TOPIC: Replacing the AV switch

I'm looking to replace the AV switch in my JadeFire. TCSS sells 12mm and 16mm switches. Which one should I be looking at?

12mm short

Okay thanks. And is that essentially the same part? Like will I just be able to detach the wires from the SF switch and put them back in exactly the same place on the new one? Or will there be a bit of figuring out involved?

I'm assuming you're talking about an illuminated switch for a champion/hero.

Yeah. An illuminated switch will have 4 posts at the bottom. 2 will be unmarked and those are for the actual switch. They're not polarized so it doesn't matter which side is in/out.
The other two are marked + and - and those are for the accent LED in the switch.

You won't need to figure anything new out if you keep track of the wires.

If you're talking about a latching switch for a warrior, it'll be a slightly different story.

Oh right. I should have specified. Yes, I am talking about replacing the illuminated momentary switch with another of the same thing. Thanks again.

Quick clarification. The 12mm momentary doesn't seem to come in long/short varieties. Do you mean 16mm short? They're not expensive so I won't mind having to buy a second one if I get the wrong thing (and I'll eventually use any "wrong" parts I wind up with); I just don't want to wait any longer than I have to before I can start work.

Not 16mm. The only 12mm moms they have are the ones you want.

Thank you again.

No problem. You can always feel free to ask me about whatever.

Reporting back: easiest, most fun repair I've ever done.

I first wrote some notes about which color wires went to which terminals. Then I heated up the solder joints and the wires just popped off. Apparently they don't put the wires through the holes before soldering. Not what I'd call "best practice" but in this case it made my life a little easier and left me with pre-tinned leads.

Next I removed the nut from the new switch and put all the wires through it. Then I realized that the nut obviously would not fit through the hole in the hilt. I had the blade holder off anyway (had to resolder the resistor onto the LED module) so I just dropped the nut down her throat. I reached into the switch hole with an alligator clamp and grabbed the nut. From outside, I threaded a bit of wire through the nut so I wouldn't lose it.

Then I threaded all four wires through the nut and out the hole. I grabbed the four wires with the gator, slipped the wire handle off the nut and let it fall back into the hilt. There was not enough bare wire to make a proper joint, so I stripped another 1/8 or so off each one. Then I cut a bit (too much, you'll see why) of heatshrink for each wire and put the wires throug.

Finally, I poked each wire through its respective terminal and was able to wrap each one all the way around (except the red one, which had enough bare that I didn't bother to strip it). Having only two hands, soldering isn't something I'm physically capable of but I made it work by pre-tinning the iron itself. Since the wires were also tinned, it was a breeze.

Once the joints were all soldered, it was time to shrink the wrap. Retrieving the heatshrink from further up the wire was challenging and I would not have been able to do it without the extraordinary tweezers I recently purchased from Sparkfun.com. I don't know if this was a good idea but I used the soldering iron to heat the heatshrink.

Now time to thread the nut. Hmm. How am I going to get my fingers or any kind of tool down the throat of this thing to twist that nut? Good old (and I do mean OLD) needlenose. I was lucky in that when I pushed the switch into the hole, the nut lined right up with the threads. So I was able to gently push it along with the end of my needlenose.

Oh right. Too much heatshrink. It turns out I had used enough heatshrink on two of the wires that I couldn't push the switch all the way into the hole. So I did the dumbest thing I possibly could. I sliced it. I didn't cut around the wrap, slicing into two sections that could bend like an elbow. No. I cut from the end, up the sleeve. It worked; I got the switch in but now I'm worried the wrap will gradually pull apart until that cut goes all the way along.

And that was that. Like I said: easio, cheapest repair I've ever done. I didn't wind up putting any connectors in. Given the amount of effort this took, the connectoes would have been more work than they're worth. I am going to do my Warrior Acolyte with them however, since it's going to be upgraded in stages and I'd rather not have to unsolder and resolder my own work.

For my first time wielding a soldering iron, I think I did damn well. Time will tell.

Glad it all worked out.