CWC - Nerf Barricade momentary action switch, 9v and laser dot modification

Hi,

After completing SG Nerf's barricade pressure switch mod, I found it difficult to consistently perfect the timing with the trigger to keep the flywheels constantly spinning. I came up with the idea of adding a momentary action switch, in place of the stock pressure switch.

As mentioned, this is just an alteration to SG Nerf's original mod. I've also added a laser dot module, with an active led indicator, as well as a voltage mod to 9 volts. Once I receive my 14500's, I'll be reverting back to the original voltage increase of 8.4 volts.

Let's begin:

Equip required:

(A number of items depend on personal choice - I will list what I have used)

SPT momentary action switch ("momentary on")
Mini slide switch with solder tail
Led with bezel(green, 3mm, 1.7v)
Laser light module (3.2v, 1mW unit)
9v battery and 9v battery snap
Power supply for laser light (2 x AAA battery)
Light duty hook-up wire and heatshrink tubing

Basic modding tools, as well as:

Soldering iron
Hot glue gun
Drill/Dremel


Obviously, you'll need to begin by removing the screws from the blaster (don't forget the one inside the battery tray).

Voltage Increase
The easiest way of doing this is using 2 x unprotected 14500 batteries, with either 1 link wire, or a AA spacer/dummy to fill the third battery slot. The 14500's that I had were protected, which won't work. I wouldn't recommend using 9v as a permanent increase though.

Once you've opened up the blaster, drill two small holes through the battery tray to allow the wires of the battery snap to feed through. Solder the positive and negative wires to the corresponding tails on the inside of the blaster. Next, solder some hook-up wire to link the other 2 sets of tails to complete the circuit.



Dremel out a groove inside the battery tray for the 9v battery to fit. Also, remove the lip from inside the orange battery lid. The 9v is still too deep for a perfect fit, but the lid will still go on - it does bulge out a little. You could probably dremel out enough for the battery to fit properly, but I've only done this as a temporary modification, hence I've tried not to butcher the battery tray too much.



Momentary action switch

To begin, remove the pressure switch from behind the trigger lock/on-off switch. I've also removed the pressure switch from underneath the jam slide, and associated wiring. This allows the flywheels to spin regardless of what position the door/slide is in.

Drill a hole in the handle (the side will depend on which hand you use the blaster with) big enough for the momentary action switch to fit. Connect the switch to the wires from the original on/off pressure switch (to avoid congestion, run the 2 wires under the trigger lock), connect power, and the flywheels should spin while you hold the button down, and stop when you release.



Laser dot and power indication led

Remove the orange holder at the front of the blaster that houses the flywheels and motors. Drill a hole through the orange sight which protudes off the top of the barrel, to mount the laser module. You'll want this to be as straight as possible, and the module will need to be a tight fit. I housed my laser module inside a small piece of aluminium tubing that I had lying around.

Run the positive and negative wires along the same track that the motor wiring follows. Run the negative wire under the trigger mechanism (you will need to drill through a small lip for the wire to fit nicely) Mount the laser, and replace the flywheels and motors.



Drill a small hole in the rear of the blaster to mount the led light. Secure the bezel in the hole with hot glue, or super glue, and insert the led light in to the bezel.



Dremel a hole in the bottom of the handle to house the mini slide switch. I secured the switch using hot glue (and maybe a little too much of it!!)



I couldn't get a 2 x AAA battery holder to fit in the handle, so I just soldered link wires directly to the batteries. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone though, as too much heat isn't a great combination with batteries. There are plenty of other options though, including:

Using wire glue to fuse the wires to the batteries (this is a painfully slow technique)
Li-ion battery, eg: a 14500 (which will give approx 4.2v)
3v coin/cell battery in a holder

Whichever option you choose will be dependant on the voltage requirements of the laser module and led light that is used. When I do this to my other barricade, I will be using the 3v coin battery, mainly for size and convenience.

Once you've decided on what battery combination you will use, connect the led, laser module and switch to the power supply, and test. You will need to drill some small holes for the wiring in certain places. All the wiring needs to be run as neatly as possible, as it interferes with the trigger mechanism if not mounted properly (Even though my wiring isn't that neat, the blaster does function properly. I will be re-wiring the whole blaster with some smaller diameter wire at some stage)






All that's left to do is re-assemble the blaster.



