Anakin AOTC Disassembly Tutorial
By Rath Miran
Well here it is, my first ever tutorial! This will cover the steps necessary to disassemble your Anakin AOTC FX lightsaber in order to view the internals, for whatever reason. I should tell you that my saber comes used, and so is missing some parts, notably the origonal upper screw, but this should not affect the overall disassembly. Sometime in the future I may also include a wiring diagram, if there is a need. I also have a word document of what's below, so pm me if you want it. So, here we go…
For starters I though I would begin with a nice exploded view of the Anakin AOTC for inspiration, and perhaps to scare off the faint of heart!
You’ll notice the hilt has been reassembled in the background. Again, this view is missing the top of the activation box, but overall this is what you should end up with. So with that done, on to the disassembly of your lightsaber.
To start with, you’ll want to begin by removing the bottom of the hilt just as you would if you were replacing the batteries. Twist the battery cover and remove the lower screw, and then unscrew the lower portion of the hilt. After that you’ll want to remove the top screw as well. It’s one of those triangle ones; I got lucky and loosened it with needle nose pliers. (I snagged this image from Anakin Skywalker’s review for clarity)
After the screws are out the silver portion of the box will come off. From here we’ll move on up the hilt and remove the actual activation switch.
At the back of the lightsaber behind the emitter is the on/off switch. Here you will want to take an xacto knife and pop off the knob and silver accent. Just carefully work your way under them and they should come up, as they aren’t glued. Underneath you will see the screws that need to be removed. The picture below shows the rear plug still in:
After you get the screws out, the activation switch comes off the hilt and is attached by four wires. Luckily on this model, they just plug into the switch, and thus are quickly removed.
The upper screw that was just removed also helps hold the emitter in place, with the other bolt being in front. Just take a 3mm hex driver and this screw will come right out, after which the very heavy emitter can be removed from the saber.
Leaving us with this:
Now we’re getting close! Go ahead and push the two plugs into the saber and get them as flat as possible. I pushed them to the top of the recess and into the corners. Make sure to push the wires down as well. You may now push the upper portion of the hilt up towards the blade and remove it. Go slow, and don’t pinch any wires!!! Now you will be rewarded with this lovely piece:
Now all you need to do is remove the four screws that are showing and slide the two halves apart, giving you this:
Now you can slide the blade up off the pegs and you’re all done! In this picture you also get a good view of the clash sensor in the blade:
Now just follow all these steps in reverse order and you’ll have your saber back good as new!
***Here I’m going to include a few notes and additional pictures. I found that this saber is really a joy to take apart and out back together again. It’s simple and straight forward once you know what you’re doing, and unlike the new ones goes back together in a snap, no solder required. The upper hilt is also removable from the control box; you just have to unscrew it. The speaker cover comes off by just prying up the two edges that hold it, but be careful, as they’re brittle and break off easily. This will allow you access to the speaker itself. If enough people want me to I can post a small wiring diagram on all the plugs and where they go if someone really needs to get at them. I’m also throwing in some photos that offer good detail that might come in handy. Hope you all enjoyed this, and May the Force be with you during your repairs!
Topic: Anakin AOTC Disassembly Tutorial (LOTS of pics) (Read 22308 times)