Disney's stormtrooper voice changing mask

[charlesnarles]

Good to know its even possible! Time to learn how to use a solder sucker-upper thingy

[Ollie mills tk[TK]]

Have you managed to get it any louder?!

[charlesnarles]

Haven't had a chance yet. but Tony said they're nearly the same stats as the speaker in the mask so I assume the board has its own amp which would boost the volume

[Flyinpiper[TK]]

Could be because the wires would be incorrect. I am an electronics guy. Made my own amp voice system, all mounted in the helmet, and even made my own hovi tip speakers. Works great. Typically on the 1/8th inch jack the free copper wires are the ground, if your plug has a tip, mid section and longer base ( if the tip is up) the tip is the red wire, white is the middle section, and the copper wires are connected to the lower part. Easy to check with a little continuity checker. Going to post a video of my easy cheap build sometime this week.

[charlesnarles]

Maybe my 3.5mm plug idea wasn't the best. I didn't think Tony's speakers would come with the little red detachable connector boxes (expected bare wires) so I don't need another level of removability. But then I'd need stereo leads and it's mono output!

Edited June 9, 2015 by charlesnarles

[skyone]

just bought one from disney store online, i will try to install on my helmet as well

maybe i should keep the activation button on the ear or swap the button with a sound activation module

Edited June 17, 2015 by skyone

[skyone]

here it is, ready to install into helmet

 

[charlesnarles]

Be careful not to snap the yellow speaker wires like me😉

[DroidHunter]

Any updates?

 

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[Nacho[TK]]

This seems like a good option, if you can get it working right. You have the static breaks, decently loud, and you can output it to smaller speakers. only thing i would do is make the PTT button longer and route it through the sleeve to the glove. heck, I can even probably power it from my usb battery as with my fans. 

 

Been checking out some videos of it in action on youtube, pretty good IMO

[skyone]

ordered mini speakers to install inside the mics

[welshchris77[TK]]

This looks like a great idea!, sorry if I'm stating the obvious but be sure to 'tin' your wires before soldering them to anything (i.e. coat them in a layer of solder), I've build audio cables before and the cooper wires surrounding the white and red wires are the ground.

[usajdm]

Well it didn't work. The mic speakers work when plugged into my phone, but a heck of a lot quieter than I had anticipated (seemed way louder in the videos)

I thought I had soldered it half-decently, but now I see the deplorable job I did. Hopefully, the wires just aren't actually touching the leads:

Try the red as + and the stranded copper as -. Off visual, you've got it wired as left+ and right+ as your +&- leads without a proper ground.

Ideal would be to join the two +'s together(red and white) then of course stranded to ground.

 

Also, your not heating up your wires enough for the solder to flow properly.

Try holding your soldering iron to the tip of the wire.

After its heated up, touch the wire to your solder supply, keeping the iron on the wire, but allowing the heat of the wire to melt the solder.

After you've "tinned" the wire, place the tip of your iron to the pad on the ic.

Allow it to heat up, then touch the tinned wire to the pad.

It should bond instantly.

Not to criticize, but that's way to much solder there and it obviously did not flow into the wire.

Heat is everything.

The part must be hot enough(not just the iron) to melt the solder.

The finest amount of solder applied right will make a solid connection.

Good luck.

Robert

Edited July 11, 2015 by usajdm

[welshchris77[TK]]

Robert is right and said it better than me, red and white is usually for stereo left and right speaker and the ground is common for the two wires, joining the red and white is the way to go but will only be in mono being sent to two speakers, fine for this!

[charlesnarles]

Please do criticize anything you see me doing wrong! Lol I really appreciate the help, thank you both. I've been using the 'Tube and Google searches to teach myself electronics but there's so many contexts for every term/color/etc. And now I have a solder helper stand thing which fixes the problem of needing another hand (iron✅; board✅; wire....😕? = bad contact).

COOL! Onwards!

[welshchris77[TK]]

Your doing great Scott, I only have limited skills myself with electronics, I just know what I need to know for basic soldering etc.

The stand/helper thing you mentioned is helpful, is it the type with two arms with crocodile clips at the end?, I have one also somewhere but found it just as easy sometimes to prop the cable I'm working on between the jaws on a long nose pliers or whatever is lying around, the weight of the tool keeps the wire from moving!.

Keep up the good work! 

Edited July 12, 2015 by welshchris77

[charlesnarles]

I got the old solder off no problem, but...

 

I can not get that ground to take any solder! Twice I could get the red/white tinned (poorly) and twice the ground just got corroded by the heat before it could melt the solder.

I cleaned my tip and re-stripped the wire but the solder still drips right off:

 

I read that headphone wires have an enamel coating on everything so I'll need either sandpaper to buff it off or an iron more powerful than the 25w I'm using. Weird!

Edited July 15, 2015 by charlesnarles

[welshchris77[TK]]

It could be the solder your using, not all solder is created equally!, some have more silver in them making them flow and adhere better.

I had two tubes of solder that looked the same, one was from a euro (dollar) shop, the other from a more reputable place and the cheaper one was terrible, it wouldn't stick to the copper very good at all and ended up throwing it in the bin.

Just a thought! 

[welshchris77[TK]]

I don't think its anything to do with an enamel coating by the way!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Oils from your hands (twisting the wires) can cause this problem.

 

Using a lighter or similar super heat the wire. This should help the solder adhere to the wire.  

[Khazid[TK]]

Flux will also help. Lightly brush the wire with flux then touch your iron to it. This will remove any impurities from the wire, like oils from your hands as Tony has mentioned.

You should be abke to tin without issue from there.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Flux will also help. Lightly brush the wire with flux then touch your iron to it. This will remove any impurities from the wire, like oils from your hands as Tony has mentioned.

You should be abke to tin without issue from there.

 

 Great idea Brandon  . Haven't used flux since HS lol

[welshchris77[TK]]

Also what thickness solder are you using, you want quite thin solder for thin wires, for example plumbing solder would be totally inadequate for wires of this thickness, some solder has a flux core also dispensing for the need for flux (assuming the wire wires are clean and shinny)

[usajdm]

If I may...

First I would be concerned with your soldering irons power.

Some solders require upto 250 degrees to melt properly.

A quality soldering iron is a good investment.

After you've completed this project, I'm sure you will wish to try more.

Stick with solders made up of 60/40 tin/lead.

Also, stay away from dollar store solders.

Alittle wipe with sandpaper won't hurt, in case of any wire or pad contamination.

Also, be sure your "spongeing" your tip before, after and during usage.

[charlesnarles]

This count as a cheap-o iron?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00Z81A4Y8/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AMH4W1K8OCGMX

Seems better than the 25w I've been using which gets too hot too quickly. I also got some 1/16" 60/40 solder with rosin core, so I should be set. Forgot to mention the wire I'm using is a 1/8-to-1/4 adapter so it might have some guitar cable elements inside

Edited July 19, 2015 by charlesnarles