TOPIC: HELP! Issue with my new saber and excessive heat

I just received my Bastion champion tier w/ viridian sound yesterday. (12W Indigo LED)

I noticed right away that if its on for more than a few minutes, it gets uncomfortably hot just below where the LED sits inside of the emitter, where the blade sits into. Do all SF sabers with sound do that?

Also, the color of my blade went from a beautiful indigo to pinkish purple.
Is that because of the battery needing to be recharged or is it something else since the LED seems to be red and blue? (not sure and I'm only taking a guess regarding the shift in color.)

if anyone can answer these questions, I'll be very appreciative.

It sounds like there may be an issue with the heatsink. It will get warm, but it shouldn't get hot after only a few minutes. Did you order it with Quick Connects? If so you could easily remove the LED module to inspect and see if anything doesn't look right (or post pics of it here for more knowledgeable folks to judge). You may need to RMA it and get it repaired if that is the case, or if you'd rather just pay the $40+shipping buy a new quick connect module off Etsy.

As the battery gets low Indigo will shift pink-ish, that's totally normal. Basically the dies start fighting over power and the red die beats all the blues (like a schoolyard bully). Just charge it up and it should be fine. You should always charge new batteries before using them.

Edit: Just had my Consular on for about 40 mins or so, and my Vanquish on for about 20 mins. My Vanquish was slightly warm, and my Consular was very warm. I would almost say the Consular is "uncomfortably hot" at this point; it was just "quite warm" at around the 20 minute mark. It's already cooled considerably as I typed this bit. The Apprentice hilts have less metal between the LED and your hand, so they will get warmer quicker than an Elite saber, and the Consular especially since the LED sits where the deep grooves are cut out. So I definitely think you may have a heatsink issue if your Bastion is getting that hot in just a few minutes.

I have a bastion in purple on a sabercore2.0 that was built by SF. That hilt gets pretty warm after a few minutes. I haven't had a need to crack it open so I'm not sure if the blues are resistored or if they are overclocking.

It's definitely the warmest hilt I have, but it's also the only one I have that was built by SF. It's a little concerning if it's getting hot to the point of being too hot to touch. On the other hand it's showing that the thermal path is working.

OK guys. Thanks for the replies. My saber was built by SF and it doesn't have quick connectors. It does get warm if left on for a few minutes and hotter if left on longer, like during my saber dueling class yesterday.
As for the colors shifting, yes I charged it fully before I left the house yesterday.

It being on and off for an hour or so and it did look more pink than indigo. I already sent an e-mail last night to customer service and told them my problem. So I'll just wait and see what they say after I hear back from them.

If I do have to send it back, how long will it take for them to repair it and send it back to me? I have another saber class on Jan. 18th and would like to have it back by then if possible.

DJ Gamera wrote:
Typical turn-around time is 7-10 days, depending on shipping distance.

Brax wrote:
I see. I'm in south Florida so I guess it'd be at least a week. Just hoping to hear back from them soon so I can get an RMA and mail it back to them. It also seems that the LED is more pink now and may have burned out or something as its no longer indigo.

Don't worry. They will get you fixed up.

They totally did, so thanks. Sorry for the late reply, though.