My first, fully from scratch, lightsaber build. All TCSS hilt parts with a 1" KR pixelstrip blade, Proffiev2.2, and bits and bobs. This will be my learner hilt to play with and figure out all the little bits of how to use Proffie and play with styles, fonts, settings, etc.
Eventually I’m going to fully finish the TGS ESB Graflex empty I have displayed on my wall with a crystal chamber, 7/8" pixel blade, and all the little goodies. But I don’t want to learn on that so here’s to the Padawan!
That trustfire may not work for a neopixel build.
Looks like a fun project! Welcome to the club! @MegtoothSith is probably correct though in that the trust fire may not support enough amps continuous. You are gonna need a 15A battery minimum for a pixel stick.
Thanks!
Yeah, I’ve gotten the saber running but it is only providing just enough amperage to run the pixelstick, but I’ve already got a replacement ordered and once it arrives I’ll be swapping some wiring around.
Just as a quick update: my Padawan saber works!
Default ProffieOS 5.7 sound fonts on the SD with single button and the battery only just puts out enough juice to run everything and if I get fancy it struggles and has locked up once or twice on me.
Still need to work out why the RGB ring in the AV button isn’t lighting up, I think it’s wiring since I’ve already checked the code. Got 2 fonts and 3 styles I want to try, so I am updating the config and also adding sa22c’s button config instead since it’s got better features for a one-button setup.
Once the new battery and the wire I have ordered all arrive it’ll be time to take her apart again and rebuild!
This statement doesn’t make any sense to me.
If anything is not putting out enough “juice”, it’s the battery.
The issue is that the saber seems to “lock up” and become unresponsive with the main hum sound still playing and the blade lit but will not respond to movement or pressing the activation button. Seems to happen randomly but mostly when using the saber and changing presets quickly.
I have another battery ordered to try and resolve the issue that has a much higher current output. Sorry for being vague in the first post, but this is just a test build to learn the skills and what works/doesn’t work.
Lots of things could cause that unfortunately.
Does it happen even if the blade is not connected? (If not, that could indicate a power/battery problem.) What version of the arduino-proffieboard plugin do you have?
Now that part right there caught my eyes. I get similar and so far can’t explain it. I have the correct battery and everything and have been trying to identify it w Fredrik’s help.
But the blade did not stay on for you, did it?
Thanks for asking that. I’m curious too.
The issue only happens when the blade is on, and I took some time to hook up my ammeter and measured the draw on the battery which showed it peaking at 4.87A, so it’s looking like a battery issue as the TF 2400mAh is only rated for 4.5A continuous.
This is on a Proffieboar v2.2 with OS 5.7, but I’ll be updating to 5.9 shortly.
New battery is a pre-wired 18650 15A Sony 3120mAh and arrives Friday. In the mean time I haven’t been using the saber to try and avoid causing any issues. Might try to hook it up to a VO power supply and seeing what kind of current this will draw, as I’ve got a bench supply on my workbench.
A good battery is always a good thing. Please let us know if it resolves the issue or not.
Just a quick update on this build:
Finally got the new battery installed and did some rewiring of the connections to add a recharge port and fix some minor issues. Looks like the new battery has resolved the issue with the board freezing up and everything is working smoothly now.
I also added some new fonts and styles to try out, which after a bunch of tinkering to get right, all work!
Now going to wrap the handle and add some colour to this hilt.
