StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Are there novel or books' statements about how long a lightsabre can work before changing the power cell or recharging it ? I guess SW doesn't have perpetual energy generators ....

There are conflicting reports. Most sources agree that lightsabers, when deactivated, are good for thousands of years, without any adjustment. In the Ep. 1 novel, Obi-Wan Kenobi turns on his lightsaber underwater, and "fries" it. It would not have been so much of a problem, except that it needed to be cleaned, which Qui-Gon thought would take a couple of hours. It is evident that he was able to clean the weapon while at Otah Gunga, and the time required to recharge the weapon was considered to be minimal. Also, sources tend to agree that the lightsaber draws VERY little power when not actually cutting something. It would obviously lose the amount of energy that flies off in the form of photons, but that seems to be minimal when compared with the amount of energy required to cleave through the things we've seen it cut. It would also lose some amount of heat energy, which is more significant, however the fact that the amount of ozone it creates is not great enough to pose a significant hazard to humans demonstrates that it does not generate heat that is significant for it, while just spinning through the air. In VotF, Luke and Mara are able to use their lightsabers for several hours while trying to cut through rock that is lightsaber-resistant. They express no concern about the amount of energy left in their weapons, and use their lightsabers repeatedly without recharging them, later on.

I would guess that, if the lightsaber is not doing anything, it is good for well over five thousand hours. In actual combat, this would decrease substantially--perhaps down to only a dozen or so hours but likely substantially more. It appears that recharging lightsabers is fairly quick and easy, requiring no more than a few hours with standard equipment.

In "I, Jedi" Corran Horn and Luke Skywalker have to re-charge their Lightsabers on the way to face the dark Jedi hiding the Invidious. This suggests to me that a Lightsaber has a re-chargable power source.

It will go down by however much work is done. In the case of waving it about all it does is produce light and sound, in the case of mealting through blast doors, a helluva lot more. And yes SW does have perpetual power sources, Hypermatter reactors IIRC.

Darth Pounder wrote:In "I, Jedi" Corran Horn and Luke Skywalker have to re-charge their Lightsabers on the way to face the dark Jedi hiding the Invidious. This suggests to me that a Lightsaber has a re-chargable power source.

A lightsaber would have to have a re-chargeable power source. It'd need a power source and I doubt anything so compact could satisfy the high power demands of the lightsaber for a Jedi's entire career. And building a new lightsaber ever time the battery burns out is a little ridiculous.

Darth Pounder wrote:In "I, Jedi" Corran Horn and Luke Skywalker have to re-charge their Lightsabers on the way to face the dark Jedi hiding the Invidious. This suggests to me that a Lightsaber has a re-chargable power source.

They probably also wanted a full charge in hopes that that might cut through the cortosis weave armor (I think that's the book with the armor that deactivates lightsabers). Besides, it would make sense that if you know you're entering battle, make sure your weapon won't wonk out on you in the middle of it.

NecronLord wrote:And yes SW does have perpetual power sources, Hypermatter reactors IIRC.

Think about what you just said, then hit yourself upside the head for me.

NecronLord wrote:It will go down by however much work is done. In the case of waving it about all it does is produce light and sound, in the case of mealting through blast doors, a helluva lot more. And yes SW does have perpetual power sources, Hypermatter reactors IIRC.

No those require quite a bit of fuel. Just take a took at the Accumulators rather massive bank of fuel tanks.

There is no such thing as a "perpetual power source." Star Wars has very advanced technology, but this is a form of the "no limits" fallacy, in terms of power generation.

I thought lightsabers use the same power packs as most blasters.

No, I, Jedi makes it clear that lightsabres need to be recharged. I think either Krytos Trap or Bacta War also makes a comment about Nejaa's lightsabre being the only one not needing to be charged after 50 yrs. in the Galactic Museum.