Thank you for this! This helped me complete lightsaber surgery when my springloaded plate where the blade connects to came out of alignment and I needed to fix it!
Hello! This video is super helpful as are your other videos. I replaced the ribbon cable, using a cable from your affiliated link. That part went smoothly, thank you. However, when I insert the blade and turn to lock it in place. It seems to disengage. It makes the sound when you remove the blade and either flickers on then off or won't light up. I am wonder what could be causing this. Any thoughts? If I only turn it half way, I can get the blade to light up and stay lit, but if I turn it enough to lock it in, it disengages. Any help would be appreciated.
you may have an issue similar to what i had in this video: ruclips.net/video/uJNrIZvvKW8/видео.html in that video the ground wire going to the blade connector was broken and had to be resoldered.
@@Ruthsarian thanks so much for the feedback. I had a look at the inside of the chassis, following your video instructions (which are amazing). It doesn't look like any wires are broken. So strange. Thanks for the video series though. They are amazing.
Sorry I know I’m super late to this video to the video but I’m making a relative secondary chassis that’s shorter. I was wondering what you things the length of the pogo pins are the set into the blade
the holes in the blade that the pogo pins connect to are 1.5mm deep and about 3mm in diameter. so as long as the pogo pins you use are less than 3mm in thickness, and, when fully compressed, are less than 1.5mm above the bottom of the PCB or housing they're in, but uncompressed are over 1.5mm above the PCB or housing you should be good to go. I made a small PCB with pogo pins to interface with the blade. I used these pogo pins for that: www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQF2BRC/ They worked, but they're smaller than the stock pogo pins.
When replacing the batteries on mine (referring to the battery pack specifically), the black cap on the opposite end of the red arrow popped off exposing wires and a broken speaker module. Looks like a light soldering job. Is there any possibility I could mail it out to you for servicing? Or if you have any tips that could help me with this process? Thanks
if the wires have come off the speaker and you have access to a soldering iron, it's something that wouldn't take much to fix. here are some high-res images of the disassembled battery pack that might help for reference: www.flickr.com/photos/ruthsarian/albums/72157720165462416 if you don't have access to a soldering iron or don't want to do it, email me at ruthsarian@gmail.com and we can work something out. if you can, include a couple pictures of the broken battery pack so i have an idea of what state it's in.
The hex screws that keep the exterior in place: One of mine, while not stripped, is a little worn. Do you know where one might get a replacement for it? Or at least what it's called?
the battery and associated electronics would need to fit within an area the size of the battery compartment. that might be possible, but I'm not sure about the wireless charging. the metal plates that decorate the chassis would interfere, so you would need to remove them every time you wanted to charge it, which I think might defeat the purpose of wireless charging.
I need help too pls, the golden cable (at the begging of the video) is so damaged I don’t know what to do. The lightsaber makes sounds when I attach the blade but when I put the kyber crystal there is not sounds and the blade does not turn on.
Would love your thoughts on a dilemma I’m having with my Savi chassis. I replaced the data cable since mine was frayed and I’m getting power and signal to the blade, I get audio when inserting and removing a blade and ignition spark sound from activating the switch, but it refuses to respond when inserting a kyber. Do you think it’s more likely the micro switch to activate the reader has a fault, or the reader itself?
I do not think it is the micro switch. It's probably not the reader itself either, but some supporting element or the core microcontroller itself. I have two hilts that exhibit this same problem. I'm working on a rig to help me test one of them with all the electronics exposed so I can monitor it. The only thing they have in common is they were purchased within the last year; both have dates on the PCB from 2022. Perhaps a hardware revision has introduced a flaw into the design. I tested the micro switch in both, it was working fine. The reader worked as well; I was able to detect the RF field it produces to read a kyber crystal. I have also replaced the chip that handles the RFID operations with a known good one out of a Holocron and nothing changed. The Holocron got the chip from the hilt, and it continues to work fine. So I don't know what the problem is. I need to spend some more time trying to analyze the issue, but I think it's not a rare issue for hilts to develop.
One side note, I did get one of the two hilts to work by using weak batteries. It seemed as if fresh batteries caused the problem. Not sure how... I need to do more research.
Started testing this morning. Of course the bad chassis electronics started working. However, I can replicate the issue if I feed 5 volts or more to the circuit. Try some batteries that have been lightly used and see if that helps. Maybe try batteries with a different chemistry (alkaline vs. heavy duty vs. lithium).
Question? I am hoping to get to go to Disney World sometime next year and hope to visit Savis and get my own Light Saber. My question is, can you buy those crates you see those display Lightsabers get, for your one, or any display at all, or do you only get the black bag? Also can you purchase extra blades, incase yours gets damaged or do you need to buy a whole other saber to get another blade?
they do not sell crates for the sabers from savi's, but they do sell a lightsaber stand at dok ondar's. they also sell a sturdier lightsaber sheath. extra blades are also available at dok's, but either longer (36 inch) or shorter (28 inch) than the savi's blade (31 inch). they are meant for the display sabers, but they work with savi sabers too.
@@Ruthsarian Thanks for the reply. That's a bit disappointing that you can't get a fancy crate for your custom Light Saber, but I am glad you can atleast get a extra stand and blades. My new question is, does the display sabers, function with the Savis ones, or are they different? ( By work with I mean, can they be taken apart and some of those parts, be added to the custom saber and or vice versa. Also can you get Kyber Chrystals for those sabers as well or are they for display only? And as one final question, do you know anything about the Droid Depot? If you do, can you tell me, is it possible to get extra parts for the droid without buying a whole new droid, such as extra heads, arms, feet extra, or do you have to buy a whole other droid? Also if you bought two droids, could you mix the legs colors on one droid, or do all the droids arms have to be the same for both the right and left? (Meaning, if I got two droids and one got black arms and the other got red, could I take like the right red Leg and the Left black leg and put them on one droid or would the droid regect it, or have trouble syncing if you mixed matched parts?
the legacy (display) sabers can't be taken apart and you can't insert a kyber crystal into them. you cannot buy extra parts for your droid, but you can always swap parts with other droids. I'm not sure if they let you do that in the depot (never tried it), but worst case you can swap them later when you get home.
