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By SentientPie
#4908478
Good afternoon everyone. I just got my PKE in from Spirit Halloween and I decided to immediately take it apart for documentation purposes. It seems to tear down very easily, only six small phillips head screws secure the shells together. When the shells are apart, the belt clip is held on with a single metal screw with a large flat head like a washer. I couldn't remove the screen without destroying the method it's secured. It seems to be held on with four melted plastic fusing points, the wing LEDs are unusually modular with white connectors that can be detached, this could be very convenient for modding. The motor is soldered directly to the board. It appears to have two microswitches to determine whether the wings are extended or closed.

Update 9/26/2018: Here is a video of the front of the PCB in action. https://imgur.com/aXn74Ih

9/26/2018 Update: I've added the front side of the PCB images below. PCB dimensions are 1.45 inches wide and 1.95 inches tall.

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Updated photos 9/26/2018: PCB front

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Last edited by SentientPie on September 26th, 2018, 2:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
By NickFame13
#4908482
Thanks for sharing. I'm tempted to take the clip off, but hesitant due to other recent feedback. Wondering what else may have been done before these issues were experienced.
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By jreverhart
#4908506
SentientPie wrote: September 10th, 2018, 9:32 pm Good afternoon everyone. I just got my PKE in from Spirit Halloween and I decided to immediately take it apart for documentation purposes. It seems to tear down very easily, only six small phillips head screws secure the shells together. When the shells are apart, the belt clip is held on with a single metal screw with a large flat head like a washer. I couldn't remove the screen without destroying the method it's secured. It seems to be held on with four melted plastic fusing points, the wing LEDs are unusually modular with white connectors that can be detached, this could be very convenient for modding. The motor is soldered directly to the board. It appears to have two microswitches to determine whether the wings are extended or closed.
Great news about the belt clip thank you for posting!
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By jreverhart
#4908511
NickFame13 wrote: September 10th, 2018, 9:55 pm Thanks for sharing. I'm tempted to take the clip off, but hesitant due to other recent feedback. Wondering what else may have been done before these issues were experienced.
What issues are you referring to? I haven't seen any direct review or feedback yet in regards to functionality. I'm waiting for mine in the mail and plan on taking the clip off to fit in the holster but thats it I have no intention of playing with the wiring. But I'm curious to know what others have run into so far.
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By Kingpin
#4908517
jreverhart wrote: September 11th, 2018, 2:52 pmWhat issues are you referring to? I haven't seen any direct review or feedback yet in regards to functionality.
robandliv reported in this topic that a colleague of his had taken the cover off of the back of the meter to remove the clip, resulting in it ceasing to function - although now that these photos have been posted, he might be able to fix the issue.
By NickFame13
#4908524
Kingpin wrote: September 11th, 2018, 3:42 pm
jreverhart wrote: September 11th, 2018, 2:52 pmWhat issues are you referring to? I haven't seen any direct review or feedback yet in regards to functionality.
robandliv reported in this topic that a colleague of his had taken the cover off of the back of the meter to remove the clip, resulting in it ceasing to function - although now that these photos have been posted, he might be able to fix the issue.
^^That one.
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By SentientPie
#4908547
jreverhart wrote: September 11th, 2018, 12:50 pm would be willing to post the measurements of the handle (Diameter) and the body HxWxL?
In inches the dimensions appear to be 2.325x3x11. I tried to use calipers on the thickest part for the height measurement. The handle is a bit unusual to measure since it's oval shaped but it's approximately 1.275 inches high and 1.56 inches wide at the biggest part at the bottom and 1.025 inches high and 1.26 inches wide at the thinnest since it tapers.
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By jreverhart
#4908567
SentientPie wrote: September 11th, 2018, 10:06 pm
jreverhart wrote: September 11th, 2018, 12:50 pm would be willing to post the measurements of the handle (Diameter) and the body HxWxL?
In inches the dimensions appear to be 2.325x3x11. I tried to use calipers on the thickest part for the height measurement. The handle is a bit unusual to measure since it's oval shaped but it's approximately 1.275 inches high and 1.56 inches wide at the biggest part at the bottom and 1.025 inches high and 1.26 inches wide at the thinnest since it tapers.
Thank you! I am going to be making a Kydex holster for mine when it arrives instead of a traditional leather one and I plan on using my iona Shoe polisher that I tried making into a PKE (epic fail) as the model for the mold just wanted to make sure size was about right.
By necrosapien87
#4908612
What size screwdriver did you use? I thought I had the right size but apparently do not. Mine came with the issue that the red plastic squares on the lower part of the meter are loose and I wanna get in and fix it.
By tb-1599
#4908652
shanedalton wrote:Thanks for the pics! That belt clip is as good as gone the moment mine comes in. That's what I have been waiting to see!
What were you planning on doing with the left over hole? I plan on doing the same thing..
By tb-1599
#4908653
Zander Yurami wrote:SO each light is on it's own wire. SO it shouldnt be too hard to rewire to correct order
Is there a thread that shows the correct order? I have a meter coming also, and would love to pit the leds in the correct order.
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By Nerdy NotionZ
#4908654
tb-1599 wrote: September 13th, 2018, 11:44 am
Zander Yurami wrote:SO each light is on it's own wire. SO it shouldnt be too hard to rewire to correct order
Is there a thread that shows the correct order? I have a meter coming also, and would love to pit the leds in the correct order.
Dont quote me on this....

