Welcome to Laser Pointer Forums - discuss green laser pointers, blue laser pointers, and all types of lasers

LPF Donation via Stripe | LPF Donation - Other Methods

Links below open in new window

ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw DONE

Joined
Aug 17, 2007
Messages
238
Points
0
Re: Stability and Lifetime Question concerning PHR

AoiShikaku said:
AHHAHAHHAHA
MKay.. after 2 hrs in a lead light case held still at 225mw
my freaking components started to melt.. AHHAHAHAHHA... I thought the diode died, but my rckstr (or how ever you spell it) driver just melted on me.. the aixiz housing was so hot that I practically burned my finger.. the button for the lead light case melted.. LOL.. after removing the components.. it melted the plastic around the momentary switch.. god.. this was a mess.. I practically threw everything away... nothing was able to be salvaged except the diode.. which I must say... STILL WORKS.. HAHAHAHHA...

Man.. I had a good laugh at this...


So if anyone has iron rock hands and is running at 200mw+ I'd say stay away from lasers LOL

That is freaking insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 





Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
194
Points
0
Re: Lifetime - PHR-803 - 225mw - RESULTS COMPLETED

Mkay.. setup a new experiment..

200mw max. It starts off low at 150 then slowly climbs and holds at 200mw max. So far so good.
I have one in a leadlight case (plastic components removed because I would like to reuse this case) and one in the watercooled heat sink.

both running for over 96 hours now. LeadLight is hot, but still bearable... watercooled.. still no change in water temp..

I'll leave this on as long as possible. Clock still ticking on them both.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2008
Messages
3,182
Points
48
Re: Lifetime - PHR-803 - 225mw - RESULTS COMPLETED

Diode abuse is a fast spreading form of abuse please be nice to your diodes :'(
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
194
Points
0
Re: Lifetime - PHR-803 - 225mw - RESULTS COMPLETED

I'm only doing it to see how far I can pump these suckers so i can start upping the power on them to be better than the 125mw stable point that someone did for like 3000 hrs or so

If it makes it through a week I'll be happy. means shorter life, but an additional 50mw-75mw of power being pumped out.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
1,807
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

That's awsome! I might dare to put diodes at that current one day...
 
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
89
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

Whats a safe amount of mA to run this diode at without a heatsink, only the aixiz housing?

Thanks
 

daguin

0
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
15,989
Points
113
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

BeavRat said:
Whats a safe amount of mA to run this diode at without a heatsink, only the aixiz housing?

Thanks

Less than 60mA. They do not produce alott of heat, but they do produce heat. Why would you want to run it without any heat sinking? Just drill a hole in a chunk of aluminum and use thermal paste.

Peace,
dave
 
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
938
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

will a coke can provide sufficient heat syncing? (several bottoms of can put together)
 

daguin

0
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
15,989
Points
113
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

maxkillz said:
will a coke can provide sufficient heat syncing? (several bottoms of can put together)


Probably not. It is the "solid" metal that transfers the heat effectively. Many layers of thin aluminum will have air gaps between them, even if you push them together very hard.

I've got a few round stock aluminum "ends" here. They are about 1 inch in diameter and 3.5 inches long. I would be willing to trade stuff for them. You could make your own heat sink with one. It wouldn't be as "pretty" or as precise as one turned on a lathe, but it would work.

Peace,
dave
 
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
938
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

daguin said:
[quote author=maxkillz link=1227343876/20#23 date=1228090801]will a coke can provide sufficient heat syncing? (several bottoms of can put together)


Probably not. It is the "solid" metal that transfers the heat effectively. Many layers of thin aluminum will have air gaps between them, even if you push them together very hard.

I've got a few round stock aluminum "ends" here. They are about 1 inch in diameter and 3.5 inches long. I would be willing to trade stuff for them. You could make your own heat sink with one. It wouldn't be as "pretty" or as precise as one turned on a lathe, but it would work.

Peace,
dave[/quote]
what do you think would be a fair trade? :-?
 

daguin

0
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
15,989
Points
113
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

maxkillz said:
what do you think would be a fair trade?  :-?


Something small.  This is NOT amazingly valuable material. ;)  If you want a piece, you can just surprise me.  Exchange addresses with me (or just send it with the laser) and I'll send a piece your way.

Peace,
dave

P.S. Sorry about the threadjack.  Just entertaining ourselves while we wait for more results. ;)
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
194
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

NP daigun.

Results for 168hrs (7 days/1 week)
Leadlight + Aixiz = hot.. extremely hot... I have a feeling that the heat that it is producing will be it's failure... when I dont know.

