Where's the love for the manticore? Got some questions.

[smileeguy]

Another saber company told me to avoid recharge ports because the part itself isn't good (nothing to do with ultrasabers, just the quality of all recharge ports).  They told me that a recharge port is the first part to go bad and when bought in bulk for builds, a lot are bad even before they are used.

On the other hand, pulling the batteries in and out has to do some wear over time.  I honestly don't know which is the better option.  At a minimum, I would recommend an extra set of batteries.

[Vyk]

Another saber company told me to avoid recharge ports because the part itself isn't good (nothing to do with ultrasabers, just the quality of all recharge ports).  They told me that a recharge port is the first part to go bad and when bought in bulk for builds, a lot are bad even before they are used.

I hadn't heard that before.  This wouldn't happen to be a company that emphasizes the small size and smooth shape of their sabers--meaning that it would be hard to fit a recharge port on them--would it?

I find it hard to believe that Ultrasabers buys, installs, recommends, and warrantees parts that are often "bad even before they are used".  Now, to be fair, US doesn't wire theirs to work as kill keys--Obsidian's low-power sleep doesn't require it--so perhaps they fail more often if they're wired that way.  (US did offer a kill key setup at one point, but stopped.  I had assumed that was because it was more time-consuming to do and rarely chosen, but maybe it was due to failure rate.)

I'd like to hear from Vivectius and Racona Nova (and any other recharge port die-hards) about how often, or if, they've had recharge ports fail; it could be that it's a real problem and I just haven't heard of it.  In absence of other data, though, I'm going to remain skeptical of the claim from the company you mentioned.

[Drahcir]

Every personal hilt I own has a recharge port, I've never had one fail.

[Darth Blightus]

just want to be clear
since standard chargers have only a .25 current, its ok to leave the li-ion batteries in the charger for long periods?
and it doesn't overcharge or mess up the battery?
sorry i sound paranoid, i just want to keep my sabers in good conditions for a long time

[Jediseth]

I don't think recharge ports are worth the money. Long term battery storage in your saber can also cause problems.  I would however recommend  that you put ribbon behind the batteries for easy removal from your saber.  Buying an extra set of batteries I think Is a great idea and not too expensive.

[Vyk]

I don't think recharge ports are worth the money. Long term battery storage in your saber can also cause problems.  I would however recommend  that you put ribbon behind the batteries for easy removal from your saber.  Buying an extra set of batteries I think Is a great idea and not too expensive.

That's news to me.  What sorts of problems can it cause to leave batteries in your saber?  (Assuming you have a recharge port, of course.)

[Darth Blightus]

batteries drain gradually even when not in use. left for too long it can drain the batteries permanently (cant be charged again)

[Vyk]

batteries drain gradually even when not in use. left for too long it can drain the batteries permanently (cant be charged again)

Right, that's been established; that's the reason to leave power plugged into the recharge port to provide a maintenance charge.  Jediseth seemed to suggest that there was a problem with keeping batteries in your saber even with a recharge port.  If so, that would be news to me, and I'm curious to know the details.