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Author Topic: Possibly Shorted Out Saber  (Read 7185 times)
NavajoPaladin
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« on: October 11, 2018, 04:40:05 AM »

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.
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tx_tuff
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« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2018, 07:37:47 AM »

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?

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scifidude79
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« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2018, 11:18:51 AM »

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.
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Infinit01
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« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2018, 11:33:53 AM »

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?

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I think he's talking about the LED chip but the OP should provide pictures just so we can be sure
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Racona Nova
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« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2018, 05:46:24 PM »

He's definitely talking about the LED since the lens wouldn't make any sense anywhere else than on the LED pad Wink But pics will help for sure.
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NavajoPaladin
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« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2018, 12:10:56 AM »

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




Now does what I'm saying make sense?
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tx_tuff
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« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2018, 10:52:55 AM »

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.

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Racona Nova
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« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2018, 06:33:53 PM »

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 Smiley
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Infinit01
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« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2018, 06:42:19 PM »

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.
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NavajoPaladin
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« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2018, 12:06:10 AM »

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.
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Infinit01
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« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2018, 12:56:17 AM »

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. 
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NavajoPaladin
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« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2018, 01:44:29 AM »

Alright, I give. I'll buy a new LED star and probably a new lens. I'll update this whether successful or not...
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Infinit01
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« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2018, 01:47:34 AM »

Keep us update
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NavajoPaladin
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« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2018, 02:16:27 AM »

What's this ominous red light I see?



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





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.
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tx_tuff
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« Reply #14 on: October 26, 2018, 07:18:46 AM »

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

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