Parts Idea

[Jordandau]

Today's paper had a coupon to Harbor Freight for a free led flashlight, no purchase necessary. I was in the store to pickup a multimeter anyways, so a bonus keychain light is nice.
I noticed that it has a switch and AAA battery holder in it. I haven't built anything yet, but would this switch or battery holder work for saber applications? I know that the AAA only supplies 4.5V so I might need two of them and a resistor or buckpuck right?
Bear with me a bit here; I'm still reading up on the different kinds of switches and what they do, but would the included switch work for a saber? Still not sure which setup needs latching or momentary switch, or even which one does what or what this is .

[TimeRender]

AAA batts supply 1.5v, not 4.5v.

[Sunrider]

Woah easy turbo. Slow down, you will need a solid plan for building a saber. First you must decide on a setup. There are many. Your parts will depend on your setup. Spend some time researching the different setups that people use then start putting together a list of parts for your own design.

Making a saber may seem simple at first but one cannot study enough.

[Jedi-Loreen]

It's a 3AAA holder, so the total voltage is 4.5V. I have some flashlights like that. I've heard of people using the battery holders for lightsabers.

It's not a bad idea, though I don't know why you think you'd need two of them. 4.5V is more than enough to power a Lux III or any other LED in the Store but the Lux V. You just need to use the Resistor Chart on the Store page to determine the right resistor you need for a direct drive circuit. Or it will power a Hasbro econo or FX board.

Not sure how practical it would be to try and reuse the switch.

[Jordandau]

It's a 3AAA holder, so the total voltage is 4.5V.

It's not a bad idea, though I don't know why you think you'd need two of them. 4.5V is more than enough to power a Lux III or any other LED in the Store but the Lux V. You just need to use the Resistor Chart on the Store page to determine the right resistor you need for a direct drive circuit. Or it will power a Hasbro econo or FX board.

Not sure how practical it would be to try and reuse the switch.

Thanks Loreen, good to know I'm retaining some of this info. I did buy two hasbro's recently so the AAA's should work fine. I know the tutorial's have been talking a lot about this recently. If you guys don't mind, I'm having trouble finding a lot of info about the different types of switches, is there a tutorial for those? I'm interested in knowing the why's not just, "use a latching switch on a hasbro and a momentary on this one". Just trying to learn.

[Jedi-Loreen]

I don't know why I missed those pics you posted. That's the flashlights I have, I bought a 2 pack a couple months ago.

Interesting little switch, maybe it could be used, if you can figure out how to mount it.


I don't think there's any kind of list for what switches to use with what. I just know from reading and talking to people.

It basically goes like this:

Latching Switch:

Direct drive with resistor or buck puck

MR or Hasbro FX boards


Momentary Switch:

Economy Hasbro boards

Ultra Sound

Saber Sound

Crystal Focus Saber Core (though this can be configured
in the software to use either a momentary or latching switch)


Drivers

Luxeon 3W Driver V2- can be ordered in either latching or momentary configuration

Adjustable Driver- I'm not sure which switch this needs



If I missed anything, then hopefully someone will add to the list.

[Jordandau]

Thank you so much, I've been digging around and haven't found anything that concise yet. The switch from the lights shouldn't be too hard, I only looked at it for a minute. I'm in the middle of moving so when I can sit down and tackle all of this I'll let you guys know if I'm successful at using these.
One more quick question, what is the difference between DPDT and SPST and why would you use either?

[Jedi-Loreen]

Read this page first, especially the part called Contact arrangements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch

You will probably still questions, even after you read this.

But you will have more of an understanding, then I can explain how we use these switches in this hobby, if someone doesn't beat me to it.

There is some info in the FAQ section here about what SPST, SPDT, DPST, and DPDT stand for, but now how the contacts are set up and how they are used.