New High Power Blu-ray Sled! - SF-AW210 Graph!

jayrob said:

Update:

Bummer! :'(

My SF-AW210 'freak' diode just bought it...

I have been giving it 1 minute on times. Not very often. It probably had less than 15 minutes of total on time. The last time I measured the power was just a couple of cycles before it died. And the power had gone up to about 390mW's instead of 384mW's.

An little side note: The FlexDrive had to draw 675mA's to run it at 280mA's/5.6 volts using a single 3.0 volt Energizer e2 Lithium battery.

It surely was too good to be true. But there's only one way to find out. Obviously in hind sight, [highlight]I would have been plenty happy with running it at 220mA's. This current would still have given me about 300mW's with the 405-G-1 lens mod[/highlight]:

Jay

Click to expand...

So would a normal 6x

Devin.P said:

hey Jayrob, I was wondering how you measured 5.6 volts using one 3.0 volt Lithium battery? :-?

I guess i don't know that much about batteries?



Devin

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The flexdrive "boosts" the voltage to run the diode.

Devin.P said:

hey Jayrob, I was wondering how you measured 5.6 volts using one 3.0 volt Lithium battery? :-?

I guess i don't know that much about batteries?



Devin

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It's the FlexDrive 'boost' circuit that does the fancy stuff...

The driver uses what ever current it needs to boost the voltage required by the diode. That's why it was drawing 675mA's out of a 3 volt battery to supply 280mA's at 5.6 volts.
Jay

Spyderz20x6 said:

So would a normal 6x

Click to expand...

Yes sir!

In fact, I have my Key Chain 6X running at 268mW's using the 405-G-1 lens mod! Not bad for a Key Chain!

Am I going to turn it up? No... I think I want it to last.
Jay

Let's see if I can get "caught up" with this over here ( now that it's back up ) The below was my first posts about the first two diodes tested. I will follow with a second posting about the third diode.

**EDIT** Milos astutely pointed out that this diode is actually operating lower than the 6X. It is giving better than the 4X, but not as good as the 6X.

I tested two tonight. They are definitely NOT the same as the 8X. I'm going to have to ask Jay some questions herein about his diode. Mine do test out to be similar (if not the same as) the 6X diode.

I didn't take the first one all the way down to 50mA this time. If it couldn't take at least 150mA, we weren't going to be interested in it anyway at the price. I started at 160mA. Right away it was evident that this was different from both my 8X and the diode Jayrob tested. At 160mA it was only producing 125mW after AixiZ acrylic lens. At 160mA the 8X was producing 153mW. In addition this diode failed at 375mA.

Here is the graph


The final nail is that the Forward voltage is lower than the 8X and consistent with the 6X.

100mA = 4.5V
200mA = 5.2V
300mA = 5.5V
350mA = 5.7V

You could run this one easily with the Flexdrive. This diode performs like a 6X. When you look at the graph, the first kink is very evident at ~185mA. If you want the diode to live forever, the current should be kept below this first kink. This particular diode came in a bit lower than many of the 6X's but this is still within the observed range.

Finally, the "brand" (square bar code) on the rear of this diode is comparable to the 6X, but without the green "splotch" on it. The brand on the rear of the 8X is smaller and different looking than the brand on the 6X and this diode.

Bottom line = The diodes I tested from this SF-AW210 sled is the closer to the 6X. It is NOT the same as the 8X.

************************************

Now @ Jayrob;

What does the square bar code on the back of your diode look like in comparison to the one on the rear of a 6X?

Is it the same size or smaller?

Does it have the "big square" component in the corner that the 6X diode does?

Did you measure the voltage on your diode?

*************************************

It is possible that they used some of the "newer" diodes in these sleds as the older ones ran out (or Jayrob just got lucky )

Peace,
dave

**EDIT** Milos astutely pointed out that this diode is actually operating lower than the 6X. It is giving better than the 4X, but not as good as the 6X.

I got to the third one this morning. I decided to just run a quick voltage measurement to see if it was different than the other two and similar to Jay's and/or my 8X.

100mA = 4.4V
200mA = 5.1V
300mA = 5.5V

I didn't record the voltage at 350mA because before I looked up to see it, the diode failed.

So the third diode followed the same voltage profile as the other two and failed at 350mA.

Bottom line = All three of my diodes from the SF-AW210 sled performed a bit stronger than the 4X, but not as strong as the 6X. They also got nowhere close to replicating what Jayrob got with his first diode provided by Senkat OR my 8X.

Unless we can find some mark or external indicator of the difference between mine and Jayrob's, we need to limit these diodes to about 180mA.

If the hobbyist has the ability to measure voltage draw AND sees that the diode is drawing =>5.5V at 200mA, then he MAY want to try to push it to these higher currents.

Peace,
dave
[highlight]
**EDIT** [/highlight] With the failure of Jayrob's diode, maybe even the "higher voltage" diode cannot be driven higher

That's what I'm thinking Dave...

