12x BR DIODES

Exerd said:

Total amperage on the 626mW blu-ray, on a fresh batt: ~640mA.

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Dave is correct about that...

I figured you may have meant that though. But it is not the current on the blu-ray. It is just the current draw on the battery. As your battery drains, this current will climb. Because the FlexDrive will need more and more current to boost the diodes voltage demand as the battery voltage slowly drops...

The awesome FlexDrive uses current to boost voltage needed. It does so very efficiently with very little, if any, lost as excess heat. This driver will use every ounce of available battery capacity. So use a protected Li-Ion if possible. I would recommend an AW brand from lighthound.com

Dave,

I know 640mA is not what my diode is getting. My diode is getting ~400mA @ 5.88V as posted above.

I may be dumb but I'm not stupid.

I posted that value for a comparison against the high amp draws that are listed a few posts above, to show how huge a variance we can have with these diodes/drivers in total current used versus output.

Exerd said:

Dave,
I know 640mA is not what my diode is getting. My diode is getting ~400mA @ 5.88V as posted above.
I may be dumb but I'm not stupid.
I posted that value for a comparison against the high amp draws that are listed a few posts above, to show how huge a variance we can have with these diodes/drivers in total current used versus output.

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This may come as a shock to you, but I was not even talking much to you personally. Less experienced members read this stuff and think that they have a good way to test their lasers.

The numbers from the supply side of a laser with a boost drive will so vary widely as to be virtually useless. So some NooB reads this stuff and measures his laser and tries to match your current here with a battery that is almost discharged. What will he do? How will it effect his laser. What value will he derive from this test?

Your post was setting people up for problems AND is not giving very good science. Listing this stuff "as a comparison" implies that there is some useful value to comparing these numbers. As less experienced people read these, more will post "their numbers" because they can. The result will be lots of useless numbers floating around because so one said what needed to be said.

If you doubt this, try re-evaluating your actual motivation for measuring and posting "your numbers" for this "comparison." Where did the idea come from? Why did you do it? What was your motivation for posting it? Do you think your posting this will encourage others to do it?

You may have to re-read my post with less personal ego involvement. NOWHERE in it did I accuse you of being either dumb or stupid. That was probably your father's or mother's voice echoing inside your mind.

I stated a simple fact about what your numbers were NOT doing. Measuring and posting the current on the supply side of a laser with a boost driver has very little (if any) value for the average laser hobbyist. It could lead to problems for less experienced members.

Peace,
dave

And I have to admit that sometimes I also post those readings in my build tutorials...

Usually it's when the supply source is a small battery and I want to show that the battery can handle the current draw of the build.

It is also useful information when trying to get an idea of what kind of 'run time' you can expect for the capacity of the battery/or batteries you are using...

But as Dave pointed out, it can be misleading. So I usually will explain it under a sub heading like 'current draw'...

daguin said:

This may come as a shock to you, but I was not even talking much to you personally.

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If you had meant to imply the above, shouldn't you have used the word "his", instead of "your", when you made the original following statement?

daguin said:

640mA is not what your diode is getting.

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It seemed like you were talking to me personally. :thinking:

daguin said:

The numbers from the supply side of a laser with a boost drive will so vary widely as to be virtually useless. So some NooB reads this stuff and measures his laser and tries to match your current here with a battery that is almost discharged. What will he do? How will it effect his laser. What value will he derive from this test?

Your post was setting people up for problems AND is not giving very good science. Listing this stuff "as a comparison" implies that there is some useful value to comparing these numbers.

Click to expand...

OK. You are stating that numbers from a supply side of a boost-driven laser can vary too greatly to be useful to people as a measurement which is relative.

However, my post actually adheres in agreement with this, as I demonstrate how different one laser at 6XXmA total current is over another laser at similar current, and how different their diode amperages and wattage outputs are. How is that not giving good science? If someone is too naive to be able to figure anything out from what we have posted, maybe we shouldn't be too worried about them to begin with, as they may never succeed in the hobby of lasers anyways. I don't know what else to say...

daguin said:

You may have to re-read my post with less personal ego involvement. NOWHERE in it did I accuse you of being either dumb or stupid. That was probably your father's or mother's voice echoing inside your mind.

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You're very comical, Dave. Thanks for mentioning what you have.

Exerd said:

If you had meant to imply the above, shouldn't you have used the word "his", instead of "your", when you made the original following statement?
It seemed like you were talking to me personally. :thinking:
OK. You are stating that numbers from a supply side of a boost-driven laser can vary too greatly to be useful to people as a measurement which is relative.
However, my post actually adheres in agreement with this, as I demonstrate how different one laser at 6XXmA total current is over another laser at similar current, and how different their diode amperages and wattage outputs are. How is that not giving good science? If someone is too naive to be able to figure anything out from what we have posted, maybe we shouldn't be too worried about them to begin with, as they may never succeed in the hobby of lasers anyways. I don't know what else to say...
You're very comical, Dave. Thanks for mentioning what you have.

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< Vegas Clap >

I will continue to mention this and to use such posts to remind others about this. You just happened to get in the way this time.

Peace,
dave

"All 12x Owners" datasheet updated with the entrance of Exerd 2 and ff-racer!

HM: Yes, the slope of ff-racer plotted curve looks to be a little bit steeper than your.

ff-racer: - The third point (373mA - 425mW) looks to be a P.O. misreading (or a misprinting) in the attached file of answer #207.
- In the first graph I have registered the max values of your plot; PM me the definitive setting you'll decide to keep and I'll update the datasheet accordingly.