@@Ruthsarian Thanks, weird, I thought I heard somewhere you could buy extra Scrap for your droids, I was just asking to be certain though. Well that stinks you can't really do anything with the display sabers, I feel it would have been a smarter move to have them be the same sabers, just they are special themed ones that are exclusive there while the Custom ones, are the ones you get the customize. Just something where if you wanted to take parts from each and build another saber, you could.
Does anyone know how to fix the flash light on the original build a lightsaber from tomorrow land?. I opened it up, and found the three colored wires white black and red, they were all detached from somewhere. I tried many combinations to figure out which wire goes on the light motherboard. I couldn’t figure it out. If anyone has experience with this, please reply
the speaker is in the battery pack, which I didn't take apart in this video. it could be replaced, but you're limited in speaker size to what's already in there.
Hi I been thinking about Making a 3-D printed version that I can put custom soundboard into. Would you be able to give me measurements of the different parts. Do you know the best way to make a 3-D printable copy of this chassis?
check out the #makerspacee channel on the galaxy's edge discord server (swgediscord.com). there are some people there working on 3D-printing a chassis and sharing their information. there is also this project on thingiverse.com that might be useful to you: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3722640
Ruthsarian Hi thank for your reply. I did download the thingiverse files that you mention before. I was hoping that I could use sketch up to make a Negative version of their inside screw channels and put it on a cylinder so I could screw the 3d printed parts as well as the official part for display. I just started using skechup and blender so I am not to sure how to go about that. I have check out the discord you mentioned that I can’t seem to find the people you’re talking about is there any way you can give me a direct link. Thanks
The ribbon cable is a 0.5mm pitch, 8 pin, 150mm, forward direction, flat flex cable (FFC). These can be found online through sites like Amazon and eBay. The key words to search are 0.5mm, 8pin, and FFC. Below are a couple unaffiliated links to eBay where they can be purchased. www.ebay.com/itm/123697361346 www.ebay.com/itm/223586000134
If possible, are you able to measure the voltage coming from the two pin connector on the battery pack end of the hilt? It's the connector shown at 3:21 just above the ribbon cable connector. At the moment, my hilt isn't working and I feel there may be an issue at this end because mine only measures 1.5V where I believe it should be more, especially since it's also driving the blade which most likely needs at least 3V. Unfortunately mine stopped working as soon as I got on the plane to fly back to Australia and Disney haven't got back to me yet (if they ever will at all). I'm just trying to narrow down where the fault may be and without an actual schematic, I can only rely on others that have working hilts that may be able to measure this for me.
@@Ruthsarian yep definitely. Fresh batteries and double checked voltage with multimeter. I get 4.5V directly out of the battery assembly but only 1.5V out of that little connector at 3:21.
@@Gnarkill78 that sounds like you've got a short somewhere. if the ribbon cable and red and black wires are disconnected from the bottom half, do you still get 1.5V at the connector? if you do, then you know the location of the short is in the bottom half. double check the solder joints of the red and black wires as they come up from the batter pack connector PCB to a second PCB before reaching the third PCB where the connector to the top half is. Maybe the wire is stripped back too far and making a connection somewhere it shouldn't be. Here are some photos I just took of the bottom half of mine for reference: imgur.com/a/cq25Vko the soldering leaves a bit to be desired. i could see an inadvertent connection being made via bad soldering. you could also test resistance between the connector positive and the positive pogo pin the battery pack connects to; it should be under an ohm. do the same for the negative side too. if resistance is high then it's a bad solder joint somewhere along that line.
@@Ruthsarian thanks mate. Yeah it's 1.5V even when disconnected which gives me the same thought as you, that the fault is down that way. I'll investigate more with the trusty multimeter in the next day or two and see what I can narrow it down to.
tl;dr: my lightsaber stopped making any sounds 7 months after purchase; any advice? I have a Savi's Workshop lightsaber that I bought in Disneyland back in August 2019. A couple weeks ago (March, 2020) the lightsaber stopped making sound. I have called Disney Merchandise and because the parks are closed due to the coronavirus there wasn't a lot the cast member could tell me other than my lightsaber only came with a 90-day warranty. She suggested I call back after the parks reopen. Do you have any advice on how to repair the lightsaber to restore sound?
unplug the battery pack and leave it unplugged for 5 minutes, then plug it back in. this is essentially performing a hard reset of the microcontroller. this will fix any software issues. next, try replacing the batteries with new ones. as batteries get low the microcontroller can start to behave in odd ways. next, remove the battery pack. there are 4 silver contact pads on it's top. the two in the middle are for power, the two towards the sides are for the speaker. check to make sure there's no debris in them blocking contact and try cleaning them; a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol would work. then plug it back in and see if you get sound. if not, next step is to pull out the battery pack, unscrew the 3 screws at the top of the battery pack; the same place where those contact pads are. then lift that plastic piece up and look underneath and make sure all 4 wires are soldered to the underside. perhaps one of the speaker wires came loose. if you see one not connected, try soldering back in place. beyond that things get tough. it could be something deeper in the electronics that has gone bad. or it could be the solder joint on the speaker has come loose, which i have not yet found a way to access in a non-destructive manner. in either case, you'll need to see if Disney is willing to send you a new hilt.
@@Ruthsarian Thank you for the advice. However, after resetting, replacing batteries, cleaning contacts and verifying all wires are soldered (one red, one black, one white and two yellow) all appear to be connected, there is still no sound. It seems like the next place to check is the physical speaker connections. If you ever find a way to open the speaker compartment please post a video. Again, thank you very much for trying to help. :-)
@@edwardchadez2712 you could also open the bottom half of the hilt and double-check the yellow wires that run to the speaker contacts. at that point you'll have covered everything between the speaker and microcontroller. this video on how to open up the bottom half might be of some help: ruclips.net/video/uIUCccoosxA/видео.html
Huge favor to ask... and maybe a lot of fun!! I want to make my lightsaber a permanent display that never times out. Thus I want to power it from a wall outlet. How can I bypass or permanently engage the systems on this hilt, to permanently light the blade? And how would I control the color? Is it even possible? Would love to know your thoughts. This is kind of a deep question possibly... I haven't been able to work through it in my mind to completion.
