Hey folks,
This is a somewhat abnormal service I did for a client. He received a SimplyProps Starkiller installed with a PC 2.0, but wanted to have Flash-ON-Clash. The person he commissioned it from said he couldn't fit the PEX and FOC into the hilt, so the client came to me and asked if I would give it a shot. While the hilt itself is somewhat controversial, I told him I would take it on and see what I could do.
Unfortunately, when I got the hilt, the wiring inside was incredibly subpar to my personal standards. I'll show you some pics of the wiring, as examples as "don'ts" then show you what I did for a simple and cheap chassis. The following notes are my opinions. Everyone builds sabers with different standards of what is "right" and "wrong". The following is simply my take. ;)
The first issue, was instead of the wires being routed behind the shroud, they were covered up in the Crystal Chamber area by some black foam tape.
When I pulled the shroud off, there was an incredible amount of double stick tape. This was messy and took forever to clean up. in addition, some of the tape had worn away and the bare solder points were touching the hilt.
Electrical tape wrapped around a mini TCSS 2W Speaker. Electrical tape should never be used in a hilt IMO. Ever.
This is what really got me. The PC and battery had no chassis at all, and there was "spaghetti" wiring all over the place. The wires also weren't very good quality. Very similar to the ones found on the Hasbro sabers.
The soundboard was covered in tape and hot glue. I am assuming this was done because there was no chassis to protect the board. Instead, tape and hot glue were using. Also a mess and pain to clean up.
So after a couple hours work, I cleaned up all the components, and built a chassis out or 1" Blade stock. This is the result before installing it into the saber.
In addition to that and adding a PEX, I upgraded and repaired the following things for the client just because they needed to be done.
1. Re-routed the wires to be hidden under the shroud. Now there is no foam tape present on the saber nor wires visible.
2. Flipped the crystal around so there is a terminated point- not the craggy point. The crystal is also now epoxied in place, not hot glued like it originally was.
3. Remounted switches with insulating 3M mounting tape. Not the thin double sided scotch tape.
4. Recharge port is now flush with the pommel. Not sticking out anymore. Simple thing really, just put the but on the port and then screw it in.
5. Added reverse sound by mounting the speaker under the crystal.
Finally, here is a video of the upgraded saber.
Let me know your thoughts folks. 8)