Clone Wars Ultimate Lightsaber - How-to-wire guide

[cannibal869]

I have no idea... I was just following the instructions here...
People above posted to connect the sound board LED output to the REF and CTL inputs on the buckpuck -

I tried just connecting the sound board LED out leads to the REF and CTL inputs only and nothing would happen to the buckpuck LED power leads... Then I added in the VIN+ and VIN- and power went to the Buckpuck LED output.

How should it have been wired?


EDIT: also, why do you even need the REF and CTL outputs anyway? I don't think the Clone Wars Ultimate Lightsaber board even has ramp up or ramp down ability...

[Matt Thorn]

First, allow me to apologize for cross-posting this to three threads, but I think it's pertinent to all three.

I just got my LedEngin RGGB and RGBA LEDs today packed liked precious jewelry. And I finally hit on what I think should be a good working solution for the elusive Clone Wars Ultimate Lightsaber conversion that preserves both the sound and light functions of the original. I'm posting my tentative wiring diagram here in the hope that more experienced sabersmiths can check it for flaws. Since the LedEngin LEDs are not particularly cheap, I don't want to experiment with them till I'm 99.99% sure that I at least won't fry them.

This uses the CWUL board, a LedEngin RGGB (LZ4-20MC10), a Corbin driver, three latching DPDT switches (one for each color, replacing the three push-to-make switches held down by the crystals), and one momentary DPDT switch (for turning the saber on and off). It seems to me that if the wiring diagram Eastern posted works, this one should work, too.



EDIT: The wiring for the green LEDs was wrong in the diagram. This is a corrected diagram.

BTW, the latching switches for the colors that I'm thinking of using light up in their respective colors when activated, and have a diameter of 7.4mm (0.29").

NOTE: Like all the Hasbro "toy" sabers (and even the earliest FX sabers), the Clone Wars Ultimate Lightsaber has a time-out function that kicks in if the clash sensor has not been activated for about a minute. Obviously, the Corbin driver has no such function. So if the sound side times out, the LED will remain on, and next time you push the momentary switch (I'm assuming--I haven't actually tested it), the LED will turn off, and the sound will turn on! If that happens, you could just let it time-out again, and then the Hasbro board and Corbin board will be back in sink, but if you don't want to do that, the only solution I can think of is a kill switch, either in a recharge port or as a separate "push-to-break" reset button. (As if this thing won't have enough switches--four at last count--as is.)

[Matt Thorn]

I finished my CWUL lightsaber and posted some pics and a video here.

I just thought subscribers to this thread might be interested to know that I seem to have discovered a bug in the CWUL sound board. Color mixing works fine for a while, but after a certain number of switches, red seems to become dominant, and anytime the red LED is active, the green and/or blue LEDs will not light up. At first I thought this was a problem in my wiring, but I find that if I turn it off and leave it off for a while, it returns to normal. The problem only occurs when red is activated. Green and blue still mix to make cyan.

In the original CWUL toy, you need to pop open a door and swap crystals to change colors (unless you have no crystals in, in which case the saber rotates through combinations each time you hit the activation switch), so color changes are not something you can do every few seconds. With my setup, though, you can change colors instantly, just by pressing one or more of the three color switches on the hilt. I'm thinking that this repeated changing of colors in a short amount of time triggers a bug in the board that prevents blue and green from mixing with red. To confirm this, though, I would need to try it out on an unmodified CWUL, which I no longer have. Anyone care to test this theory?

For all I know, it may be the Corbin board, or the resistor on the red LED, or just some defect in my wiring that I can't see. Since even Crystal Focus and UltraSound boards have bugs, though, it would not be surprising if a Hasbro board had a bug like this, particularly since it would be unlikely to show up in regular use of the toy.

[psab keel]

An impressive setup to say the least! I am currently planning out the schematics for a lightsaber using this same CWUL board, and I found that using a sensor that would normally be used to detect motion on a lightsaber sound board (replacing the normal clash sensor on the hasbro board) will allow the board to register a clash. This way it will allow the board to stay on longer (by sensing a clash) and not shut off after one minute of inactivity.

