Max Voltage?

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I recently picked up a pair of Dark Apprentice V4's "as is" from the booth at Phoenix Fan Fusion.

I do believe they are equipped with the Obsidian Lite soundboard and have a single colour blade.

The battery pack (and equipped batteries) was the 4x AAA set up with Sony Alkalines.

Here are my questions:

1) With this set up, could I (safely) put 4 x 3.7v LiIon cells in there or would that be too much voltage for the system?

2) If I wanted a LiIon set up, (and 4 cells is too much) could I swap out the current 4 cell box for a 2 cell box and get a set up LiIon cells and charger?

3) With the set up I have, did it come with the BuckPuck (since it has sound) or is this something I'd need to install in order to convert to a LiIon set up?

Thank you!

[Racona Nova]

1) No, the battery pack is too small for the Li-Ion batteries. Also, the board has a max voltage of about 12V, so it would be too much even if you find AAA sized Li-Ions w/ 3.7V...

2) Yes, that's possible.

3) A saber with sound doesn't necessarily have a BuckPuck. It can have the Resistor setup instead. You can check that in various ways: Take out the battery pack, unwrap the black tape and look for a small square box. That should be the BuckPuck. Or take out the LED and check if there is a resistor (Red also has a resistor, so if the colour is Red, you have to look for a second resistor). If there is one, you need to remove that first (leave the other resistor for Red untouched). Then you can install the BuckPuck.

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Excellent, thank you for the response. 12v max is definitely a "good to know" fact.

So if it's possible to swap out the 4 cell box for a 2 cell LiIon power supply, is a buck puck a requirement? or could I simply install the LiIon's and be okay?

For reference: the price point for the sabers I picked up were $165, so based on that I am looking at the "build your own" section and I'm assuming they are the  "basic sound" variant.
With that in mind, I just want to know what's "under the hood" as it were and what my potential upgrade options are at this time.

Thanks!

[Racona Nova]

A BuckPuck isn't a requirement, but recommended. It controls the current far better than a resistor So if you plan a Li-Ion setup, get the BuckPuck. However, I forgot to mention that Obsidian Lite does not support the Li-Ion setup! So you'll have to upgrade the board to at least Obsidian v3 (the "cheapest" Premium sound board).

With a 4xAAA battery setup, your upgrade options are limited - there aren't any
All upgrades - Premium Obsidian, Emerald, Diamond - require the Li-Ion setup!

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PERFECT!

This is what I wanted to know.
Much appreciated!

A BuckPuck isn't a requirement, but recommended. It controls the current far better than a resistor So if you plan a Li-Ion setup, get the BuckPuck. However, I forgot to mention that Obsidian Lite does not support the Li-Ion setup! So you'll have to upgrade the board to at least Obsidian v3 (the "cheapest" Premium sound board).

With a 4xAAA battery setup, your upgrade options are limited - there aren't any
All upgrades - Premium Obsidian, Emerald, Diamond - require the Li-Ion setup!

[Racona Nova]

Glad that I could help you

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Sorry, one more question:

So the Obsidian lite is 12V max?
But the lite doesn't support a Li Ion set up?
So does that mean that if I hooked up a 2 cell Li Ion pack to the Obsidian lite ( <12v) it wouldn't work at ALL?
I saw that Li Ion equipped sabers will NOT run on alkalines or NiMh, so is there something hardcoded into the PCBs that prevent them from using specific battery types?

Thank you!

[Rapine]

The Obsidian Lite board has a voltage range from 3.5v - 5.5v.



Maybe Racona was thinking of something else...lol


You COULD use a single 18650 cell (3.7v), but I'm not sure how it would act, and you best be comfortable with what you're doing.

[Racona Nova]

Oops...yes, must have been something else
You witnessed one of the rare moments where I made a mistake - congratulation

Either way, I wouldn't try it as well. It may work, but as the recommendation is either rechargeable Ni-MH or alkaline, I wouldn't do it.

And the reason why AA's don't work on a Li-Ion setup is simple - the power output is too low to power both the LED and the board. AA's are 3V at best, but the minimum requirement for Obsidian is 3.5V and for Emerald/Diamond it's even higher, 5V.

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AWESOME,

Thank you both for the information! this is SUPER useful and I very much appreciate the help!

Now, if the Obsidian Lite is rated at 3.5 - 5.5v, and the standard set up makes use of 4 x AAA, I'm going to assume that is is 4 x 1.5v in SERIES,  making 6V total battery output. I'll also assume there is a resistor in the there to mitigate the voltage.

Anyway, I really appreciate the input, Thank you!

[Racona Nova]

0.5V more isn't that much of a problem. Less is more critical as it won't be enough to power the board and LED properly. And having more than 2V (like you have with a Li-Ion setup) above the max rating increases the risk of damaging the board!

AFAIK there aren't any resistors for the board in the wiring, only for the LED's.

[Rapine]

Agreed.  Straight up 4xAAAs.

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Out of curiosity,

Are the Obsidian equipped Li Ion powered sabers any brighter or louder than the Obsidian Lite/standard set up?

In all honesty, I am content with the sounds that come with the Lite, and I have no desire to upload sound fonts, so paying for that novelty is not a pre requisite for me.
What I am really after is Li Ion power since they are better than alkalines (or NiMh)
All I really want is to make the LED as bright as possible. (Upping the sound volume would be fun too, but it's not critical, as the current set up is satisfactory)

Thanks!

[Racona Nova]

I can't compare those as I only have the Premium sound boards. If they should be louder than Lite, then probably because of better pre-amplifiers used in the Premium boards, but not necessarily because of the Li-Ion setup.

However, in order to change the battery setup, you will have to upgrade to Premium sound just for the reason I explained before - you risk permanent damage on the Lite if you power it with the Li-Ion setup! Even if you don't need the other features, an Obsidian v3 is the minimum requirement for a Li-Ion setup.