Build Log - Galaxy's Edge Camtono Enhancements

[zjunlimited]

Wiring Quick Connects

Another objective I failed to mention above is I did not want to hardwire anything in this project. In fact, I wanted to add quick connectors to give me flexibility in installation, servicing if the need ever arises and options for expansion if I wanted to add more lights or anything else that may come to mind in the future.

So here are a few photos of those quick connectors being added to different sections of wires. Shrink tubing was used to protect all solder joints.

Power wires from the battery pack

Control board in the cover

RF Controller

And one critical piece that makes this all possible is the use of pigtails to split power as needed. I ended up making 3 sets of these...
* single male to two female (x2)
* single female to two males (x1)

 

[Halliwax]

Exciting

 

[zjunlimited]

Cutting LED Slots in the Camtono

Ok, so this is probably the most nerve wracking of this process....not so much that it is difficult (honestly no part of this project was that challenging per se) but this was the area where I really couldn't afford any mistakes and is where my vision comes to life so I had to get it right.

First, I mocked up some styrene to see how this would work before I start cutting into the camtono.

Once that was confirmed, I fabricated a jig that will help align where on the camtono the holes would be situated. As I mentioned previously, I'm adding LEDs to 3 new locations and decided to use the 3 vertical mounting locations as my reference points.

As you can see below, the jig not allows me to consistently locate where the holes will be but helps in ensuring all 3 cuts will be as uniform as possible with each other so this doesn't look like a total hack job. My pencil marls can be seen below.

Once those marks were made, I used a center punch to make some initial markings on where I wanted to drill.
Then starting with a 1/16" bit, I setup my drill press and made the first series of holes.

Then move to a 3/32" drill bit

View from the inside.

Using a utility blade, I ran it along the pencil lines to remove the remaining material and sanded it all down nice and smooth using a nail file and needle files. Then repeated the process two more times. Finished cuts below.

Afterwards I painted the inside of those cuts with Vallejo black primer to maintain the blackout look of the camtono ceiling and to minimize drawing attention to those cuts when the LEDs were off (sorry no photos but I think you get the idea).

 

[zjunlimited]

LED Mounting Jig

As I was test fitting the LED to the newly cut holes in the camtono, I notice the strips were not sitting flat. The culprit were the solder joints on the led strips that I did not account for. So out comes the styrene again and made 3 "mounting jigs" that were roughly the same height as the solder joints which would allow the led strips to lay flat.

Here's a look at the relation of the led strips to the jig.

I then attached these strips to the camtono using Tamiya thin cement making sure the orientation of the open end is facing in the proper direction of how I was planning the final wiring to be routed inside the camtono.

 

[Halliwax]

Slow and steady wins the race, slots came out great

 

[zjunlimited]

Wrapping this Up

The wiring was the critical piece in this project so I wanted to share what I've done.

This is how the inside of the camtono looks. The key takeaways here are:
* wire management is key as to not interfere with the latch mechanism
* routed wires along the exterior as much as possible
* secured wires with clips I've attached on the walls at 12, 4, 8 o'clock and 10-ish near the post
* after inserting the LEDs into the jig, I placed a piece of styrene over it and secured it with yellow kapton tape; allows for serviceability later without permanently mounting the LEDs
* used a piece of black shrink tubing to help manage the 3 aux LED wires

Not the best drawing but here's how everything is wired. This allows all lights to come on when the camtono is unlocked, and all turn off when the handle is returned. When off, using the RF controller, all lights can be controlled independently from the locking mechanism.

A collage of photos to illustrate the impact of good lighting.

 

[zjunlimited]

And for those willing to listen me describe what I did, please take look at the video below.

 

[Halliwax]

Wicked job buddy!

 

[zjunlimited]

RF controller mode functions