TOPIC: Charging port broken?

Hi there!

My little brother bought an Acolyte Champion some time ago. On the first day he carried it, he broke the kill key. He wanted to fix it using super-glue and maybe some super-glue dripped into the charging port. After that he used the saber until it was low on battery and then found out that it wouldn't charge.
Since I am the big sister studying computer science, I am now the chosen one to magically repair it!

Some questions now:
1. What is the best method to disassemble the saber? I am afraid of breaking wires, so I was wondering if anyone has experience with that and can give me some advice.
2. Is it possible that the problem is not the *maybe* super-glue in the charging port but the charger? As I suspect the charger to be the problem, I wanted to try another charger and now faced the problem to choose a configuration for this (universal multi-output charger with adjustable voltage), maybe someone can tell me more about this?
3. Some other ideas how to fix it?

I would love to repair the saber, especially because I've never seen it in action and the deal was that I may borrow it for some time if I can fix it

Best regards from Germany,
MissEmy

I am not qualified to make any decisions for you on how to proceed, but I can suggest what little knowledge I have.

1. I believe SF uses glue to keep the parts screwed in, and it might react well to heat.
2. I don't know if super glue would ruin a charging port, if you look inside you should be able to see the contacts and as long as they are free there shouldn't be a problem there.
3. You can try another charger to see, or send it back as some other problem might be in the saber (I have heard the wiring is not so great in SF sabers, and have experienced first hand faulty resistors in my LED).

How did he break the kill key? If it was inside the saber when/if he dropped it, there might have been some damage. You said he was fixing it with glue and there is potential some dripped in, which tells me the kill key and the lightsaber were in the same place during that time. If it broke in half and half is inside the charger and the other half is outside, that would certainly explain why it wont charge (though maybe not how the saber was still working after the kill key broke)

Was the issue that the kill key snapped off while inside the port? If so, it seems to me that glue may have gotten into the port when he tried to repair it and is disrupting the contact between the pins. In which case, you would need to replace the whole port.

If the saber is less than a year old, it may be eligible for Warranty repair. I would send an email to sales@saberforge describing the issue and see what they say. Since he attempted a repair himself, and that caused further damage, the Warranty may be voided. If they approve your Warranty Repair, you will then need to fill out an RMA Form (found HERE) and include that with the saber when shipping it back.

However, being in Germany, it may be more cost-effective (should SF not cover shipping charges, and if you need to pay any import duties when it comes back to you) to contact some of the EU-based sabersmiths for a quote. I know there's several in the UK; not sure of any in Germany though.


To more directly answer your questions:

MissEmy wrote:
The Acolyte saber is in SF's Apprentice line, which means that is a solid one-piece body. The only removable part is the pommel. To effect a repair, the entire "guts" of the saber may need to be removed to access the damaged area (in this case, the recharge port).

If you know how to solder electronics, you could try to remove the defective recharge port and replace with a new one. To break/loosen the glue that SF used to hold the port in, you would need to apply heat to the area either with a heat gun or a hair dryer. Then pry the port out, snip the wires, solder the new one, then glue it back in. Though I'm not sure how much extra wire would be available to pull the port out and then solder a new one to.

MissEmy wrote:
It's possible, but I think unlikely. You would need a 2.1mm charger with a female plug (the male pin is inside the recharge port), with a 4.2v output.

MissEmy wrote:
See above Warranty repair info.

MissEmy wrote:
Because as everyone knows, Computer Science = Electrical Engineering.

I was in a computing major before changing to Criminal Justice... and everyone I know (mostly older folks) still come up to me "Here, fix my phone, you're good with computers right?"

Hello MissEmy,

I have sent you a Private Message with some extra information about how you might be able to get your brother's Acolyte repaired if Saberforge cannot help you.

I hope the information is useful.

kind regards,

For Tyeth

KelbornX wrote:
The flip side is when you have a BA in Electrical Engineering and everyone comes up to you for computer advice Though typically it's something like "I went to this weird website to watch Pay-Per-View without paying, now my computer's running slow and I don't know why!"