I have a video on how to control the lightsaber blade with an arduino here: ruclips.net/video/YQRXhHM4Ixs/видео.html What I would do is buy a spare hilt off eBay (as I think this could be a potentially destructive process), remove all its internals except for the part that provides contact with the blade, stick an arduino inside the hilt and wire it up to the blade contacts. The arduino and blade could be powered by a USB phone charger, just find a really long USB cable so you can run it from the lightsaber mounted on the wall down to the charger. You'll probably need to drill a hole in the base piece of metal on the hilt to run the power cable through it. As for controlling colors and such, there are lots of different approaches to take. The arduino could have a program on it that just cycles through the colors. Or you could include some kind of sensor and the arduino changes the blade's color based off the sensor. You could even hook up an IR receiver to the arduino and control the blade with a TV remote. There are also bluetooth-capable arduinos and you could use an app on your phone to control it. The possibilities are nearly limitless. Adafruit is probably a good place to start if you're interested. Possibly one of their 5 volt Trinket boards: www.adafruit.com/category/261
At 18:30, I was able to slide that sleeve off by using some toothpicks and inserting into the flanges on the end then sliding the sleeve off. Still tight, but it worked. Hard to explain without adding a picture.
I think I have a problem with my hall effect sensor or switch magnet because sometimes my saber will either not turn on or off without a good smack to the side. Anyone have ideas of what I should do to fix this problem?
Hey! My lightsaber flickers or slightly changes color when at an angle. I think one of the pins where the blade pushes in feels loose. Can that cause the issue? Is it fixable?
that could be the issue, although the spring loaded pins are usually heavily soldered in place so i don't think it's a common issue. the blade might not be locked in all the way. try unplugging it and plugging it back in. that might help make a better connection. you could also try replacing the batteries. that tends to resolve a lot of seemingly random issues.
unfortunately, that's not realistically possible. i think the designers assumed you'd have all the scrap attached to your chassis and therefore wouldn't be able to see the lights and they wanted to save electricity wherever they can to get the batteries to last as long as possible, so they programmed the microcontroller inside the chassis to turn off the LED once the blade is ignited. to keep that LED on would mean reprogramming the microcontroller, which isn't possible as it's a one-time programmable chip. you'd have to design a whole new board to replace the stock control board which means a whole bunch of reverse engineering both the electronics and the data signals sent to the blade... it'd require a lot of effort. it is possible? yes, but the amount of time and effort required is too much.
@@Ruthsarian Thank you for the informative reply. Is the power constantly going to the blade and the data wire is what controls the on/off as well as the extension effect? Or does the switch close the loop for power while activating the microcontroller for the extension effect? I feel by your previous answer it's the former. But if it's the latter I can piggy back off of the blade power possibly.
@@jamieprintsstuff power is constantly going to the blade; it's connected directly to the battery pack. when the blade is off its electronics go into sleep mode to greatly reduce power consumption. when it receives a command from the hilt via the data line, it will wake up and control the LEDs in the blade to set the color and create the animation effect of ignition. the physical switch has a small magnet inside it which triggers a magnetic field (hall effect) sensor inside the chassis when switched to the on position. the microcontroller in the chassis detects the trigger and sends a command to the blade to ignite along with playing the sound of the blade igniting.
At 26:30 hopefully you shouldn’t have to but I in fact have to 🤦♂️. Apparently if you take the blade on/off enough it’ll cut through a wire. On mine it was the red cable. I have very little experience with electronics and soldering so it’ll be an adventure.
I haven't identified the chip used in the hilt, which I'd need to do before I could try to replace it as I'd need to find one that had the same pin layout.
@@Ruthsarian Have you found one yet? I love all my Legacy and Savi's sabers, but I have to admit I would have liked the sabers to be more reactive like some of the custom sabers I've seen. Can we make our Savi sabers, maybe not the Legacy sabers, more responsive? Thanks for the vid of the tear down its awesome!
Will you be posting a tutorial on how to re-assemble? I messed up trying to fix mine, and took it apart, and now I can't get it back together again. The ribbon cable is twisted, and won't go back in. I could REALLY use help
Is there any way I can send you my lightsaber to fix? I tried going through your steps but I got stuck and I don't want to permanently break my lightsaber. It's a super simple fix but I don't have the skills to perform it properly. I'd be happy to pay you.
What's wrong with it? I'd suggest contacting Disney Merchandist Guest Services, email: merchandise.guest.services@disneyparks.com, phone: 877-560-6477. I know of at least 2 people (and heard stories from several others) who have contacted them and were able to get a new hilt sent to them for free; they didn't even have to send the old one back.
I wonder if instead of using AA batteries that you could also convert this to use a 18650 Li-Ion battery instead. My own custom built lightsabers run on those and as far as I am aware most custom lightsaber suppliers also use them. Then again I guess I shouldn't have been surprised as these lightsabers at Disney are meant more as a toy for kids (albeit an expensive toy) and as such Disney would likely go for regular batteries instead of a Li-Ion cell with a chargeport. I still remember those clunky oversized lightsabers from Hasbro that weren't even to scale. Those also needed a ton of AA-batteries. 😛
I think using an 18650 could work, but it would require significant effort. You would need to 3D print a new battery pack to hold it. And the new pack would be limited to the size of the stock battery pack, which would just barely allow an 18650 to fit. Getting the speaker in there would be difficult, but it may be possible. Maybe there's a lower profile speaker out there that could be used; I don't think the speaker from the stock battery pack would fit. The new battery pack would also need to the PCB that provides contacts for the speaker and battery to the hilt. Maybe the one from the stock battery pack could be repurposed for that. I think you'd need to add a battery protection circuit as well, in order to prevent the battery from being drained too low and damaging the lipo. I think some 18650s have built-in protection (sometimes referred to as "protected" 18650s), but not all of them. But if it's running off a single 18650, I think there would be plenty of space for that along the side of the battery.
