Saber Forum

I don't know really where to start with this, but I have been working on upgrading a stunt BR Dark Sentinel v4 from single to tri-red. Purchasing a LED from another site (pre-wired and ready for install) along with a lens, the upgrade was successful; however, the lens was frosted, did not fit deep enough into the heatsink of the original module, and the light was rather dim than the single diode before it. The friend who helped me solder it all together a few months ago superglued the lens to the board, so about a week ago attempted to use a little acetone on some Q-tips to loosen the glue and remove the lens. At first, it was going well when I took a battery out to pry up a little bit to loosen the lens, but when I put the battery back into the pack and tested whether the led was still working, I forgot to remove the battery before using a small screwdriver to pry up across the wires to the board. When I was finished removing the lens, I suddenly realized my mistake, evidenced by the led not lighting up at the push of the AV switch.

Thinking I just fried the LED I bought the first time, I bought another one that was cheaper than the first one. To my dismay, it wasn't pre-wired, so I decided to do it myself. With only arc and MIG welding experience, it took me a little while and a few videos to get comfortable enough to solder the board myself. However, I managed to overdo the solder joints the first time (positive & negative leads were touching, but I foolishly still tested whether it would light), so I had to go out and buy a desoldering wick to fix that mess. Once I redid it all, I put the wires from the led and the saber into a quick connect wire splice, reinstalled the batteries after they were recharged, pushed the button.... and still nothing.

TL;DR: I may have shorted out either my second replacement LED, the switch, both, or something else entirely. Any and all assistance would be great.

I'm totally confused about what exactly you are talking about. When you are taking about "the board" I get lost. Stunt sabers do not have a board, or what I think of as a board. It has a battery holder, switch, some kind of resistor, and LED module.

Can you include any pictures to show what you did and the "board" you are taking about?

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

The "board" is probably a reference to the star pad the LEDs sit on. That's the only board I can think of.

Could you please provide some pictures? They'll be helpful for us to help you.

I think he's talking about the LED chip but the OP should provide pictures just so we can be sure

He's definitely talking about the LED since the lens wouldn't make any sense anywhere else than on the LED pad ;) But pics will help for sure.

My apologies folks, it seems I got my terminology confused. This is what I am referring to:

(https://i.imgur.com/WElm78x.jpg)


Now does what I'm saying make sense?

So you glued the lens down to the LED circuit?

I would start new, might as well do it right. There should be no need to glue anything down, the LED, lens, and heat sink all go together to form one piece.

If you are not sure what you are doing go to YouTube and watch some videos. Not trying to push you away from here but seeing it done helps much more then it's trying to tell you.

After some research if you still have questions we can help. By the way you can always buy the LED out together with the heat sink here (LED module) or buy pieces at TCSS.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I have to agree. The best you can do right now is to start all over again, with new parts as you don't know what you might have damaged. I also suggest that you watch some tutorials to get familiar with soldering and LED wiring (in addition to the help from our forum) or - if you don't feel comfortable at all - buy a complete BR Tri-Cree LED module from here.

Don't hesitate to ask if there are still questions :)

Agreed, it's better to just start all over again than try to troubleshoot and take it apart and put it back together just to risk it not working.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. The wrong lens was superglued to the LED chip/star/whatever the technical term really is. I took a little bit of acetone on a Q-tip to soak into the glue, then used a small screwdriver to pry up the lens. At first I took a battery out of the pack to prevent something from being shorted out, but at one point I forgot to take a battery back out before putting the screwdriver back across the entire chip, causing the LED to not light up once I realized my mistake.

That’s what we’re talking about. Replace it and start off new, LEDs are reasonably inexpensive that there’s no point in troubleshooting a problem when you already figured it out. It’s more than likely fried and not worth “fixing” unless you know how to remove it from its base which isn’t worth any time or money.  I’d also make sure nothing else within that circuit is fried either.

This is why my colleagues and I suggest you starting off with fresh new electronics since the current one has been compromised and it’s more of a pain to replace one part just to releaized that there are more parts that got fried after you put everything back together which means more work and more parts when you could of just replaced everything from the get go. 

Alright, I give. I'll buy a new LED star and probably a new lens. I'll update this whether successful or not...

Keep us update

What's this ominous red light I see?

(https://i.imgur.com/uALhTk9.jpg)

Oh wait..... nevermind.....

(https://i.imgur.com/DJI3JGe.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/fpqKsmG.jpg)

Well, the LED I bought wasn't nearly as bright as I thought it would be. Okay sure, the AAA batteries probably aren't fully charged, but even if I recharged them I feel it would be an exercise in futility. This thing is now dimmer than the single diode it originally came with. Back to the drawing board I suppose, yet at least I know I didn't short out the switch.

What kind of resistor are you using? Could be it is too big and you are just not getting enough juice to the LED.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

The resistor in there is whatever one that came with the saber (Dark Sentinel v4 in single diode BR) when I bought a Grab Bag about 3 years ago.

