So i plug in the battery and......nothing.

[parsaver]

The voltage directly from the battery is 3.94 Volts. In my experience, batteilries can run a little hot, especially when fresh off the charger.

Measured at the board connectors it it is still 3.94. Measured from the little accent LED point in the middle of the board (behind the +), its coming out at 3.2v so. The board has power. I'll break everything down this weekend. How many times can you resolder a board before it doesn't like it anymore?

[Obi1]

Do not nail me down on this, but I think that the main LED+ is directly connected to battery+ on the board. If you do not have the main LED connected, you can measure also there and the full voltage should be there. 3.2V looks to me a bit too low.

Maybe you can format your card and copy the files over again. Maybe also try to plug in a kill key, if remove it afterwards, the board should play the intro sound. If it does not, it's not alive. In that case check also the wiring of the recharge port.

As to repetitive soldering, as long as you do it carefully, a few reiterations cannot hurt the board.

[parsaver]

OK so.... I rewired everything in steps checking voltage as i went. Battery was 3.9 When it was wired to the board there was 3.9 at the Supply + pad and the AUX 3.3v pad was putting out 3.27 volts. I checked the switch before hooking it up and both the momentary feature and the LED light work independently. The LED light works fine when connected to the battery by its self. so i wired everything up as shown here http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...Wiring-Diagram

The switch works and the blade lights up...although its kind of ....slow to light up. its also kind of slow to turn off (takes a half second once it starts dimming). It also takes holding the switch down for a second to cause it to activate. since I've never used one of these before, I don't know if that is normal but i assume it is. however, there is no sound.

Is there a way to test the speaker its self? I am assuming that since the switch part of the board is working, then the board is ok.....or is it possible to fry the sound part of the board and not the rest? Now i would like to determine if i have a bad speaker. Any number savvy people out there know how much voltage should be running through the speakers? anything else i might be missing?

thanks as always and HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Sounds like you may need to adjust some settings: qon deals with how quick the saber activated and offd deals with how long you need to hold the button down to deactivate, which is default at about a half a second. You may want to hit the manual again.

[parsaver]

That is good to know then. It's about a half second to activate so it appears to be working fine any ideas on the speaker? when i tried to measure the voltage from the speaker pads on the card.....i got 0.000

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

That is good to know then. It's about a half second to activate so it appears to be working fine any ideas on the speaker? when i tried to measure the voltage from the speaker pads on the card.....i got 0.000

You could have a short or a bridge somewhere. I would check for that, check another speaker (if you have one) or else the board may need repairing. If THAT is the case, you can PM Zook. He handles board repairs.

[Obi1]

You could check the speaker itself. First make sure you use the right one, so either 8Ohm or 4Ohm (although I'm not sure latter is supported), either way you should measure that impedance (e.g. 8Ohm) with a multimeter between the speaker terminals. You could also apply ~3V on the speaker and check that you hear some static... nothing else occurs to me how to check the speaker (except to try another one), unless you own an oscilloscope...
As to measuring 0V on the speaker, well I did not try for a long time, but I could imagine it's not so easy to measure a DC signal out of a PWM, but I guess integrated out it shold give you a reading other than 0V IF the board is active. If inactive, the reading is OK.

[parsaver]

I had acquired a 29mm speaker to test and nothing from it. I tried to measure the impedance and when I found out what the voltage from the NB was on the speaker pads I tried running that voltage to the speakers and nothing. I can only assume that somehow I touched something wrong and shot the amp on the NB and the process of checking and testing I manages to screw up the speaker as well. Yesterday I ordered another NB but didn't find out until this morning that the 29mm speaker will never be able to fit inside the holder, so this morning, I ordered another speaker. I feel bad for Tim having to pack up small little orders like that.

The silver lining to all this....... ill get the NB I have fixed and then ill have an extra sound card sitting around taking up space. Sooooo.....probably going to have to build another one.....

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Good. I've been following your thread on FX.

[parsaver]

Erv has that forum listed as the customer support on his website It never hurts to get as much advice as you can. Did you follow my other post over there too lol The new board will be here tomorrow and after ComicCon it looks like im going to have another order for Tim because hey....I've already got a sound card

Speaking of Tim...

I'll go more indepth on the details when I post pictures of this one when its finished but I cant say enough good things about my experiences dealing with TCSS. When you are ordering up the parts and you see the final total you think "Jesus this is expensive". then when everything gets here and you see the attention to detail in everything from the machine work and fabrications to how exceptionally well things are packed and the speed they are shipped and I thought to myself "Jesus,this is really INEXPENSIVE for what I got". I think that when the order goes around for the next one I will have everything planned a little better so its one order instead of 3-4. There is a wealth of knowledge on these forums and it really speaks volumes about some of the people involved.