@@Ruthsarian Thanks! Yeah, it does look like it would require a significant amount of effort to get it to work. But if those Savi's sabers also run on a 4.5v 18650 there might be some cool benefits to be gained from it as Li-Ion just feels as if it provides continuous power until it's finally over compared to AA's that seem to get dimmer and dimmer. Unfortunately I don't have a 3D-printer or I could see if a custom battery holder could be printed. Speakers should not be too much of a problem as I've used both low profile ones as well as the larger 'bass' speakers. But yeah, the printed case would have to account for those connection points. Maybe it's too much of a hassle but I just though it would be awesome if that AA battery pack could be swapped out for a custom Li-Ion pack with chargeport. 😃 You're right about the protected cells but as I recall that was also more for overcharge protection. Not 100% sure though as I only used it once in one of my custom builds. They're often a pain to fit as battery holders usually don't account for the extra length; even though it's only a tiny bit. So yeah, one of my custom sabers uses a protected cell while I used a regular unprotected one in my custom Qui-Gon Jinn replica build. Lastly you're right about Li-Po cells as those are very finnicky and can just die on you when drained. Li-Ion cells appear to be coping with it better though but yeah, I also had a cheap chinese saber and that one had a Li-Po pack inside. If you keep that one drained for too long you risk it not holding a charge ever again. 🙂
the ribbon cable has some slack to it that needs to be tucked away as it is being put back together. it should be tucked away at the bottom side of the hilt. after this saber was first taken apart the extra slack was tucked into the top side which wound up damaging the ribbon cable. i think how the ribbon cable is routed a weakness in the design of the hilt. even in a new, unopened hilt, that ribbon cable is twisted and stuffed into place. after a taking it apart a few times, even knowing what you're doing, it's inevitable that it'll break and need to be replaced. thankfully the replacement cables are fairly cheap and easy to find. search for "150mm 0.5mm 8pin FFC" on eBay or Amazon and you should find them. Amazon has a few 10 and 20-packs of these cables for around US$7, which is where I got mine.
Hi my little brother just bought a sober from Disney land it stopped working he opened it then tried to reassemble it breaking the ribbon cable along with the red and black. I See the link you provided for the ribbon cable however not for the red and black pair .. please help my brother became depressed for what he had done.. thank you
The first thing you should do is contact Disney's Merchandise Guest Services. They can be contacted through e-mail at Merchandise.Guest.Services@DisneyParks.com or by phone at (877) 560-6477. Tell them your savi's hilt is broken. They may be able to send you a replacement hilt for free! That is your best, first step. the red and black wires use a 1.25mm pitch JST connector, sometimes also called a 'picoblade' connector. for example, this listing on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B07JJ4Y3DL/ The only problem with that (and other) listings is the red and black wires on the connector are reversed from the way the wires on a savi's hilt are connected. you will need to either reverse the pins in the connector or remember to wire them backwards when you put the new wires in. But please, before you try to repair this, contact Disney. They have sent many people replacement hilts in the mail for free. If they will replace it for you, do that. Then you do not have to worry about buying parts or repairing tiny wires.
You're looking for a 0.5mm pitch, 8 pin, 150mm, forward direction, flat flex cable (FFC). Either of these links will get you the ribbon cable. One is in China so it may take longer to arrive, but it will be cheaper. www.ebay.com/itm/123697361346 www.ebay.com/itm/223586000134 Also see the video below where I disassemble a hilt and replace the ribbon cable. ruclips.net/video/Unrz-hnpyiQ/видео.html
@@portermccabe639 they're pretty standard cables. you can probably find them anywhere you look. just look for "0.5mm 8pin 150mm ffc" flat flex cables and you'll find them. For example: www.amazon.com/dp/B0848QPGW4/ www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/538-15020-0083 Etc. I have not used the cables from either of those links, but they look correct to me.
yes, the ribbon cable connects to the data line that communicates with the blade. if that's damaged it can't tell the blade to turn on. the ribbon cable also drives the LEDs in the top of the hilt that flash when you insert a kyber crystal. if they aren't turning on when you insert a crystal that would confirm the ribbon cable might have an issue, either it's broken or it fell out of the socket it plugs into.
i hate when you spend an hour repairing something only to forget a crucial part like hooking a ribbon cable up or something and having to repeat everything. I can see why you're a pro at this now.
that's a new one for me. maybe someone was trying to make inserting and removing the blade a little easier by adding some grease? i don't think it'd be on there from the factory.
Absolute instant sub. Thank you so much for tearing this down and giving us a look at the PCB and SMD components!
This video was a lifesaver. Thank you for making it, and thanks for your help! My son was very excited I got his lightsaber working again.
I have been impressed with the quality and reliability of these. Mine have needed no repair or service, just batteries.
Thank you for this! This helped me complete lightsaber surgery when my springloaded plate where the blade connects to came out of alignment and I needed to fix it!
I want to see you changing the RGB leds!
Accidentally opened up where the ribbon cable was. How do I fix that?
Hello! This video is super helpful as are your other videos. I replaced the ribbon cable, using a cable from your affiliated link. That part went smoothly, thank you. However, when I insert the blade and turn to lock it in place. It seems to disengage. It makes the sound when you remove the blade and either flickers on then off or won't light up. I am wonder what could be causing this. Any thoughts? If I only turn it half way, I can get the blade to light up and stay lit, but if I turn it enough to lock it in, it disengages. Any help would be appreciated.
you may have an issue similar to what i had in this video: ruclips.net/video/uJNrIZvvKW8/видео.html
in that video the ground wire going to the blade connector was broken and had to be resoldered.
@@Ruthsarian thanks so much for the feedback. I had a look at the inside of the chassis, following your video instructions (which are amazing). It doesn't look like any wires are broken. So strange. Thanks for the video series though. They are amazing.
Sorry I know I’m super late to this video to the video but I’m making a relative secondary chassis that’s shorter. I was wondering what you things the length of the pogo pins are the set into the blade
the holes in the blade that the pogo pins connect to are 1.5mm deep and about 3mm in diameter. so as long as the pogo pins you use are less than 3mm in thickness, and, when fully compressed, are less than 1.5mm above the bottom of the PCB or housing they're in, but uncompressed are over 1.5mm above the PCB or housing you should be good to go.
