I must be an idiot...

[thestr8metaledge]

ok I must be completely missong something here. I bought an LED saber off Ebay a while ago, and inside the hilt it was wired, and this is based off of assuming red is positive and black is negative, from the battery pack:

+ to resisitor to + on LED
- to right wire of push on/push off switch, then out of the left wire of said switch to - on LED

when I got it, it worked fine, and had a blue Lux 3.
however, the blue one broke due to twisting the emitter back on too fast (my fault entirely).

I got an amber Lux 3 and have the same setup, but when I touched the + and - wires to their respective points and turned the switch on to test it, I got nothing. I checked the batteries and they were fine. I also looked at the LED hilt tutorial and saw that it was wired differently. should I go ahead and re-wire it according to the pictures in the tutorial, or is it my resistor or what? I am at a total loss here. can someone help me out?

[james3]

Sounds like a bad connection, resistor, or LED. The switch is nothing more then an interruption in the circuit so what leg you have it on is irrelevent. Most likely it's a bad solder joint or the resistor got fried (less likely) or one of the leads has broken due to being bent and straightend to many times (most likely)
The possibility that the LED is bad is very remote but possible. Do you have a multi-meter?

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[Strydur]

Just for a second hook the battery pack directly to the LED.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

[thestr8metaledge]

I tested the LED the way you said Strydur, and it worked fine. for some reason, when I touched it to the positive and negative ends that are on the "star" points of the LED, it didn't light up (that was the way my blue one was hooked up). but when I touched it to the metal that was coming directly from the bulb itself, it started working. any idea why that might be?

[Firebird21]

I noticed that if I was holding the LED my skin was actually shorting out the connection and making the LED very dim or not light up at all.


Just thought you'd like to know that so when you test it make sure you don't touch the LED. Hold the wires to it.


I hope that helps.
If not, it's good to know.

Have you read your Thread Index today?
FAQ
Official Designated TCSS Jester!

[james3]

If you are lighting up the LED from the terminals and yet not getting anything from the solder points on the star then there is a bad connection on the board. Without looking at it I would guess that either leg is not connected to the board.

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[thestr8metaledge]

yeah I wasn't touching the LEd when I did it, but that is good to know. I figured amber wasn't gonna be as bright as blue anyways, but I'm hoping that when I pop some fresh batteries in it'll look a tad better.

[Do-Clo]

I have use amber luxeon's before and they look great, when you get fresh batteries you should see a differencce.

Do-Clo
Brotherhood of the Sith

Don't make me destroy you...

[suit_man]

yes, a fresh set of batteries make a difference in any saber.

i am a nerd, if you don't like it, i will cut you with my lightsaber