That could be your problem. Just because you replaced one red LED with another red one doesn't mean they are the same. You need to get the specs for the current LED you are using and then use a resistor calculator abs find out what resistor to use. I'm pretty sure that's what the problem is.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

Really? Well then, I shall do that right away.

Okay... wait... I took up the pommel end of my saber, and I found the resistor; however, it's in a terrible spot, and I am unsure if it's connected to the positive lead wire to the battery pack. Is there a way I can replace it without having to undo that glued mess known as the A/V switch?

~60 hours later, yet still no answers?? I have managed to find a wiring diagram to show that I need to install the resistor to the negative wire from the battery pack, but I need to know of a way to get the original one out without having to take out the switch.

Normally the main LED resistor is near the LED. What you see is probably the switch LED resistor, assuming you have an illuminated switch. To replace the main LED resistor, you have to remove the old LED, i.e. cut the wires. Be sure to include the resistor! Then solder the new resistor to the shorter wire (the one that had the old resistor) and then solder the LED to the resistor wire and the remaining non-resistor wire.

Can you post pics that shows the current internal setup, i.e. resistor placement, AV switch wiring etc.? That may help to identify the correct spots you need to work on.

We are not custom service so can't really be at your beckon call. Those who reply are just trying to help so no need in getting testing because we don't reply fast enough.

To answer the question about wiring the resistor to positive or negative or doesn't matter as long as it is wired into one of them.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

It's a stunt saber, so naturally it doesn't have an illuminated switch. Literally the only resistor I see in the hilt is on the bottom above the battery pack.

(http://i.imgur.com/ZDPT9b1.jpg)


My query/quandary remains: how on earth do I get that one out without having to remove the switch? If that is not possible, how do I get the switch out with all that glue on it, then install it once again? Or... is it even necessary to remove it, and instead just install the new one that came in the mail today?

The thing is that is that you can, you will have to cut the wires on the battery pack's end, use a blow dryer or a heat gun to soften up the glue around the switch (there's a ton of it).  Be careful not to keep the heat on one spot for a long period of time since it can and will damage the switch, especially if it's a guarded switch.  I recommend scraping out all the excess glue as well

There's no possible way to get the resistor that's in there without removing the AV switch? I have a bad feeling about this...

I'm sure you can if you're super careful but I don't recommend attempting that, just remove it all and have a peace of mind.

Since I don't have my own heat gun, my options are rather limited, so I need to figure out how to get the new one in there in such small space...

Did you get a new optic for the LED after gluing the first one?

I did, but I think it's about the same size as other one. I don't think I mentioned this, but I did manage to remove the other one from its glued trap, so we'll see if the new one is even necessary.

Might someone know whether I could just add the correct resistor to the wires at the LED end and have it work like it should, or do I have to remove the one that's on there first?

"Get the switch out," they said, "safest way to replace the resistor," they said. Okay, here goes...


(https://i.imgur.com/DCQypwPh.jpg)


Heat gun on low setting, point at switch itself, set timer for 3 minutes.... stick long screwdriver down the emitter, press up against the switch, there's a bit of wiggle in it, but I fear something may have happened below. Decide to turn up the heat on the gun, repeat as before only less time, and....


(http://i.imgur.com/d8YAzt7.jpg)


It's out!! Wait, no, what's that I see?


(http://i.imgur.com/PrYpD60.jpg)


Quick, put the batteries back in and see it it still lights up.... Nope, nothin'. Great, fine, let's get this battery pack clipped free so I can get to the resistor...


(http://i.imgur.com/htMh0Al.jpg)


Maybe I shouldn't have been in a hurry to remove the bloody heat shrink, thus preventing this from happening. Oh well, let's see about the resistor that I bought to replace the one in there currently.


(http://i.imgur.com/vpl3FFX.jpg)


"Replace the resistor for better LED brightness," they said, but they didn't tell me I was putting in a mini pencil eraser in there instead. Alas, it seems the resistor, alias the bane of my existence, shall remain wired in place until I can buy a new battery pack (I seriously have no luck with them), then find out whether I really ruined the switch itself. I'll probably get around to it after the holidays, even though I'll buy the battery pack next week. Thanks to those who felt like posting here to help a knob like me, and maybe next year you'll see this one lit up bright red.

Reading through this thread I think I'm understanding that you are replacing a single red LED with a tri-LED. Sticking with that assumption because you have a tripple lens on there and looking at the fact that you only have one positive wire and one negative coming from the star I am guessing you wired the 3 LEDs in series. If that is the case those 4 AAA cells are not enough for it. Commonly red LEDs have a forward voltage of around just over 2 volts when they are wired in series that adds up to over 6 volts.  Four standard AAA  cells give you 1.5*4 = 6volts. 4 rechargeable cells give you 1.2*4=4.8 volts. If you wire them in parallel instead you will get a better result and be closer to needing that resistor. I can't tell you which resistor you would really need without knowing the correct forward voltage of the LED. The ones you have would probably serve you fine without the resistor if you leave them in series. When using that particular lens in an Ultrasabers LED housing I cut wire notches in the side of a penny and insert it between the screw in heat sink and the LED star to get the lens a nice fit while still retaining heat isipation from the LED.