I made a small PCB with pogo pins to interface with the blade. I used these pogo pins for that: www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQF2BRC/
They worked, but they're smaller than the stock pogo pins.
When replacing the batteries on mine (referring to the battery pack specifically), the black cap on the opposite end of the red arrow popped off exposing wires and a broken speaker module. Looks like a light soldering job. Is there any possibility I could mail it out to you for servicing? Or if you have any tips that could help me with this process? Thanks
if the wires have come off the speaker and you have access to a soldering iron, it's something that wouldn't take much to fix. here are some high-res images of the disassembled battery pack that might help for reference: www.flickr.com/photos/ruthsarian/albums/72157720165462416
if you don't have access to a soldering iron or don't want to do it, email me at ruthsarian@gmail.com and we can work something out. if you can, include a couple pictures of the broken battery pack so i have an idea of what state it's in.
The hex screws that keep the exterior in place: One of mine, while not stripped, is a little worn. Do you know where one might get a replacement for it? Or at least what it's called?
Any thoughts on modifying it to use rechargeable batteries and maybe even Qi wireless charging?
the battery and associated electronics would need to fit within an area the size of the battery compartment. that might be possible, but I'm not sure about the wireless charging. the metal plates that decorate the chassis would interfere, so you would need to remove them every time you wanted to charge it, which I think might defeat the purpose of wireless charging.
I opened mine up, and it had some damaged wires in it. Trying to put it back together- would you be able to advise??
i can try. can you share some pictures or describe the problem?
I need help too pls, the golden cable (at the begging of the video) is so damaged I don’t know what to do. The lightsaber makes sounds when I attach the blade but when I put the kyber crystal there is not sounds and the blade does not turn on.
you probably need to replace that ribbon cable. ruclips.net/video/Unrz-hnpyiQ/видео.html
Ruthsarian is the orange cable that gives color to the blade or another cable? If it is the orange probably is my problem cause it is so damaged...
@@cogumelo6963 just replace the damaged parts.
Would love your thoughts on a dilemma I’m having with my Savi chassis. I replaced the data cable since mine was frayed and I’m getting power and signal to the blade, I get audio when inserting and removing a blade and ignition spark sound from activating the switch, but it refuses to respond when inserting a kyber. Do you think it’s more likely the micro switch to activate the reader has a fault, or the reader itself?
I do not think it is the micro switch. It's probably not the reader itself either, but some supporting element or the core microcontroller itself.
I have two hilts that exhibit this same problem. I'm working on a rig to help me test one of them with all the electronics exposed so I can monitor it. The only thing they have in common is they were purchased within the last year; both have dates on the PCB from 2022. Perhaps a hardware revision has introduced a flaw into the design.
I tested the micro switch in both, it was working fine. The reader worked as well; I was able to detect the RF field it produces to read a kyber crystal. I have also replaced the chip that handles the RFID operations with a known good one out of a Holocron and nothing changed.
The Holocron got the chip from the hilt, and it continues to work fine.
So I don't know what the problem is. I need to spend some more time trying to analyze the issue, but I think it's not a rare issue for hilts to develop.
One side note, I did get one of the two hilts to work by using weak batteries. It seemed as if fresh batteries caused the problem. Not sure how... I need to do more research.
Started testing this morning. Of course the bad chassis electronics started working. However, I can replicate the issue if I feed 5 volts or more to the circuit. Try some batteries that have been lightly used and see if that helps. Maybe try batteries with a different chemistry (alkaline vs. heavy duty vs. lithium).
Question? I am hoping to get to go to Disney World sometime next year and hope to visit Savis and get my own Light Saber. My question is, can you buy those crates you see those display Lightsabers get, for your one, or any display at all, or do you only get the black bag? Also can you purchase extra blades, incase yours gets damaged or do you need to buy a whole other saber to get another blade?
they do not sell crates for the sabers from savi's, but they do sell a lightsaber stand at dok ondar's. they also sell a sturdier lightsaber sheath. extra blades are also available at dok's, but either longer (36 inch) or shorter (28 inch) than the savi's blade (31 inch). they are meant for the display sabers, but they work with savi sabers too.
@@Ruthsarian Thanks for the reply. That's a bit disappointing that you can't get a fancy crate for your custom Light Saber, but I am glad you can atleast get a extra stand and blades. My new question is, does the display sabers, function with the Savis ones, or are they different? ( By work with I mean, can they be taken apart and some of those parts, be added to the custom saber and or vice versa. Also can you get Kyber Chrystals for those sabers as well or are they for display only? And as one final question, do you know anything about the Droid Depot? If you do, can you tell me, is it possible to get extra parts for the droid without buying a whole new droid, such as extra heads, arms, feet extra, or do you have to buy a whole other droid? Also if you bought two droids, could you mix the legs colors on one droid, or do all the droids arms have to be the same for both the right and left? (Meaning, if I got two droids and one got black arms and the other got red, could I take like the right red Leg and the Left black leg and put them on one droid or would the droid regect it, or have trouble syncing if you mixed matched parts?
the legacy (display) sabers can't be taken apart and you can't insert a kyber crystal into them.
you cannot buy extra parts for your droid, but you can always swap parts with other droids. I'm not sure if they let you do that in the depot (never tried it), but worst case you can swap them later when you get home.
@@Ruthsarian Thanks, weird, I thought I heard somewhere you could buy extra Scrap for your droids, I was just asking to be certain though. Well that stinks you can't really do anything with the display sabers, I feel it would have been a smarter move to have them be the same sabers, just they are special themed ones that are exclusive there while the Custom ones, are the ones you get the customize. Just something where if you wanted to take parts from each and build another saber, you could.
Does anyone know how to fix the flash light on the original build a lightsaber from tomorrow land?. I opened it up, and found the three colored wires white black and red, they were all detached from somewhere. I tried many combinations to figure out which wire goes on the light motherboard. I couldn’t figure it out. If anyone has experience with this, please reply
Is the speaker replaceable? I didn’t see much about the speaker unless I missed it. Would love to be able to make it louder.
the speaker is in the battery pack, which I didn't take apart in this video. it could be replaced, but you're limited in speaker size to what's already in there.
