I have heard from a few people know that they are having an issue with the red button sticking.
This is an issue that presented itself very late in the installs of the sabers and is primarily due to the way this particular saber is constructed. To keep the shroud free from ugly screws, the three faux LED bezels are the primary means of holding the shroud on to the emitter. They act as screws to hold the shroud in place. The brass valve and red button pass through the shroud and into the emitter to act as the buttons. Where the issue arises is that if the blade or blade plug is screwed in too tight, it will push the shroud down onto the red button. This is what is causing the red button to stick. If the LED bezels are kept fairly tight, then when the shroud is pushed down, it will stay down when the blade or blade plug is removed. If you keep the LED bezels a little loose, then the shroud is free to float and it helps eliminate some of the red button stiking issue. Unfortunately, this is only a band aid and the issue can return.
There is some good news though. There is a fix that you can do yourself to solve this problem.
When this saber was designed, I made the decision to not have the set screws that hold the emitter crown on pass through the shroud and into the emitter itself. Back onthe original Obi TPM saber run I did many years ago, this is how it was done and I had one saber that was dropped on the emitter end and when I received it back to fix it, the set screws were locked in place and the repair was somewhat of a nightmare. I did not want to have that happen again so I chose not to repeat that mistake this time. However, it looks like my choice to save myself some future hassles has resulted in a new issue in the present. I am going to outline a procedure where you can make a simple fix and it will pin the shroud to the emitter so it does not move back and forth when the blade or blade plug is screwed in.
Remove the blade plug. Looking inside the blade bore, you will see three holes around the bore just below the bore opening.
You will need a .050" hex allen wrench.
Insert allen wrench into one of the three holes in the emitter and loosen the set screw (you need to back the screw off from against the emitter crown).
Repeat the set screw loosening on the other two holes and you will be able to remove the emitter crown.
Pick only one of the three screws and remove it from the saber. This time you will need to 'tighten' the screw so it comes out the shroud on the outside of the saber. You cannot back the screws through the emitter as it is not tapped. The hole in the emitter is the correct size for 4-40 threads, but was never tapped - it is for allen wrench clearance.
With the screw out, the allen wrench should pass all the way through the saber.
By now, you should have only one screw removed - do not remove the other two screws.
You will now need a 4-40 tap and a tap wrench (T handle prefered).
Put the tap in the tap handle.
In the hole from which you removed the screw, tap through the shroud and the emitter so that the tap goes through and into the blade bore.
Back the tap out and stick the allen wrench through the hole. You will now use a 4-40 x 1/4" long set screw and set in on the allen wrench and back screw it into the shroud/emitter threaded hole.
Make sure none of the screws are sticking out past the edge of the shroud circumference.
Place the emitter crown back over the shroud and insert the allen wrench back through the three holes from the blade bore and tighten the screws up against the emitter shroud. The one longer set screw will now tighten against the emitter shroud and pass through the shroud and emitter. This will pin the shroud to the emitter and prevent the shroud from moving.
You can now replace the blade or blade plug and check to make sure the red button is now working properly without sticking.
You could replace all three set screws, but I would advise against it for the reason I mentioned above about future repair issues. If you have all three set screws going through both the shroud and the emitter and the saber gets dropped, the repair will be much more time consuming and much more expensive to do. Just a little FYI.
For those who wish to attempt this fix. This will not void your warranty, but I will not be held responsible for damage done to your saber by you during this fix (broken taps, lost parts, scratches, etc). If you wish to have the fix, but do not want to try it yourself, contact me via PM and I will see how I can help you with this.
For those wishing to do the repair, you will need the following:
.050" hex allen wrench (ball end work much better)
4-40 tap
tap handle (T handle preffered)
one 4-40 x 1/4" set screw
You may source these parts locally, or I am offering to make a bulk purchase from my supplier and supply the hex wrench, 4-40 tap, and set screw for a cost of $4.00 per set. I can also get economy T tap handles for an additional $5.00.
I will give everyone about a week or so to let me know if they want a parts kit or a parts kit + tap handle and then place the order. I can ship a parts kit in a small bubble envelope mailer. A parts kit + tap handle may need a larger package to ship in. I will let everyone know what shipping will be once I figure out who wants what.
I apologoze for any problems this has caused for any of my customers. I never even thought about the possibility of there being an issue with the red button when I designed this saber. This issue popped up as the sabers were getting into people's hands.