DIY Emerald Build w/ RGB Accent Crystal LED

[Mikeyeggy]

I don't think you can short the negatives together. When ultra sabers sent me the pre-wired led module they had a total of 8 wires (4 positives and 4 negatives). Each of these wires must be attached to a corresponding terminal on the emerald board. I'm no expert in electronics but I think the reason for this is that the emerald driver controls the current running through each of the four dies independently of one another and so if you short all the negatives together into a common ground you'll be combining current flow for the four dies together which at best may not allow the led to function and at worst blow out the emerald driver.

Like I said; I'm far from an expert in this field but it seems logical to me and I'm not one for trying this on a $125 board.

The current to the individual LED Dies on the LED Module is controlled through the + side of the circuit.  The - side is just a ground connection.  I confirmed this by putting a diode tester on the board and seeing if the negatives were all connected together.  As I thought, there is absolutely no resistance between any of the negative connections.  The individual negs were most likely for logical sense.  That and the fact the on the module they are separate.  I had to run a really short wire to all the negatives of the LED Module to get them to work like that.  It was a pain in the butt, but now I have three less wires in my hilt.

[Relan Tarel jedi kinght]

Any updates on your hilt I've been wondering how your project is comming

[DarthDaddy]

Any updates on your hilt I've been wondering how your project is comming

Hi all

Yes. There's been some incremental progress albeit slowly. The hilt finally arrived after a two month queue time!  However, I injured my leg a few weeks back and have been resting for the most part. 

What I have been able to do so far is begin to work on the housing components and chassis discs which I am custom cutting out of lexan acrylic.  One thing I have discovered is that I may not be able to use the 18500 battery pack I ordered from the custom saber shop. The hilt is a smaller diameter than ultrasabers hilts and the obsidian soundboard just barely will not fit.   I am hoping that I can very lightly sand the board edges just a few microns to get it to fit, otherwise I will have to downgrade to a 14500 pack. I'd prefer not because I think the battery drain will be significant. Does anyone out there know of an online calculator where you can determine how long a Li-ion battery will last based on the current of attached devices? 

Basically right now I am taking my time and figuring out the best way to pack all the devices into the hilt before I start soldering things together. I will post some pictures of everything once I have determined how it will all fit inside. Thanks for checking in!

[Antron007]

How did this project end up turning out. I'm about to under take a similar one. No Box but really leaning towards a chamber. And I also am trying to think of a way to get to the boards without opening up the saber. I want to do a recharge point but if I have to open it up to get at the boards I don't see the point.

Did you ever come up with a way to get at the boards? I was thinking of some extenders that I can fish out easier or turn into ports. Anther thing I was wondering is if I can find a Y splitter that will take 1 MINI USB male and split to 2 MINI USB males that will plug into both boards?

Has any one tried to hook up both boards at the same time, using separate cables? How does the software take it? Also does anyone know how they would react if I did find a splitter and 1 USB to the PC split to both boards? Would it detect both boards?

Anyway I also want to make a HMS chamber that I can stick into any saber with JST or some other connectors and I want to eliminate the need to open the saber up with the exception of gut swapping and severe maintenance.

Anyway, I'd love to see how this project is coming along and any more info you have is much appreciated. If there is a link pointing to where this thread leaves off, I'd be happy to have it.

Points to you for all you've shared so far.

[Racona Nova]

Connecting both boards simultaneously does not work - and it's highly recommended not to do this!

The problem is data flow - differentiating between data for the Obsidian and Emerald board is not possible for the Launcher and the PC. And the boards cannot figure out which data package is for which board, so the Obsidian board would be fed with Emerald and Obsidian data, and the Emerald board would be fed with Obsidian and Emerald data! You can imagine how that can end...

[Antron007]

Connecting both boards simultaneously does not work - and it's highly recommended not to do this!

The problem is data flow - differentiating between data for the Obsidian and Emerald board is not possible for the Launcher and the PC. And the boards cannot figure out which data package is for which board, so the Obsidian board would be fed with Emerald and Obsidian data, and the Emerald board would be fed with Obsidian and Emerald data! You can imagine how that can end...

That's what I thought I just figured I'd get a confirmation form someone. It never hurts to ask as they say. Well that makes a couple of my decisions easier. Thanks for all of the information you've given me. I'll start a thread in Customization (I guess) once I get down to it. I'm starting out with a basic electronics swap but plan to maybe make it more modular. Future plans are add a crystal chamber, recharge and board access ports.

Thanks again. Points to you.

[Racona Nova]

It's always better to ask before doing anything that can damage your saber, so it was absolutely correct what you did

I'm very interested how your project turns out!

[GUAYA KAN MALDO]

Hello, Any update with the Final diagram?

[Subaquatic]

Darth Daddy! Your a legend! I'm starting my own project and your wiring diagram has been a massive help.

Only trouble I'm now having is that I can't seem to get my emerald to make any of the LEDs work. I've checked and double checked by there is 0 power coming out on the RGBW connections. I know it's getting power as when I power on the driver is recognised by my laptop.

Any thoughts what it could be?

Has anyone got a link to the emerald instructions? I can't find much anywhere

Here's my WIP




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shriker1]

hey guys I'm just wondering what the voltage for each led should be? if you could tell me please that would great!

[Jediseth]

So your standard red led is 2.2 volts then blue and green are about 3.2 volts. For instance I have a test AA battery setup with alligator clips that I test in my Crystal chamber builds. It's 3 volts and the green leds loves it , but the red burns out.

[Shriker1]

So your standard red led is 2.2 volts then blue and green are about 3.2 volts.

Okay then what about the white? and also what wattage are they? thanks for your help!

[Jediseth]

Okay then what about the white? and also what wattage are they? thanks for your help!

A white led can take 3.4 volts, some white leds can take up to 5 volts.  Here is a volt calculator to answer your next question.

http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/Volt_to_Watt_Calculator.htm

[Jediseth]

If your trying to figure out resistors they also have an ohm's law calculator to figure that out. Hope that helps.

[Shriker1]

If your trying to figure out resistors they also have an ohm's law calculator to figure that out. Hope that helps.

basically what I'm doing is trying to replace the leds on my saber since they burnt out any suggestion on what to buy would be great. I think I'm towards a Cree MC-E 12 watt RGBW, hopefully that works if I'm wrong please tell me.