Charging adapter

back

Charging adapter

DIY Teensy based lightsaber

What you'll need:

1 PL9823 LED or other neopixel compatible LED that fits inside the tube.
A small 4-5 inch piece of blade tube. (Mine has an inner diameter of 5/8")
female aviation connector
2.1mm charging jack
a charger
Aviation connector holder - Or get it from Shapeways
Charge Plug Holder - Or get it from Shapeways
15kOhm resistor - for blade identification
100Ohm resistor - to prevent the led to leach current when off
22-26-guage wire
assorted shrink-tube

Putting it together
The circuit is pretty simple. The green PCB represents the PL9823 (or any WS2811 compatible LED), the connector on the left is the 8-pin aviation connector and the connector on the right is the 2.1mm power plug. In my configuration, pin 1 in the aviation connector is the bottom pin in the circuit diagram. You can do something different if you like, as long as it's the same in the hilt and in the blades.

Here is a view of how I hook it up to the aviation connector.

This is a a simpler charge adapter. It doesn't have an indicator light, and doesn't play a sound when you plug it in, because it leaves the electronics in the saber off while charging. This can be helpful as running the electronics can interfere with the charging in some cases.

The following picture shows how the blade identification resistor fits snugly in the connector itself. and also provides the connection between pin 1 and 2.

When it's done, it should look something like this:

Problems? Questions? Suggestions? Check out The Crucible.

This page has been accessed 11,190 times since July 26th, 2016.
Last modified: March 29th, 2021 - Design by Monica & Fredrik Hübinette