TOPIC: First build

Hey all! Newbie here. Been lurking around for a few weeks taking in as much as possible. I've decided to take the plunge and have ordered my ASP parts and have already received my soundboard (CFv8).

I've read through the CF manual a couple of times, but have no real experience with wiring and things of that sort. I've put together a "schematic" and was wondering if someone with a bit more experience (who had a few minutes) wouldn't mind taking a look at it and pointing out anything I've overlooked, or may have just gotten completely wrong.

Here's what I'm trying to achieve:
- Green/Green/White tri cree with the white LED used for FoC
- Two illuminated AV momentary switches. One green (aux), one white (ignition/power indicator that comes on when kill key is removed)
- Recharge Port
- 2W bass speaker
- My hilt is pretty small so a single 18650 cell (3.7v)

Here's my mockup


Questions:
What is the difference between the Gnd pad on the CF and the - power pad? I've wired my power indicator switch LED to the ground. The manual calls for it to be wired to the - pad, but it earlier points to both as the "Accent LEDs Ground Return". Is what I've done ok?

From what I understand, my tri cree should be wired in parallel for the greens because of the single battery cell. These LEDs are rated at 3.58v @ 1A forward voltage. Based on that I figured a pretty insignificant resistor. The smallest I found on TCSS is a .47ohm .5W. This should still be ok and is better than not using a resistor, correct? Same for the FoC white 3.15v @ 1A?

The FoC pads are surrounded in a dashed green line in the manual. The manual never explains what that means. Is my mockup correct in joining the single - line to the pad closest to the edge?

I realized after I had already received the CF board that it required 2 switches. The switch section I ordered only has two slots (haven't seen one here with more). I've already emailed asking if a hole for the recharge port could be accommodated somehow, but haven't heard back yet. Does anyone have any recommendations here?

Thanks in advance for any input. It is greatly appreciated.

I don't have any CF board experience so ill leave those questions for someone who does.

Resistors: You don't need any on the green LEDs. The .47 ohm will be perfect for the white.

LED: the green should be wired together in parallel.

Switches: you've got a couple options. First would be to ditch the recharge port and build the internals so that the battery can be removed and charged outside the hilt. Second would be to ditch the second AV switch for something much smaller, tactical switch for instance, and drill the small hole yourself on the back side of the switch section. You could also order a double 12mm switch like SF uses on their hero tier sabers. I personally would go the small tactical switch route, but that depends on whether you've got the right equipment to drill the hole.

If it helps any, the two Dissident switch sections I ordered had three 12mm holes in them.

I've not attempted wiring a single-cell CF, but the main channel still tries to act as a driver, so you should be fine with no resistor on greens - just reset the config for 2000mA on channel 1.

Also, you might consider a thinner battery - Solo's Hold just started carrying pre-wired 16650s. As is, a CF stacked on an 18650 is a ridiculously tight fit inside a SF body.

To answer your first question, there is no difference besides location. I believe they are connected by a trace in the board itself. In terms of where the arrow's pointing, the accent LED section also specifies "The main negative of the board can be also used as the accent led ground return." So no worries there.

One issue with the design overall is it requires ~5V minimum to run unless you use the "hack". For a stock CF build you can't really use a single 3.7V cell unless you perform this mod. Without it you'd need a 7.4V battery pack which is just two 18650 cells wired in series. This would be incredibly difficult to cram into a SF hilt, but I'll outline a setup for that below:

The best way to run the LEDs with this 7.4V source would be to wire the greens in series, so each would be handling ~3.6V of the 7.4V. The remaining 0.2V can be handled by the LEDs, so no resistor would be required for this. The standard for the hobby seems to be not using resistors unless the LED is red or amber for this reason. Using a 0.47 ohm resistor would actually limit the current severely, to around 500mA. A larger resistor would be necessary for the white FoC. The best value would probably be a 4.7 ohm 5W resistor, which is available on TCSS. Using this your current would be about 904mA, nearly a full drive.

If you did want to modify your board, Erv Plecter has a video on the process on Youtube. In this case you still wouldn't need resistors on the greens, but a .5 ohm 3W resistor on the whit would limit the overdrive to ~1.1A. That would be slightly more ideal than the 0.47 ohm option.

In terms of the switch, Saberforge's solution seems to be wiring in a dual tactile switch (as you can see on their hero PnP kits). If you only have two holes and don't feel like drilling another that's a viable option.

Jas-Ot wrote:
Great. I figured one wouldn't be necessary to protect the green LEDs, but ran across a video from TCSS that said one should be used to keep funny things from happening with the board. But if you all say I don't need it, I'll enjoy the bit of freed space lol.

Jas-Ot wrote:
I may decide to go the removable battery route as it'll be the easiest and I'll be less likely to screw anything up, but do you have any resources outlining the process for drilling a new hole? I'd like to at least take a look at what exactly that involves.


Kouri wrote:
Interesting. I was debating between that section and section 8. I ultimately went with 8. From the photos, I don't see where a 3rd hole would go. But I guess I'll have to wait on a response, to be sure. Where is the 3rd hole on the Dissident switch (Opposite side in between the other two)? Do you have switches/recharge port occupying all 3? Enough clearance for everything?

