Crystal Focus 3.0 problem - help!

[Lord Maul]

Killing a resistor = no big deal
Killing a Lux LED = no big deal (oh gee, $6-$8... not horrible)
Killing a CF = uh oh!

I think you mean:

Killing a CF = AWW SNITZ!

[Sethski]

Aw well - much as I appreciate the sensible approach, I can't help chucking myself in the deep end unprepared at times, even if it has the potential to be disastrous and embarrassing...

...I think it's part of my character, and not always a flaw, either...

...in fact, it often makes life a bit more interesting ...

...it just happens that here you have an example of the former lol...

...but you can rest assured, I won't be hurting anymore CFs in future...

...promise!

[Novastar]

Dude... *you* made a small mistake... THAT guy... made a giant DISASTER!!!

There is a gi-normous difference!!

Also--the mistake you made... that one I could see being relatively easy to do. But that spaghetti wiring (and I hate to beat a dead horse)... I mean... that's pretty tough to make. I can't imagine how many extra hours of work it would take me to create an exact replica of that. With all the tape, quick-disconnects, and, you know... just overall craziness, well... it wouldn't even fit in any of MY hilts (there's about 19 working sabers over here)...

Anyhow. No comparison. Darwin award has been bequeathed, and YOU did *NOT* win it. You didn't even come close.

Thankfully!

[eastern57]

Just out of curiosity, what was the verdict on your board, Sethski? What was the issue? And was it resolved?

[Novastar]

Myself also. I have a feeling that he might have blown the LED driving circuitry, and it defaulted to the failsafe backup.

[Sethski]

Sorry, I never did update on the outcome of this...

...I had indeed set up some of the stuff on the wring side of the recharge port, but I was lucky not to totally kill the CF, but rather just to damage a component on the board which needed replacing - Erv did this in quick time for a minimal charge (very reasonable considering how it came about) and the CF has for some time had a very happy home in the Parks Qui-Gon that I converted.

(I made a thread on it here http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...ead.php?t=4135)

Novastar - I think it was the LED part that was knackered. If you remember, it just lit the blade with no variation or effects when there was power to the board.

I count myself lucky that I didn't kill it completely - and I do feel I've learnt a bit since then

...although I'm still paddling in the shallows - currently sketching on napkins stage of a custom saber design, which will be the next big step for me - theme is something that has the look of a futuristic industrial cutting tool

[Novastar]

No worries Seth... and btw that is a SICK saber there! Such a nice replica. I said hello in your post...

As to the lighting... well--it's a good thing to mention to folks--Erv has created a "failsafe" that basically handles the driving of the LED if the board either crashes (rare), or if the LED driver hardware is somehow damaged or otherwise rendered inoperable. If you think about it... he really DID think this through because without the failsafe--the LED and many other components on the board could get ZAPPED!

And don't feel alone! I had two "intermediary" versions of CF... both v2.61. This was neither 2.6 nor 2.5 nor 2.63 nor 3.0. BUT... unfortunately--the 2.61 had some problems. Long term ones. Over time--Erv found that the code would (in a manner of speaking) "overwrite itself"!!!! D'oh! What would happen is... I'd get random "freezes/crashes" every now and then... and as the days went by... they'd crash more and more often! Impossible to predict too. Sometimes it would happen 2 minutes in... sometimes never that day!

Sucks, huh? No worries--as we all know Erv to be the stand-up jedi master he is, naturally he offers to upgrade the boards for me, and so... we do it. Pretty cool.

But... to relate to your point... my boards would consistently "freeze" into EXACTLY the state that you mention--only minus the sound. LED would be frozen in some solid light state... and nothing would work except for using the kill switch... yikes.

Since then, the problem has been eliminated.

[Sethski]

Novastar - it was doing what yours did then, symptom-wise - it was also without sound.