FrancoRob,

I repeated the test at 376ma and got an output reading of 461mw. I have noticed the Lasercheck throws out an oddball reading now and then. Thank you for pointing that out. I also noted on your LPF Forum - 12x Diode Users Chart you have my diode current as 502ma. This should be 490ma. Please update your graph with the new data.

My build is complete. I have set the diode current at 490 mw and the output starts out at 600mw and then climbs to 625mw + after 2 minutes.
It get warm pretty quick but I don't plan on log extended burn times.

Doug

FrancoRob said:

"All 12x Owners" datasheet updated with the entrance of Exerd 2 and ff-racer!

HM: Yes, the slope of ff-racer plotted curve looks to be a little bit steeper than your.

ff-racer: - The third point (373mA - 425mW) looks to be a P.O. misreading (or a misprinting) in the attached file of answer #207.
- In the first graph I have registered the max values of your plot; PM me the definitive setting you'll decide to keep and I'll update the datasheet accordingly.

Click to expand...

ff-racer said:

FrancoRob,

I repeated the test at 376ma and got an output reading of 461mw. I have noticed the Lasercheck throws out an oddball reading now and then. Thank you for pointing that out. I also noted on your LPF Forum - 12x Diode Users Chart you have my diode current as 502ma. This should be 490ma. Please update your graph with the new data.

My build is complete. I have set the diode current at 490 mw and the output starts out at 600mw and then climbs to 625mw + after 2 minutes.
It get warm pretty quick but I don't plan on log extended burn times.

Doug

Click to expand...

Ok Doug, datasheets are updated! :yh:

Franco

Did anyone ever try this Blu-Ray diode from O-Like? Is it really 300 mW? If it is, why aren't they selling a 300 mW Blu-Ray dilda laser too?

I made a plot of the 12x diode number 2. This one did just over 750mW at 0.50A.

My number was slightly different than what I listed at the single 400mA point in my earlier post (610mW vs 626mW in the host on battery). I blame this on the fact that I only own a DPM that resolves down to 1/100th amp and not actual mA. I know, I need to get a DPM that does mA, but this gives a pretty good idea anyways.

12x Diode #2 Plot Results:

0.20A------278mW
0.25A------360mW
0.30A------444mW
0.35A------527mW
0.40A------610mW
0.42A------640mW
0.44A------662mW
0.46A------701mW
0.48A------731mW
0.50A------752mW

Devil_Master said:

Did anyone ever try this Blu-Ray diode from O-Like? Is it really 300 mW? If it is, why aren't they selling a 300 mW Blu-Ray dilda laser too?

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That is the SF-AW210 6X diode.
You can expect to get 150-200mW from that diode reliably, and a bit more with a 405-G-1 lens.
They are not reliable at high powers.

Devil_Master said:

Did anyone ever try this Blu-Ray diode from O-Like? Is it really 300 mW? If it is, why aren't they selling a 300 mW Blu-Ray dilda laser too?

Click to expand...

This is the wrong place for this, but since it is here. . . .

It is NOT a 300mW diode. That is the SF-AW210 diode. It should be run no higher than about 180mA. The graph that they stole from me. Well actually they stole it from someone else who stole it from me is the "test" graph. Here it is in its original form from my Photobucket account



First you can notice that they simply whited out my name on it. Second, you can clearly see the first "kink" is about 185mA. In order for a bluray diode to live, you must keep it below the first kink. Any current above that shortens the life of the diode. There are also a couple of other kinks higher up. Whenever you exceed another kink the diode life is even more dramatically shortened. Running one of these at 300mW (375mA) will get you a dead diode in minutes!

The SF-AW210 diode is a fine diode *IF* you run it at 180mA (150mW).

Peace,
dave

Thank you for the exhaustive reply, Daguin.

Yeah, I figured out my question was off-topic in this thread a couple of seconds after I posted it, when I read that the thread was only about 12x diodes.

RA_pierce said:

That is the SF-AW210 6X diode.
You can expect to get 150-200mW from that diode reliably, and a bit more with a 405-G-1 lens.
They are not reliable at high powers.

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lol you say that like 150-200mW is pussy-sh*t

NOWHERE in it did I accuse you of being either dumb or stupid. That was probably your father's or mother's voice echoing inside your mind.

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BURNED :gun: - lol Dave you're always great

peace & thanks
-cmak

Exerd said:

I made a plot of the 12x diode number 2. This one did just over 750mW at 0.50A.

My number was slightly different than what I listed at the single 400mA point in my earlier post (610mW vs 626mW in the host on battery). I blame this on the fact that I only own a DPM that resolves down to 1/100th amp and not actual mA. I know, I need to get a DPM that does mA, but this gives a pretty good idea anyways.

12x Diode #2 Plot Results:

0.20A------278mW
0.25A------360mW
0.30A------444mW
0.35A------527mW
0.40A------610mW
0.42A------640mW
0.44A------662mW
0.46A------701mW
0.48A------731mW
0.50A------752mW

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Man dude... That's great that you are showing good information plotting your #2 12X, but if that high efficiency diode was mine, I would not be pushing it to 500mA's!

I would keep that baby happy at maybe 360mA's or even less! Just so it would last...

Nice power supply!