nova x series driver capable of driving a red lase

my nova x75 stopped working and i am try to make it into a red laser. Could i use the driver?
does anyone know the current that the IR diode runs at

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

The current is probably 400ma+ but the voltage most 808 diodes use is usually 1v lower than a red. So the current is abundant, but at that voltage the red wont light up

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

if i changed the 3v to 4.5v and used a open can diode would it be fine

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

Not sure, any ir driver i have tried in the past wont do it.

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

ben74 said:

if i changed the 3v to 4.5v and used a open can diode would it be fine

Click to expand...

Nope, because the driver is always going to limit the voltage to ~2v.

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

i there a way that you can take a resistor out to get the right voltage? i was thinking of using a green off of dx to do the same.

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

How did it stop working, those usually last a really long time (or have you had it for a long time?)

The driver could possibly work, what if its like the lm317? Ie voltage doest matter because it will automatically adjust? In that case all you would have to do is put a resistor in parallel(series wouldn't work, it would lower the voltage) to reduce the current.

...lazer... ;D ;D ;D

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

wooooooolazer said:

The driver could possibly work, what if its like the lm317? Ie voltage doest matter because it will automatically adjust? In that case all you would have to do is put a resistor in parallel(series wouldn't work, it would lower the voltage) to reduce the current.

...lazer... ;D ;D ;D

Click to expand...

I'm gonna guess and say that it isn't like the DDL driver, it most likely regulates voltage and current, unlike just current like DDL's driver.

And I don't know if the resistor thing would work, I don't know what the circuit is like on the CNI drivers so if you can find a schematic, you might be able to swap a resit or to get the right voltage.

Or you could buy a small driver from rkstr for $5 ;D

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

Another thing to think of, have you tested the driver to make sure that it is working?

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

the laser did not really work from the start. (i made a topic about it called is it mode hopping) I have not been abel to get the driver out let

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

ben74 said:

my nova x75 stopped working and i am try to make it into a red laser. Could i use the driver?  
does anyone know the current that the IR diode runs at  

Click to expand...

You couldn't use the driver directly, because it is made for IR pump diodes, which have the positive potential at the base. You would have to isolate the module from the body, and would lose heatsinking this way.

Besides, from what i heard, the x series from certain power up all use the same 0.5W diode, which in my 150mW draws 650mA, which would be too much.


You could still make a great red laser out of it, but you would need to use an LM317 driver and two 14400 Li-Pos.



BUT! If you have this thing in pieces, could you PLEASE show some pics of the driver PCB?!? I really want to know how it works!

Re: nova x series driver capable of driving a red

styropyro said:

I'm gonna guess and say that it isn't like the DDL driver, it most likely regulates voltage and current, unlike just current like DDL's driver.

Click to expand...

Actually, that is not quite true.

You can not regulate both the current and the voltage at the same time. You can either regulate the voltage, and the current will depend on it (and slowly climb from the LD heating up), or you can regulate the current, and the voltage will depend on it (and slowly drop as the LD heats up).

It is physically impossible to regulate both at the same time. You can not for example set the voltage to 3V and the current to 300mA and then change the voltage to 4V and keep the current at 300mA


When you use current regulation, what the driver is actually doing is adjusting the voltage in a way, that keeps the current constant. If an LD needs 2.9V for 300mA and you set the driver to 300mA, it will automatically adjust the voltage to achieve this exact current. As the LD heats up and drops in resistance, the driver will decrease the voltage very slightly to keep the current constant.

This is the main reason why current regulation is so important with powerfull diodes. If you only regulated the voltage, the diode would start drawing more and more current as it would heat up, which could result in a thermal runaway (the heat increases the current, the current increases the heat and so on untill the diode is dead).

Even if you take out the red diode and put an IR into the same current regulated driver, it will automatically drop the voltage to around 1.9-2V or more specifically, to exactly the voltage required for the diode to draw exactly 300mA.



Green lasers on the other hand rarelly have current regulation or any other kind of regulation. They usualy have complex drivers, that don't do much else but heat up. It's as if they hacked the driver a little, so that it could work from only two AAA cells.

CNI says the X series is also not regulated, but my measurements are showing weird results. I'm still not completelly sure. This is why i would absolutelly love to se one from the inside.


Are there any pics of the X series driver available anywhere? Has anyone dissected one of these?