plecter sabercore V2.0 help!

[Reaver]

Hi, anyone who has bought the plecterlabs sabercore V2.0, I have wired it up according to what I've gathered is the right circuit (see wiring diagram I have drawn below).

I have a problem with it though. It is drawing too much current from the batteries, and tends to drain them in under 2 minutes, like I can see the pack's voltage going down and down every second when I apply the multimeter to the battery terminals.

I am using 4x AA NiMh 1.2v rechargables (energiser), and I have wired in the recharge port as a power switch (if you know the plecter board, it has 2 switches, one that boots it, and another one that activates the light and sound). It all works how it should, only eats the current up very fast like it should'nt.

can anoyone who has used the plecter boards give me any suggestion of why this might be happening, or generally even if you hav'nt and you know alot about electronics, and know the nature of current etc. give me some advice.

thanks
-Reaver

[Reaver]

by the way, just ignore the 2.8v I put there.

[Novastar]

When you say that it eats current "faster than it should"... what do you mean?

1. Does the entire board function? (light, sound, clash, etc.)

2. Did you set the current draw going to the LED correctly in the config.txt file?

3. Do you mean it sucks more current than "normal" when the board is "shut down", aka idle?

Erv's older board versions draw anywhere from 10ma to 20ma (yes, it's a lot) even when your switch is off. This is *mainly* because of the SD card, but also because of the accelerometer as well. And sure a few more things.

In his newer versions, the current draw is down to @6ma... although that is "technically" more than what a "normal" circuit would run.

Then again--the SD card is sucking down alot, and how is that Erv's fault (for the record)... At least it is programmable.

[vortextwist]

I don't think he's blameing anyone, just wanting to know if it's wired right.

[Novastar]

I didn't mean it to sound that way--I'm simply saying, I myself learned from Erv that the reason for the "suck down" was the SD card. Makes sense when I think about it since it was made for a PC, and the programming for an SD is ****REEEAAALLLY**** involved, since it has to do with an operating system.

This is one of the main reasons Erv chose to go with the SD for the programmability portion of the Crystal Focus. Most other options (most--not all)... are rife with problems.

Unfortunately, the SD card has so much "gunk" to it, it sucks down a THRONG of current.

[vortextwist]

good to know, hopefully I can get one sooner or later.

[Reaver]

Hi Novastar,
yes the board functions as it should, sound, light, boot sound etc. I hav'ent actually changed the settings in the .txt file, just left as default and hav'nt checked them. I might go back in and check them.

but how long does your saber go for? as long as an MRFX?

no id does'nt idle or take current when its shut down. and i've put the recharge plug setup there for a boot switch, and that works fine, does'nt draw current. what points would I check to see if the board is taking too much current from somewhere?


cheers -
Reaver

[Novastar]

Ok, so if you're basically using the recharge port as a general power switch as well (I do that on my v1.2 boards), you should be good on not allowing the board to draw too much current from the batts...

Sooo... my guess is that you need to check to be certain that the config.txt file has the correct LEDcurrent value set for your particular LED.

Refer to Erv's site for the calculations to get it right for your LED.

I can tell you that mine is set to 60, which is basically 1.3A of current. Then again, my LEDs COULD take 1.5A (K2 green, also Lux III Red) but the v1.2 Crystal F don't support so much via a software limit.

[neophyl]

For the sake of testing the board, remove the recharge port from the circuit and just wire it up directly.

Also check for any solder bridges around the power pads, luxeon pads and any other place you have soldered wires on too.

A set of 2000ma batteries should last for a couple of hours at least and even though the board has a largish quiescient current its not that much. a 20ma draw will still take 200 hours to flatten a fully charged pack.

One other thing to check is that your batteries are actually being properly charged. I had a friend tell me his sabre only lasted 30 minutes. Turned out his automatic charger was cutting off way too soon and only partially charging the batteries.

[xwingband]

I didn't see a bit of what kind of "contact key" he's using. wiring the recharge port like that only does you any good if you have one.

Posting from South Dakota. It's 8:30 and the sun isn't set... lots of Amish. Weird place.