Hi I been thinking about Making a 3-D printed version that I can put custom soundboard into. Would you be able to give me measurements of the different parts. Do you know the best way to make a 3-D printable copy of this chassis?
check out the #makerspacee channel on the galaxy's edge discord server (swgediscord.com). there are some people there working on 3D-printing a chassis and sharing their information.
there is also this project on thingiverse.com that might be useful to you:
www.thingiverse.com/thing:3722640
Ruthsarian Hi thank for your reply. I did download the thingiverse files that you mention before. I was hoping that I could use sketch up to make a Negative version of their inside screw channels and put it on a cylinder so I could screw the 3d printed parts as well as the official part for display. I just started using skechup and blender so I am not to sure how to go about that. I have check out the discord you mentioned that I can’t seem to find the people you’re talking about is there any way you can give me a direct link. Thanks
Where did you purchase the replacement ribbon cables? I am having trouble finding them.
The ribbon cable is a 0.5mm pitch, 8 pin, 150mm, forward direction, flat flex cable (FFC). These can be found online through sites like Amazon and eBay. The key words to search are 0.5mm, 8pin, and FFC. Below are a couple unaffiliated links to eBay where they can be purchased.
www.ebay.com/itm/123697361346
www.ebay.com/itm/223586000134
If possible, are you able to measure the voltage coming from the two pin connector on the battery pack end of the hilt? It's the connector shown at 3:21 just above the ribbon cable connector. At the moment, my hilt isn't working and I feel there may be an issue at this end because mine only measures 1.5V where I believe it should be more, especially since it's also driving the blade which most likely needs at least 3V. Unfortunately mine stopped working as soon as I got on the plane to fly back to Australia and Disney haven't got back to me yet (if they ever will at all). I'm just trying to narrow down where the fault may be and without an actual schematic, I can only rely on others that have working hilts that may be able to measure this for me.
that is the battery voltage. it should be around 4.5v with fresh batteries. have you tried changing your batteries?
@@Ruthsarian yep definitely. Fresh batteries and double checked voltage with multimeter. I get 4.5V directly out of the battery assembly but only 1.5V out of that little connector at 3:21.
@@Gnarkill78 that sounds like you've got a short somewhere. if the ribbon cable and red and black wires are disconnected from the bottom half, do you still get 1.5V at the connector? if you do, then you know the location of the short is in the bottom half. double check the solder joints of the red and black wires as they come up from the batter pack connector PCB to a second PCB before reaching the third PCB where the connector to the top half is. Maybe the wire is stripped back too far and making a connection somewhere it shouldn't be. Here are some photos I just took of the bottom half of mine for reference:
imgur.com/a/cq25Vko
the soldering leaves a bit to be desired. i could see an inadvertent connection being made via bad soldering.
you could also test resistance between the connector positive and the positive pogo pin the battery pack connects to; it should be under an ohm. do the same for the negative side too. if resistance is high then it's a bad solder joint somewhere along that line.
@@Ruthsarian thanks mate. Yeah it's 1.5V even when disconnected which gives me the same thought as you, that the fault is down that way. I'll investigate more with the trusty multimeter in the next day or two and see what I can narrow it down to.
tl;dr: my lightsaber stopped making any sounds 7 months after purchase; any advice?
I have a Savi's Workshop lightsaber that I bought in Disneyland back in August 2019. A couple weeks ago (March, 2020) the lightsaber stopped making sound. I have called Disney Merchandise and because the parks are closed due to the coronavirus there wasn't a lot the cast member could tell me other than my lightsaber only came with a 90-day warranty. She suggested I call back after the parks reopen.
Do you have any advice on how to repair the lightsaber to restore sound?
unplug the battery pack and leave it unplugged for 5 minutes, then plug it back in. this is essentially performing a hard reset of the microcontroller. this will fix any software issues.
next, try replacing the batteries with new ones. as batteries get low the microcontroller can start to behave in odd ways.
next, remove the battery pack. there are 4 silver contact pads on it's top. the two in the middle are for power, the two towards the sides are for the speaker. check to make sure there's no debris in them blocking contact and try cleaning them; a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol would work. then plug it back in and see if you get sound.
if not, next step is to pull out the battery pack, unscrew the 3 screws at the top of the battery pack; the same place where those contact pads are. then lift that plastic piece up and look underneath and make sure all 4 wires are soldered to the underside. perhaps one of the speaker wires came loose. if you see one not connected, try soldering back in place.
beyond that things get tough. it could be something deeper in the electronics that has gone bad. or it could be the solder joint on the speaker has come loose, which i have not yet found a way to access in a non-destructive manner. in either case, you'll need to see if Disney is willing to send you a new hilt.
@@Ruthsarian Thank you for the advice. However, after resetting, replacing batteries, cleaning contacts and verifying all wires are soldered (one red, one black, one white and two yellow) all appear to be connected, there is still no sound. It seems like the next place to check is the physical speaker connections. If you ever find a way to open the speaker compartment please post a video.
Again, thank you very much for trying to help. :-)
@@edwardchadez2712 you could also open the bottom half of the hilt and double-check the yellow wires that run to the speaker contacts. at that point you'll have covered everything between the speaker and microcontroller.
this video on how to open up the bottom half might be of some help:
ruclips.net/video/uIUCccoosxA/видео.html
Huge favor to ask... and maybe a lot of fun!! I want to make my lightsaber a permanent display that never times out. Thus I want to power it from a wall outlet. How can I bypass or permanently engage the systems on this hilt, to permanently light the blade? And how would I control the color? Is it even possible? Would love to know your thoughts. This is kind of a deep question possibly... I haven't been able to work through it in my mind to completion.
I have a video on how to control the lightsaber blade with an arduino here: ruclips.net/video/YQRXhHM4Ixs/видео.html
What I would do is buy a spare hilt off eBay (as I think this could be a potentially destructive process), remove all its internals except for the part that provides contact with the blade, stick an arduino inside the hilt and wire it up to the blade contacts. The arduino and blade could be powered by a USB phone charger, just find a really long USB cable so you can run it from the lightsaber mounted on the wall down to the charger. You'll probably need to drill a hole in the base piece of metal on the hilt to run the power cable through it.