Kouri wrote:
Aside from being thinner are there other dis/advantages of the 16650? I haven't seen anyone mentioning using one of those.


Snakeeyz99 wrote:
Great, thank you for affirming.

Snakeeyz99 wrote:
Yeah, I'm aware of the mod and will be performing it. I've made visual notes on my mockup to remember. I know I lose regulated audio and quite a bit of loudness, but I definitely don't have enough space for two cells. I've watched the video linked in the manual and the mod is easy enough. Per your recommendation I will use the .5ohm 3W resistor on white. Thank you.

Snakeeyz99 wrote:
I did come across those dual switches, but I'm not a fan of their aesthetic. Thank you for the suggestion.

Drilling a new hole:

It's pretty straight forward, and can be done with a standard drill, a good set of titanium bits , and some form of vice or clamp to hold the piece steady, masking tape (blue painters tape works best) and a sharpie. A dremel and set of grinding tools is optional

1) Cover the switch section in masking tape - this will protect it
2) identify the spot you wish to drill the hole - likely 180 degrees opposite the current holes and probably in the middle. Mark it with your sharpie.
3) hopefully you've got a few drill bits, start with a 1/16 bit and drill a pilot hole. Step up one bit size at a time till you get to the correct size for the switch. If you happen to have a drill press, you can probably go strait to the desired sized bit. Take your time.
4) if you have a dremel and some grinding tools, you may opt to use a pointed one for metal to bevel the hole a bit for better aesthetics.

That's basically it.

BATTERY:

I believe the 16650 just doesn't come in as high of a capacity as possible with the 18650. I want to say its 2500mAH?

Much appreciated

So I've been looking around and have found some hilts with recharge ports/AV switches installed in the Covertech knob. Has anyone else seen this/have any experience with it?

salvasaur wrote:
Sorry, no experience with that.
However, there is a speaker grill/pommel insert you can get (I know TCSS sells them) that has a hole for the small 2.1 mm switchcraft recharge port. That might be worth looking into for you? I don't know if the insert would fit into your pommel as is, but shouldn't be too hard to trim it down to fit if need be

Likely won't work, but I'll have to look into that. Any idea what the diameter of those are? Don't see it listed anywhere.

I'm not sure what the diameter is of those, they are made to fit inside the MHS pommels. I would suggest checking the forums at TCSS or emailing Tim and ask. He's pretty good about repsponding.

I'd always planned on knocking the speaker vent off the SF pommel (it's either glued or clipped in place) and using one of those DarthRyo chassis with the speaker/port combos to keep the two switch holes free for switches.

Gonna be a while before I put that into practice though. Just scored a VV Legionnaire, so there go my plans to build an RGB Katana with the Halloween sale...

I may beat you to it, depending on how this all plays out. If I do, I'll let you know how that goes.

Speaking of that sale, I've been kicking myself for not entering the coupon code during checkout

Kouri wrote:
My ASP Avenger pommel has the vent glued in pretty good, and heating it up so far hasn't been very successful at loosening it. I wanted to at least re-center it (it was glued crooked) or hopefully replace it with one of the brass ones TCSS sells.

I don't think there is uniformity on how they secure the speaker vents.

My Bastion, it's loose and secured by C rings.

Fallen pommel it's also secured by C rings, but looks to be glued since it didn't budge.

For anyone interested:

My switch section #8 did not come with a third hole (expected) and my email inquiry was never answered (crappy customer service). I'm still waiting on some parts to be delivered from TCSS before I can decide what route I'll take for the recharge port.

On another note, the hilt looks great. Better in person than it did on the saber builder site. Although I can't seem to get the parts to line up how I want. By the way, does anyone have any experience painting the shims? My hilt is all black and the steel color breaks its continuity.

Edit: Black nail polish seemed to do the job lol

In case you weren't aware, another way to align the hilt parts is to lightly sand the female end of the parts in small increments. I prefer this method, as I don't like the gap the thicker shins can create.

TCSS released a video on this:

Jaden Korr wrote:
Was just super glue on mine. A few good taps with a hammer knocked it loose, though it deformed the vent a bit and had to be hammered flat again. If you don't want to use force, soaking it in acetone should dissolve the glue - though I wouldn't recommend it on black, dual-tone, or weathered pommels, since it might affect the black dye in the anodized coating.

Update:

I decided to drill a third 12mm hole opposite the bottom one on the front side of the switch section.

The port Saber Forge uses has a large lipped area. It catches on the higher protruding parts of this switch section. I've carved out a rounded section on both ends that touch to help it sit more flush. Both pictures are pre carving. Even then, it didn't stick out far. The charge port is still pretty short, though, so it's hard to thread the nut onto it.


I shortened the leads on one AV switch and the port preemptively because I wasn't sure about clearance. But, as you can see, there's quite a bit.

I admire anyone able to do even that. I don't know if I could bring myself to take a drill to one of my hilts. Then again, that's part of the beauty of ASP. Even if something horrible happens, your just out one part, not an entire hilt. Glad to see things are working so far!