I've found the momentary action switch to be alot easier to use than a trigger-mounted pressure switch, and it really doesn't get in the way of holding the blaster. You can change the depth that the switch is mounted as well, if it does interfere with your normal grip.

So there you have it. Voltage increase, laser dot with power indication led, and push-button flywheel activation.

Looking forward to any feedback on my first tutorial. As mentioned previously, the majority of credit for this mod goes to SG Nerf.

Enjoy!!

That's awesome. I had the exact same problem with the trigger operated switch. Was actually going to revert back to the normal on off switch but now I'll just do this. Thanks heaps and great work.

Excellent post. Seems to be a great idea as I too have had a similar issue with the pressure switch in the Barricade.

One quick question for you though...have you been able to find a decent supplier for 14500 size unprotected batteries? Most sites and stores I have visited in Victoria only seem to have the protected variety, so I was hoping to find a decent online supplier whom can possibly sell in bulk (I am thinking of using these batteries in my Vulcan and Stampede also).

Hopefully you can help, if not, if I find one I will be sure to drop you a post!

Cheers!

I got my 14500's from dealextreme.com ($2 each roughly) along with a charger $8.

oxymoron wrote:That's awesome. I had the exact same problem with the trigger operated switch. Was actually going to revert back to the normal on off switch but now I'll just do this. Thanks heaps and great work.

I was also going to revert to stock, but I ordered a couple of momentary on switches by mistake, so there was a fair bit of luck involved. The only other thing I'll look at is the depth the button sticks out from the grip. I'm thinking of putting a little piece of rubber over the whole button. It is a little awkward on the finger - it doesn't really bother myself, but I've noticed a few mates having a bit of a whinge about it. I'll have to see what I've got lying around the w/shop.

(excuse the necro-esque reply, I feel this is relevant)

Hey clunk,

I stumbled upon this mod (for a second time, didn't pay much attention to it when you first released it) and it looks great.

Were you having problems in the trigger where it wasn't going back completely? That there would be 1-2mm open left in the trigger rail? Hence when you released the trigger sometimes it was still pressing down on the switch?

I bought one of oxymoron's Barricades, this one's a real guess but I'm assuming the one I have now is what he was talking about in the thread.

One of the solutions I thought would work, and it somewhat does not is improving the extension spring.
From the bottom one, to the top one (found it in my spares box)


Here it is in the blaster.

Sorry if this is a bit tangental, but I suppose it's a makeshift fix for a similar problem.

Yeh mate,

Every now and again I encountered that issue, but only on one of the 3 Barricades that I had. But that's a pretty good fix you've come up with mate, certainly alot quicker and cheaper.

The main reason I put the switch in though, was it enabled the flywheels to hit maximum RPM alot quicker, and didn't involve timing your trigger pulls.

I've actually changed out the momentary-on switch to a flashlight clicky switch, which is much better. No need to hold the button down now, just click it once for on, and again for off. $0.40 per switch too, which is quite nice!!!

Cheers,

I suppose this isn't a better thread to ask it, but what's the reason why you don't recommend a 9V upgrade?

Thanks

Just simply because you won't get decent run-time out of the 9v battery, and the decent quality ones are reasonably expensive, as opposed to li-ion's, which can be recharged.

I'm pretty sure you won't damage the motors with 9v, it's just more of a running costs issue. Plus, you have to do a bit of butchery to the batty compartment to get one to fit!!

Cheers,

9 volt batteries have a really crap charge storage capacity.
Even more poor with rechargeable ones.

Rechargeable NiMH battery capacities:
AA: ~2700mAh
9V: 175–300 mAh

At least the 3.7V rechargeable lithum 14500's are around 900mAh.

Side note: the reason the capacity is so low is that if you pull a 9V apart you'll find that it's made from six smaller batteries in series, similar in size to AAAA cells (think another size down from AAA cells).

More tangent: I use 9V's to power my guitar pedals, and have taken a liking to duracell procells. They offer about double to capacity of a standard alkaline and in a box of 12 (i think?) they go for about $3.50 a pop.