As for controlling colors and such, there are lots of different approaches to take. The arduino could have a program on it that just cycles through the colors. Or you could include some kind of sensor and the arduino changes the blade's color based off the sensor. You could even hook up an IR receiver to the arduino and control the blade with a TV remote. There are also bluetooth-capable arduinos and you could use an app on your phone to control it. The possibilities are nearly limitless. Adafruit is probably a good place to start if you're interested. Possibly one of their 5 volt Trinket boards: www.adafruit.com/category/261
@@Ruthsarian Holy smokes... you just got me very busy LOL. Thanks so much!
At 18:30, I was able to slide that sleeve off by using some toothpicks and inserting into the flanges on the end then sliding the sleeve off. Still tight, but it worked. Hard to explain without adding a picture.
I think I have a problem with my hall effect sensor or switch magnet because sometimes my saber will either not turn on or off without a good smack to the side. Anyone have ideas of what I should do to fix this problem?
Hey! My lightsaber flickers or slightly changes color when at an angle. I think one of the pins where the blade pushes in feels loose. Can that cause the issue? Is it fixable?
that could be the issue, although the spring loaded pins are usually heavily soldered in place so i don't think it's a common issue.
the blade might not be locked in all the way. try unplugging it and plugging it back in. that might help make a better connection.
you could also try replacing the batteries. that tends to resolve a lot of seemingly random issues.
How can I make that crystal LED come on and stay on as long as the blade is on? Great stuff on this channel, btw!
unfortunately, that's not realistically possible. i think the designers assumed you'd have all the scrap attached to your chassis and therefore wouldn't be able to see the lights and they wanted to save electricity wherever they can to get the batteries to last as long as possible, so they programmed the microcontroller inside the chassis to turn off the LED once the blade is ignited.
to keep that LED on would mean reprogramming the microcontroller, which isn't possible as it's a one-time programmable chip. you'd have to design a whole new board to replace the stock control board which means a whole bunch of reverse engineering both the electronics and the data signals sent to the blade... it'd require a lot of effort. it is possible? yes, but the amount of time and effort required is too much.
@@Ruthsarian Thank you for the informative reply. Is the power constantly going to the blade and the data wire is what controls the on/off as well as the extension effect? Or does the switch close the loop for power while activating the microcontroller for the extension effect? I feel by your previous answer it's the former. But if it's the latter I can piggy back off of the blade power possibly.
@@jamieprintsstuff power is constantly going to the blade; it's connected directly to the battery pack. when the blade is off its electronics go into sleep mode to greatly reduce power consumption. when it receives a command from the hilt via the data line, it will wake up and control the LEDs in the blade to set the color and create the animation effect of ignition.
the physical switch has a small magnet inside it which triggers a magnetic field (hall effect) sensor inside the chassis when switched to the on position. the microcontroller in the chassis detects the trigger and sends a command to the blade to ignite along with playing the sound of the blade igniting.
@@Ruthsarian Well crap. Thank you again. I really appreciate your time and your videos.
Where did you order the cable? can't find it on Amazon or DigiKey Can you provide a link? Mine got cut :( THANKS!
www.ebay.com/itm/123697361346
8pin, 0.5mm pitch, forward direction flat flex cable (ffc), 150mm long
@@Ruthsarian Thank you so much!
At 26:30 hopefully you shouldn’t have to but I in fact have to 🤦♂️. Apparently if you take the blade on/off enough it’ll cut through a wire. On mine it was the red cable. I have very little experience with electronics and soldering so it’ll be an adventure.
good luck!
Ruthsarian thanks! Worst comes to worse I’m right back where I started minus a few dollars in supplies 🤷♂️
I wonder if its possible to put in a ultra saber sound board
dose the lightsaber still work with out the gray parts on it and do you think that people could make some cool parts with out the gray parts on it
MrSilverlegoscout it does still work. All you need is the core, the blade, a crystal and a magnet to actuate the on/off switch.
Hi, can you share the link where you got the replacement ribbon cable?
www.ebay.com/itm/123697361346
8pin, 0.5mm pitch, forward direction flat flex cable (ffc)
Is there a better accelerometer you can replace the standard one with? It's not terribly accurate. Not awful, but it could be better.
I haven't identified the chip used in the hilt, which I'd need to do before I could try to replace it as I'd need to find one that had the same pin layout.
@@Ruthsarian Have you found one yet? I love all my Legacy and Savi's sabers, but I have to admit I would have liked the sabers to be more reactive like some of the custom sabers I've seen. Can we make our Savi sabers, maybe not the Legacy sabers, more responsive? Thanks for the vid of the tear down its awesome!
Will you be posting a tutorial on how to re-assemble? I messed up trying to fix mine, and took it apart, and now I can't get it back together again. The ribbon cable is twisted, and won't go back in. I could REALLY use help
i haven't made this one public, but maybe it'll help.
ruclips.net/video/Unrz-hnpyiQ/видео.html
Is there any way I can send you my lightsaber to fix? I tried going through your steps but I got stuck and I don't want to permanently break my lightsaber. It's a super simple fix but I don't have the skills to perform it properly. I'd be happy to pay you.
What's wrong with it?
I'd suggest contacting Disney Merchandist Guest Services, email: merchandise.guest.services@disneyparks.com, phone: 877-560-6477. I know of at least 2 people (and heard stories from several others) who have contacted them and were able to get a new hilt sent to them for free; they didn't even have to send the old one back.
I wonder if instead of using AA batteries that you could also convert this to use a 18650 Li-Ion battery instead. My own custom built lightsabers run on those and as far as I am aware most custom lightsaber suppliers also use them. Then again I guess I shouldn't have been surprised as these lightsabers at Disney are meant more as a toy for kids (albeit an expensive toy) and as such Disney would likely go for regular batteries instead of a Li-Ion cell with a chargeport.