The down side to this is that it will register clashes merely by moving the saber, and not necessarily from impact. But considering that the board has its swing sounds and clash sounds tied together in the design (a major flaw in my opinion) it is the only solution that I have been able to come up with.

But as another plus, the thing that I discovered is that by using a motion sensor instead of a clash sensor, you have the unique feature of some of the clash sounds repeating several times, essentially giving you some unique clash sound effects.

It's kind of hard to describe in words, but when I put my saber together I'll shoot a video and post in on you tube to show you what I'm talking about.

[Matt Thorn]

I hadn't thought of substituting a motion sensor. I'll see if I have one laying around, but I'm afraid I used my last on my ill-fated AOTC Anakin conversion.

Personally, I thought the combining of clash and motion sounds was a pretty clever solution, toy-wise. As far as I know, the only Hasbro toy lightsaber that has separate clash and motion sensors is the Force Action series, and I find the sound in that series to be incredibly annoying (at least in the old version I picked up--maybe it was improved in the Clone Wars series).

[psab keel]

Heya,

Well for a toy design, I agree that it was a smart move. Fewer components and such. But for people who gut these for the sound boards, people like us, it isn't entirely accurate. But as I have said in earlier posts, you can't beat the price, and it does have some real neat features.

I'm going to be building a Luke ROTJ V3 with my sound board, and so far I am also planning on using a Momentary switching Corbin Driver.

I'll post pics and vids when it's done.

Thanks, Psab

[Noobi one]

An impressive setup to say the least! I am currently planning out the schematics for a lightsaber using this same CWUL board, and I found that using a sensor that would normally be used to detect motion on a lightsaber sound board (replacing the normal clash sensor on the hasbro board) will allow the board to register a clash. This way it will allow the board to stay on longer (by sensing a clash) and not shut off after one minute of inactivity.

The down side to this is that it will register clashes merely by moving the saber, and not necessarily from impact. But considering that the board has its swing sounds and clash sounds tied together in the design (a major flaw in my opinion) it is the only solution that I have been able to come up with.

But as another plus, the thing that I discovered is that by using a motion sensor instead of a clash sensor, you have the unique feature of some of the clash sounds repeating several times, essentially giving you some unique clash sound effects.

It's kind of hard to describe in words, but when I put my saber together I'll shoot a video and post in on you tube to show you what I'm talking about.

i have been throwing that idea around too, the only problem i have had is, it will make a clash or swoosh sound when not even moving maybe its just me but i was thinkin maybe try and come bind a force action board and cwul board don't know if it will work but just a thought.

[grey_jedi]

Right so lets say i wanted to use this in a custom saber with maybe a white lux 3 and use the sith sound on the board and keeping the speaker, sensor and battery pack how would i wire it?

Just need to work it out before i buy it

[Matt Thorn]

Right so lets say i wanted to use this in a custom saber with maybe a white lux 3 and use the sith sound on the board and keeping the speaker, sensor and battery pack how would i wire it?

Just need to work it out before i buy it

Basically you just need to do a simplified version of what I did in my diagram. You don't need the Jedi sounds, so you just don't use those wires. And since you're using just one sound, you don't need a latching switch to choose sounds, so you just hardwire the Sith sound "on." You do need the momentary DPDT switch, though (or a relay, but that's another story), because the CWUL board won't give sufficent power to the LED, so you need separate circuits for the LED and the soundboard. Just keep the battery pack below 6 volts (or else you'll need a voltage regulator to keep the CWUL board from frying) and use the right resistor for the LED.

[Clockwork]

Quick note: If the Corbin board has a PWM input, you can match the blade extension and flicker effect to the sound on the clone wars board using the PWM+ speaker terminal. I have been testing this with the Open Saber Project driver board and it works great