Saber Forum

I am toying with the idea of changing the emitter of one of my Catalysts from type 10 to type 9 (I am referring to TCSS codes); however, I have difficulty unscrewing the emitter from the saber, it resists the rotation and I am not sure why (much of a noob in this field, I am afraid) therefore I have so far avoided it in order not to break anything; I also remember I read a warning about this in a Catalyst review. Can anybody offer any clue?

The reason I am thinking of doing this is that the type 10 emitter doesn't seem to hold the blade very securely. Taping is helping, but not too much... I usually have to turn the screw back in after a while, during intense training sessions. It's not dangerous, because I can feel it when it gets loose, but sometimes it's a bother. Advice here also would be appreciated: solving this small problem would also avoid the above tinkering, as I like the aesthetics of type 10 quite a lot.

It's always felt shallow and blade heavy.

I wieghted mine using pennies rolled in duck tape.

Sine I don't have sound I have room for them in there.

Now the balance point is closer to the middle of the choke.

----------------------------------

There is a focusing lens that should be glued to the emitter.

Be careful when you unscrew it.

Hopefully CZ3RO will post his 2 cents in here since he just got his Dark Catalyst.

Anybody else?

Come on... Has nobody with a Catalyst ever tried changing emitter?

i don't see any reason that you can't change your emitter. the focusing lens is part of the MLS, not the emitter. It is MHS compatible, so any of the TCSS emitters should work.

I don't see any reason either, but when I try to rotate it, it sticks after a rotation (in one saber) and doesn't move at all (in the other one), so I am a bit worried.

I can post a pic that might help - it shouldn't be a problem to unscrew the emitter, if it's stuck it's either just on really tight or maybe some of the glue from the reflector got into the threading? 

Either way, even though this isn't normally good advice, a little force might be in order.  I bet if you removed the blade and gripped the whole emitter in a towel you could probably torque it open.  It's just threading, there's nothing breakable between the choke and the emitter.

Here's the a pic.  If it's not clear, that's the male thread at the base of the emitter and the choke has female in the end you can't see.

(http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa323/CZ3RO1/SAM_1037.jpg)

That was most helpful, thanks much.

P.S. Thanks Kham for reminding me - maybe I'll get around to reviewing it properly.   :P

OK, I managed to unscrew both and it wasn't painful. Turns out the lens in the blue saber is completely free (there is no glue at all) while the lens in the red one is very well glued.
I will get a couple of new emitters to have some customization fun. Anybody knows which lens is this, by the way? I might want a couple of spare ones. Also, should I re-glue the blue lens after I change emitter? Is that important?
Thanks!

Maybe this should be moved to Customization. I will try and get a type 7; that should certainly improve blade retention during prolonged sessions. Not that I don't love the aesthetics of the standard Catalyst emitter (type 10), it's gorgeous, so I guess I will keep it on the red blade, which I use less.

Thanks for your help, by the way.

I am planning to get:

Screw on LED blade holder style 7 (should I get the "adapter" it mentions? I have no idea whether my heat sink is the "new" or "old" type)
MPS insert style 12
MPS Pommel style 8
MPS Clip

I am also planning to ask them to drill two holes in the blade holder for improved blade retention: what size of hole and what type of screw do you recommend? Dumb questions, I know, but I am not familiar with US measurements, besides being a bit of a noob at this, so I'd rather ask then screw up (pun intended).

Thanks for any advice!

The lens not being glued in there is what i was talking about.

Not every emitter comes with one.

Yep. It doesn't appear to change anything. I have a pure color LED anyway, so alignment is not as important as in RGB leds where it might lead to color unevenness.

Ok, here is the problem:
the emitter I'd like to mount (which is type 7 from TCSS) is shown in the picture:

(http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9053/holder7b.jpg)

however the type 10 in my Catalyst has, I believe, an inner flange where shown by the arrow, which the lens rests against (or is glued to).

I will check when I get home but this has me puzzled.

Ok, here we go.
This here is a full album of the Cata emitter from both sides, with and without lens:
https://picasaweb.google.com/101858129259810209234/BladeHolderType10?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMSytfTtxsuzNQ&feat=directlink
This last photo shows the situation very well:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1c0N8Hhjz-bm0HDDp4mQyGanhOHgcswt7Fknl-WJ940?feat=directlink
It seems to me that there would be no rest for the lens if I were to use either type 7 or type 10 from TCSS, which, as shown in the picture above, have a much larger inner diameter.
Am I missing something, or do I need something else here? Please help this total noob :)

Points to Ander for the great pictures.

These show a great look at the inside of the emitter.


 

you could buy a lens from TCSS to use if you want to switch emitters. It wouldn't be a focusing cone like Ultra uses, but it works nonetheless.

In the end I found out that yes, you can use a TCSS emitter in the Catalyst, provided that you use a TCSS heatsink adapter AND you also need to cut about 3 mm of the threaded part, because it's longer than US's, and you end up with the cone pushing on the led if you don't, which is bad. I am now back to the original emitter.