We know that the blu-rays normally run at around 5 volts. I hope you 8X lasts.

Have you been using it at all?
Jay

jayrob said:

That's what I'm thinking Dave...
We know that the blu-rays normally run at around 5 volts. I hope you 8X lasts.
Have you been using it at all?
Jay

Click to expand...

So far . . . .

I've got about 15 minutes on it.  

My brother and sister-in-law made me burn some stuff for them yesterday  [smiley=evil.gif]

My longest burn has been ~90 seconds.

[highlight]HEY, JAY [/highlight]-- Would you send the dead diode to me along with the sled?  I'd like to compare the bar code on it to mine.  

Peace,
dave

I'm going to send you the SF-AW210 sled tomorrow...

I'll also include the dead diode just in case you may find some differences in comparing them visually with your sleds.

Please send me your 8X build in return.  ;D
Jay

Oh... I was typing the same thing as you! Well, were thinking the same... Is that good or bad? ;D

jayrob said:

I'm going to send you the SF-AW210 sled tomorrow...
I'll also include the dead diode just in case you may find some differences in comparing them visually with your sleds.
Please send me your 8X build in return.  ;D
Jay
Oh... I was typing the same thing as you! Well, were thinking the same... Is that good or bad?  ;D

Click to expand...

No problem.  

I'll get it right out to you.

Just stand by the mailbox

It WILL be there

I swear!

[\crossed fingers]

As soon as PayPal sends me the letter with the "secret code" by which I can prove that I actually live here, I'll be happy to send you some shipping $

I know why PayPal is doing this.  I know that they are protecting my money.

BUT DAYUUMM!

Peace,
dave

Thanks for the offer Dave, but I'm not worried about the couple of dollars for this light package...

Maybe you will notice some tell tale difference with this sled/diode that would identify it as the one to look for!
Jay

Thanks, Jay

Peace,
dave

Can you guys get a macro shot of each of these diodes? From the pics on Dave's 8X thread, I guess not, though Most importantly, the micro-barcode can be decoded, to give either an unique diode identifier, or more likely, a model number. That would help us identify any differences between the diodes (and also stop me from blowing my diodes so easily!)...

So, this kind of blows, but at least we have some 6x diodes back in the market again.  

[highlight]So 185mA to run it for a long time. What if I put it at around 240mA? How much life would that take out of the diode? :-/[/highlight]

charlie bruce said:

Can you guys get a macro shot of each of these diodes? From the pics on Dave's 8X thread, I guess not, though Most importantly, the micro-barcode can be decoded, to give either an unique diode identifier, or more likely, a model number. That would help us identify any differences between the diodes (and also stop me from blowing my diodes so easily!)...

Click to expand...

If someone, who has the ability to take good macro shots, would be willing to take some, I would gladly send the dead diodes to them after I'm done.  

I think that I have two different bar codes already in the three diodes I've tested (which all performed the same)

Unfortunately, we've had poor success in getting a good enough picture from the back of the diode for this to work.  Not only is it very small and poor quality, the harvesting process sometimes damages the code.

iskor12 said:

So, this kind of blows, but at least we have some 6x diodes back in the market again.  
So 185mA to run it for a long time.  What if I put it at around 240mA? How much life would that take out of the diode? :-/

Click to expand...

IgorT had some estimates of life spans above the different kinks with the PHR.  I can't find it right now.  IIRC if you set the current above the first kink, the life was between 20-30 hours.  If you went above the second kink, the time was shorter.  If you went above the third kink, the diode failed very quickly.

My tests showed a very definite first kink around 185mA.  The second kink came around 260mA.  The third kink is at 315mA.  There may be a fourth just before 350mA, but it could also be simply that the third kink was spread out a bit.

To answer your question, 240mA would be between the first and second kinks.  If the diode follows the same pattern as the PHR, the burn time would be between 20-30 hours.  However, they also failed in a "seemingly" random manner above the first kink.  There may be another process effecting the life span above the first kink.

To confuse matters even more, sometimes we get a "freak" that defies all the patterns.  I had an SF-AD112 burn at 200mA for 60 hours!  No other SF-AD112 survived for long above ~65mA (the location of the first kink).  A couple of other confounding variables are that the number of "on-off" cycles will shorten the life and that it appears that if you slowly ramp up the current (like when doing a mA/mW graph) the diode will survive longer.

Also, if you run the diode "within' a kink, all bets are off for longevity and the kinks will move up and/or down based on the temperature of the diode.

Remember, we are running these diodes well above their rated powers. They don't act very "civilized" when being tortured so.

Peace,
dave

Thanks for the reply Dave  I just wish that I could get 200mW out of it, without shortening it's life by a ton.  I know that there is a lenses mod, but I am a poor person who can't afford another $60. :'(

you can use an aixiz lens as a mini microscope. I do it all the time. [/img][/img] I just took these pics 5 minutes ago on my computer desk using 2 aligator clips attached to an iron washer by tiny magnets.


Devin.