3,5,7,4,1,6,2
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By SentientPie
#4908660
necrosapien87 wrote: September 12th, 2018, 3:58 pm What size screwdriver did you use? I thought I had the right size but apparently do not. Mine came with the issue that the red plastic squares on the lower part of the meter are loose and I wanna get in and fix it.
I actually don't recall the size off hand but I did use a precision screwdriver. It was likely a size 0 or size 00.
By necrosapien87
#4908704
I got it figured out. Was able to successfully remove the clip and re position the light i had issues with. I will say be gentle cause some of those wires are tight and others are looser so you night think you have the space to pull it apart but you don't.
By shanedalton
#4908705
tb-1599 wrote: September 13th, 2018, 11:41 am
shanedalton wrote:Thanks for the pics! That belt clip is as good as gone the moment mine comes in. That's what I have been waiting to see!
What were you planning on doing with the left over hole? I plan on doing the same thing..
If it doesn't look too bad to me in person, I'll probably just leave it. If it does, then maybe fill it with some bondo or something like that.
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By jreverhart
#4908706
shanedalton wrote: September 14th, 2018, 8:45 am
tb-1599 wrote: September 13th, 2018, 11:41 am What were you planning on doing with the left over hole? I plan on doing the same thing..
If it doesn't look too bad to me in person, I'll probably just leave it. If it does, then maybe fill it with some bondo or something like that.
when mine comes in I am going to fill it with some UV curing epoxy resin (surf board ding repair) let it cure, sand it smooth and paint it black, shouldn't take more than 10 minutes including cure time. I'm on the east coast in Florida so ding repair is readily available, however you can find it on Amazon too.

I also used it to fix dings, imperfections and chips on the shell when I did my pack build worked great!
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By jreverhart
#4908707
Oh. and because a solid black circle in the middle of the pattern isn't very authentic looking, I might find a round warning label and size it right on the computer and slap it on their, but haven't decided
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By SentientPie
#4908722
I'm actually cooking some ideas about maybe making a new PCB entirely that does the correct light pattern, sounds, and more granular wing control kind of like the Matty PKE. Since the LEDs have connectors already it can likely just be coded to do the correct light pattern. I might be out of my league with this idea, maybe Spongeface would have better luck with it than me. Ha.
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By tb-1599
#4908723
SentientPie wrote:I'm actually cooking some ideas about maybe making a new PCB entirely that does the correct light pattern, sounds, and more granular wing control kind of like the Matty PKE. Since the LEDs have connectors already it can likely just be coded to do the correct light pattern. I might be out of my league with this idea, maybe Spongeface would have better luck with it than me. Ha.
I was thinking the same thing. (Ahem Spongface if you are listening)
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By jreverhart
#4908739
tb-1599 wrote: September 14th, 2018, 12:53 pm Do u plan on rearranging the LEDs?
I'm gonna take a look at them when it comes in, if its easy enough, yes I most likely will, but its not a necessity so If its more complicated than just popping them out and back in into place then I'll just leave it like it is, I doubt anyone will really notice anyway
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By metallijosh
#4908742
SentientPie wrote: September 14th, 2018, 12:56 pm I'm actually cooking some ideas about maybe making a new PCB entirely that does the correct light pattern, sounds, and more granular wing control kind of like the Matty PKE. Since the LEDs have connectors already it can likely just be coded to do the correct light pattern. I might be out of my league with this idea, maybe Spongeface would have better luck with it than me. Ha.
Can't you just rewire the lights?
By tb-1599
#4908744
jreverhart wrote: September 14th, 2018, 7:55 pm
tb-1599 wrote: September 14th, 2018, 12:53 pm Do u plan on rearranging the LEDs?
I'm gonna take a look at them when it comes in, if its easy enough, yes I most likely will, but its not a necessity so If its more complicated than just popping them out and back in into place then I'll just leave it like it is, I doubt anyone will really notice anyway
The wires on the inside may have to lengthened or shorted because of where they sit inside the arms since they move. But I don't think it will be that big of a deal.
By RamaSha007
#4908848
I picked one of these up this weekend and really love it. I took the clip off as soon as I found the right size screw driver. Really wish the hole on the back was smaller. Something that could have been filled in with like a 3d printed part to look like a normal PKE back.

I like how efficient the internal electronics are in this thing, but I hope someone can come up with a upgrade electronics kit for this thing.
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By SentientPie
#4908969
metallijosh wrote: September 14th, 2018, 8:45 pm
SentientPie wrote: September 14th, 2018, 12:56 pm I'm actually cooking some ideas about maybe making a new PCB entirely that does the correct light pattern, sounds, and more granular wing control kind of like the Matty PKE. Since the LEDs have connectors already it can likely just be coded to do the correct light pattern. I might be out of my league with this idea, maybe Spongeface would have better luck with it than me. Ha.
Can't you just rewire the lights?
You certainly could if you wanted to. I don't see why it wouldn't work. I just think this thing has potential for upgrade kits.

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