htere's anything to worry about as far as the CF is concerned, it was just the batteries that got hot. This has since been corrected, but now I'm going to replace the 4-AA battery holder with a 2-AA and use some Li-Ion Trustfires instead of the Tenergy NiMH batteries. Live and learn.....

I still need to get the configuration files on the MicroSD card set-up for this saber anyway, so I'll have plenty of time to ork on that while i wait for a new battery holder from TCSS.

[gundamaniac]

I like your setup very much and was in fact considering something similar for Obéissance. But I didn't go through with it (for a couple of reasons, including the difficulty of removal). So I'm just wondering...how did you go about removing the pvc'd recharge port and switch?

[Lord Maul]

I was wondering how you got the recharge port to stay on the PVC. Did you hot glue it, or did you put the nut on?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

So I'm just wondering...how did you go about removing the pvc'd recharge port and switch?

Very carefully with a screwdriver, by prying up on the edge of the pvc holding the rechargeport. The gaps in the pvc allow it to compress just enough to push the port back up through the hole, and then using another small screw driver, pushed it out into the hilt. When I removed the aux button, the glue came loose, and I just pushed the button out, and pulled out the pvc holder. I have it all re-glued, and ready to go back into the hilt now, but that will have to wait until I get the new 2-AA battery holder and batteries. I won't be ordereing those until Monday or Tuesday, though.

I was wondering how you got the recharge port to stay on the PVC. Did you hot glue it, or did you put the nut on?

Forced-fit and screwed in the hole in the pvc, Maul.

[Er Dan Gill]

Forced-fit and screwed in the hole in the pvc, Maul.

That was what I was wanting to know, specifically how you mounted the recharge port to the PVC.

[B5813]

Really appreciate the step-by-step pics. Gives me a new way of thinking about mounting switches which is always the part I dislike most.