New Saber Turns off Automatically

[ItchMang]

I bought my first sabers within the past few weeks; all have the Obsidian Lite soundboard, vented pommel, and the standard (4 AA batteries) battery pack. Within a week of having one, the saber turned off on it's own, and a voice said "Obsidian". I replaced the 4 AA batteries, and it seemed to fix this but, now another week later, the same thing is happening, and it just happened to one of the others.

We don't use them a lot, meaning only for maybe 15 to 30 minutes each day.

I tried looking for another thread with the same issue, but didn't find any with the same soundboard and battery pack and, honestly, may have given up too soon as I only looked through a dozen pages of results...

I anyone has experience with this issue (or will point me to the tread that would help), I would be in your debt.

[Tai Chi Chuan Wijchen]

What questions me is, you say you have a saber with sound.
These usually have 2x Li-ion batteries, wich resemble AA batteries, but have a much higher voltage.

Most stunt sabers have 4xAAA batteries.

The Li-ion batteries have the unfortunate thing that they deplete over time, because.... I don't know why, someone else around here does.

So I guess the best option is to check the batteries. Are they regular AA batteries or Li-ion batteries?
And in both cases charge them! But use the correct charger.

If you're not sure, take a few pictures of the batteries and the setup within your saber, and post them here, might give us a better clue.

[firehand10k]

What questions me is, you say you have a saber with sound.
These usually have 2x Li-ion batteries, wich resemble AA batteries, but have a much higher voltage.

Most stunt sabers have 4xAAA batteries.

The Li-ion batteries have the unfortunate thing that they deplete over time, because.... I don't know why, someone else around here does.

The Obsidian Lite board is the one board specifically designed for AAA batteries.
Sadly it does have a depleting effect similar to the regular boards. Also when you change batteries make sure you are using a good quality battery. Some economy batteries do not allow enough current to keep it all running straight out of the pack. I trouble shot one for a friend that would shut off every time it clashed and he had just put in brand new batteries. When I opened it I found 4 nice new Dollar Store Sunfire batteries. I took them out and threw them away. I tried it with a charged set of Energizer rechargeable and it ran for over 45 minutes constant on and with swinging and clashing before the clash started causing power loss and reboot.

Battery quality is important. 

[ItchMang]

My apologies for any confusion; I meant to say 4 AAA batteries. It sounds like the longest I should expect the saber to run without shutting down is 45 minutes, and that's when ensuring that fully-charged, high-quality batteries are installed. I did not do enough research before purchasing one to know that this was how long they would run, so thanks for helping me understand that. I just expected them to run alot longer than that.

[firehand10k]

New non-rechargeables of quality should get you well over an hour.

[Cyclops942]

New non-rechargeables of quality should get you well over an hour.

As usual, what firehand10K says about batteries (and many other things) is spot-on.  In case you’re looking for high-quality rechargeable batteries, the most common recommendation I’ve seen is Eneloop Pro (in a pinch, the standard Eneloop ones will work), purchased from a reliable supplier.  When it comes to battery chargers, it’s hard to go wrong with an XTAR VC4 (or some other charger from XTAR, Nitecore, Eneloop, or the like.  Here is a post I made back in June, and it still applies.

Adding to the suggestions above, get AAA Eneloop Pro cells and a good-quality battery charger. 

Don’t skimp here; the batteries will be your biggest expense, so if you want to save money over time, get GOOD rechargeable batteries, and get a GOOD charger.

The consensus here is that, because a light saber is a high-drain application, the Eneloop PRO batteries are a better choice than the regular Eneloop ones.  Personal experience has taught me that Amazon Basics AAA cells will be disappointing, as will Tenergy AAA cells.  Years of experience with Eneloop PRO AA cells in other high-drain applications makes me trust the recommendation to use the PRO version in the AAA size, as well.

Although this charger would be overkill (meaning more features than are absolutely necessary), I highly recommend the XTAR VC-4 as a good choice.  Setting aside the ability it has to safely and properly charge lithium-ion batteries as well as NiMH ones because you are using the NiMH batteries right now, this charger has some excellent features that DO apply to your current needs.

Four (4) battery bays, so you can charge all the batteries for a single saber at the same time
Four (4) charging channels, so that each battery will receive EXACTLY the charge it needs, not the average of what several cells need
Charging status indicators (showing progress of charging for each battery)
Automatically identifies input power and adjusts to a suitable charge current
Overcharge protection
Undercharge protection
Overheating protection
Reverse-polarity detection and short-circuit protection
Automatically stops charging when it’s done, so you can leave the batteries in and just walk away (or go to sleep, or leave the house, or whatever)

Some of those are safety features, which I consider an absolute must-have, and some are just nice conveniences, but for under $20USD, this is a really good choice.

This is the larger size of the XTAR VC2 charger that UltraSabers sells on their website.  Check your favorite electronics retailer, whether that be online or brick-and-mortar, but if they don’t carry XTAR, you can also go with the Nitecore D4 charger. 

Of course, if you can snag a 4-bay (or larger) Eneloop charger when you get your Eneloop PRO batteries, that would be just fine and dandy, too.