TOPIC: DIY Install

I was just watching this last night. In the description he lists all the stuff he used, including the recharge ports SF uses (which I've always liked), and in the comments he said he believes the new NBv3 can power a 12w quad LED (like SF's) without any problem, which was something I had been wondering since the v3 now has the PEx built in.

in the comments he said he believes the new NBv3 can power a 12w quad LED (like SF's) without any problem, which was something I had been wondering since the v3 now has the PEx built in.

Jaden Korr wrote:
I'd still caution against that - included PEX doesn't bump the main LED current up to 4A - it just means the FoC mosfet is on-board instead of needing a separate board. The manual still specifies a 2A limit for the main LED - though if someone successfully wires up a 12W to a NBv3 without swing issue, I'll back down from this stance.

Now a 6W/6W LED like those used on Hero sabers should be fine, with one color for the main blade and another for FoC.

This is good to know. I've seen people use a 12w quad LED (with all dies on/no FoC) with a NBv2 using the separate PEx before, though I didn't know what that hack involved, so I wondered if this would work now that the PEx was integrated into the board.

Jaden Korr wrote:
The PEx hack didn't integrate the FoC circuit onto the board. The idea was to wire a second power transistor onto the existing main LED transistor. The part's hard to find online if you don't know the part number, so the easiest source was from PEx boards. Some folks removed the transistor from the PEx board and soldered it right on top of the existing one on the NB, others left it on the daughterboard and bridged the connections with wire.

I've not taken a serious look at the boards on either revision of the Nano Biscotte. If the V3's revision is just a larger mosfet to enable FoC on the same board, then yes, a 12W could work. If, however, PEx was integrated by adding a second transistor on a different part of the circuit, then no, the main LED channel isn't really rated for that kind of output.

Another issue is the battery. A common issue with running a 12W on a hacked NB was swing issues when board current got to low. Common 18650s can struggle above 3A, and might not supply current to power the board and a 12W properly. This leads to glitches on the board like unintentional/constant swinging. I imagine SF batteries are designed to output the proper current. Naigon mentions a few brands in his board manuals. Solo's Hold makes some nice 10A batteries as well. Alternatively, if there's space in the hilt, 26650s usually have higher current and runtime than the smaller 18650s.

On a last note, while I like Plecter boards, I'll typically recommend Naigon boards for SF LEDs - the boards are built to handle higher-wattage LEDs (the Z6 LED he offers is basically an 18W RGB LED). The basic offering, the Spark 2, costs a little more than a Nano Biscotte, but it's also got a larger feature set. It'll run on one switch, but has support for two. Blaster block, lockup. You have the option of using channel 1 for a main LED color and channel 2 for FoC, or you can treat it like a base Hero saber with a different color on each channel and color mix those two channels any way you like. A single color 12W *should* be fine on its own in channel 1, but I'd personally split the power between both channels to keep heat down. If you forego FoC, there's also crossguard support with the main blade on Channel 1 and delayed crossguards on channel 2.