Water cooled unit = had to change out the water as it was recycling the heated water. Still runs nice.. warm/cold on the touch. still good still performs.

Both register still at 200mw solid (tested for 5 mins straight and no drop in mw)



Now the question to you all.... I've already marked my point to where I wanted them to go.. well at least the one in the leadlight case. 1 week.. ^___^

The watercooled one well I had a feeling that this one will take a while for it to actually die and I can probably run this experiment for another week or so before I go on vacation for the holidays.


Sooooooo.... you guys still want me to leave this running for another week?? (I can't leave it running while I am gone for vacation (well the watercooled one I can, but the leadlight I am kinda scared about for some odd reason)
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
194
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

1 week 4 days.. (264+ hours run time)

- leadlight w/ aixiz housing is still working.  Still extremely hot to touch the casing of the leadlight.

- watercooled heat sink still running - water replaced from day to day to prevent the water from thermal recycling


Both still stable at 200mw
 

jwc

0
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
337
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

Is phase-change cooling next? :)
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
194
Points
0
Re: Lifetime PHR-803 - 225mw DONE - 200mw in progr

update
2 weeks 1 day (360+ hours)


LeadLight w/ aixiz - finally died

Watercooled - still going on strong at 200mw



I'm stopping this experiment since it's almost vacation time and no one really watercools their diodes =)
 

IgorT

0
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
4,177
Points
0
Re: Stability and Lifetime Question concerning PHR

AoiShikaku said:
The Setup:
I ran direct power from my outlet to my driver and ran it for as long as I could.
[highlight]I kept the same settings 7.2v and 180ma.[/highlight]
Attached a Thermal Take water cooling system that I used for my PC a while back.

AoiShikaku:

What does 7.2V mean? Is that the voltage you are feeding the driver? If so, i'd assume it's a Rkcstr driver?

What confuses me is why you are mentioning the voltage at all. If you give the driver the voltage it needs, the voltage doesn't matter. The diode NEVER gets to see the voltage you are putting into the driver. What the diode gets from the driver is the exact voltage it needs for the current to flow. That is, IF the driver is regulating of course..

That's why when we talk about diodes, we only talk about the current. The voltage will be exactly what the driver decides it has to be. Only the current is important. (in simplified terms).

The voltage into the driver is either enough, or it isn't. If it is, it doesn't matter. If it isn't, then the driver isn't working right.


And if this is a Rkcstr driver, and you're giving it 7.2V, then it can't really regulate the current through the diode.

That would also explain why your power is climbing with heat.

The Rkcstr driver needs 2.25V (minimum) MORE than the diode. A PHR at 200mA will need somewhere around 6V. So the MINIMUM voltage that should be going into the driver is 8.25V. 9V, just to make sure it's enough, since the Vf's vary from diode to diode and with temperature and current.

If you are giving the driver too little voltage, then this is what happens:
1. The driver tries to give the diode the voltage it needs for the set current to flow, but it can't. It gives it the max it can give it (completelly unknown current)
2. The diode starts working at the unknown current, and starts warming up
3. As it warms up, it's Vf drops
4. As the Vf drops, the diode suddenly needs less voltage for the same current.
5. Since the driver is still giving it the max it can under the imperfect conditions (input voltage minus 2.25V), more current will now flow through the diode
6. The diode heats up more from more current, the Vf drops further, the current increeases, etc, etc.
7. Theoretically, the diode can heat up enough, for it's Vf to drop so low, that the driver can suddenly regulate the current (but only barelly).
8. Now the diode is actually running at the current you thought you set it to.

So if these are the conditions of the test, then that's why your power starts low and then climbs.

Unless i am completelly mistaken, and the 7.2V meant something else, or you are using a different driver.


In that case, another explanation for the power climb could be this:
1. The diode is set to a current where it has a kink
2. The diode warms up, and the kink moves up
3. If the kink moves up far enough, the diode is now at a power it would have, if there was no kink at that spot (if the graph was a straight line).

Again, this looks like a gradual power climb.




Otherwise, in your tests, how often is the diode turned on and off?

When i did my first tests, i left the diodes on continuously, and got too high numbers. That's why i use a cycler circuit now, which turns it on and off for a pre-set time, to simulate normal use. After that, they started dying much more rapidly, especially since they have time to cool off in the meanwhile. A hot diode can survive higher currents.


Also, did you by any chance plot these diodes? I would love to see what they look like, to try to find a similar one among mine, and replicate your testing.
 




Top