I still remember those clunky oversized lightsabers from Hasbro that weren't even to scale. Those also needed a ton of AA-batteries. 😛
I think using an 18650 could work, but it would require significant effort. You would need to 3D print a new battery pack to hold it. And the new pack would be limited to the size of the stock battery pack, which would just barely allow an 18650 to fit. Getting the speaker in there would be difficult, but it may be possible. Maybe there's a lower profile speaker out there that could be used; I don't think the speaker from the stock battery pack would fit. The new battery pack would also need to the PCB that provides contacts for the speaker and battery to the hilt. Maybe the one from the stock battery pack could be repurposed for that.
I think you'd need to add a battery protection circuit as well, in order to prevent the battery from being drained too low and damaging the lipo. I think some 18650s have built-in protection (sometimes referred to as "protected" 18650s), but not all of them. But if it's running off a single 18650, I think there would be plenty of space for that along the side of the battery.
@@Ruthsarian Thanks! Yeah, it does look like it would require a significant amount of effort to get it to work. But if those Savi's sabers also run on a 4.5v 18650 there might be some cool benefits to be gained from it as Li-Ion just feels as if it provides continuous power until it's finally over compared to AA's that seem to get dimmer and dimmer. Unfortunately I don't have a 3D-printer or I could see if a custom battery holder could be printed.
Speakers should not be too much of a problem as I've used both low profile ones as well as the larger 'bass' speakers. But yeah, the printed case would have to account for those connection points. Maybe it's too much of a hassle but I just though it would be awesome if that AA battery pack could be swapped out for a custom Li-Ion pack with chargeport. 😃
You're right about the protected cells but as I recall that was also more for overcharge protection. Not 100% sure though as I only used it once in one of my custom builds. They're often a pain to fit as battery holders usually don't account for the extra length; even though it's only a tiny bit. So yeah, one of my custom sabers uses a protected cell while I used a regular unprotected one in my custom Qui-Gon Jinn replica build. Lastly you're right about Li-Po cells as those are very finnicky and can just die on you when drained. Li-Ion cells appear to be coping with it better though but yeah, I also had a cheap chinese saber and that one had a Li-Po pack inside. If you keep that one drained for too long you risk it not holding a charge ever again. 🙂
How did the ribbon cable become damaged in the first place?
the ribbon cable has some slack to it that needs to be tucked away as it is being put back together. it should be tucked away at the bottom side of the hilt. after this saber was first taken apart the extra slack was tucked into the top side which wound up damaging the ribbon cable. i think how the ribbon cable is routed a weakness in the design of the hilt. even in a new, unopened hilt, that ribbon cable is twisted and stuffed into place. after a taking it apart a few times, even knowing what you're doing, it's inevitable that it'll break and need to be replaced. thankfully the replacement cables are fairly cheap and easy to find. search for "150mm 0.5mm 8pin FFC" on eBay or Amazon and you should find them. Amazon has a few 10 and 20-packs of these cables for around US$7, which is where I got mine.
Hi my little brother just bought a sober from Disney land it stopped working he opened it then tried to reassemble it breaking the ribbon cable along with the red and black. I See the link you provided for the ribbon cable however not for the red and black pair .. please help my brother became depressed for what he had done.. thank you
The first thing you should do is contact Disney's Merchandise Guest Services. They can be contacted through e-mail at Merchandise.Guest.Services@DisneyParks.com or by phone at (877) 560-6477. Tell them your savi's hilt is broken. They may be able to send you a replacement hilt for free! That is your best, first step.
the red and black wires use a 1.25mm pitch JST connector, sometimes also called a 'picoblade' connector. for example, this listing on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B07JJ4Y3DL/
The only problem with that (and other) listings is the red and black wires on the connector are reversed from the way the wires on a savi's hilt are connected. you will need to either reverse the pins in the connector or remember to wire them backwards when you put the new wires in.
But please, before you try to repair this, contact Disney. They have sent many people replacement hilts in the mail for free. If they will replace it for you, do that. Then you do not have to worry about buying parts or repairing tiny wires.
where can I get another ribbon cable?
You're looking for a 0.5mm pitch, 8 pin, 150mm, forward direction, flat flex cable (FFC). Either of these links will get you the ribbon cable. One is in China so it may take longer to arrive, but it will be cheaper.
www.ebay.com/itm/123697361346
www.ebay.com/itm/223586000134
Also see the video below where I disassemble a hilt and replace the ribbon cable.
ruclips.net/video/Unrz-hnpyiQ/видео.html
@@Ruthsarian thanks! is there any other sites that u know of that have it other than eBay?
@@portermccabe639 they're pretty standard cables. you can probably find them anywhere you look. just look for "0.5mm 8pin 150mm ffc" flat flex cables and you'll find them. For example:
www.amazon.com/dp/B0848QPGW4/
www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/538-15020-0083
Etc. I have not used the cables from either of those links, but they look correct to me.
Can the ribbon cable make the blade not light up any more
yes, the ribbon cable connects to the data line that communicates with the blade. if that's damaged it can't tell the blade to turn on.
the ribbon cable also drives the LEDs in the top of the hilt that flash when you insert a kyber crystal. if they aren't turning on when you insert a crystal that would confirm the ribbon cable might have an issue, either it's broken or it fell out of the socket it plugs into.
Thank you
How long are they
Can send me the site that u bought the ribbon cables off of
ive been trying to figure out how to turn mine on with out the switch part from the outer saber
the switch is a magnet. so to turn it on (without opening it up and making electrical modifications) you'll need to use a magnet.
@@Ruthsarian thanks atm im trying to add these internals to a saber forge hilt. i just dont know how to jimmy rig a magnet switch
Yep it has a hall effect sensor in the bottom half of the hilt so all you need is a magnet.
i hate when you spend an hour repairing something only to forget a crucial part like hooking a ribbon cable up or something and having to repeat everything. I can see why you're a pro at this now.
Know anyone who's taken apart an Obi-Wan Galaxy's edge lightsaber?
What does it mean if the inside of the top half is greasy
that's a new one for me. maybe someone was trying to make inserting and removing the blade a little easier by adding some grease? i don't think it'd be on there from the factory.