First Build First Thread

[Tux]

Alright guys thanks for the helpful links you have given me, right now Im looking at buying some eye protection. I found a good pair on O-like for a good price they absorb the photons rather than deflect them, idk if this good or not. They are a good price and I was wondering if anyone a cupon code I could use.

My PS3 diode never broke because I was driving it to hard (actually it did in the end), I think it was janky to begin with, it might have damage slightly while removing it or coming in contact with a weak magnet that was also on the PS3 sled. I tried to break it believe it or not, I hooked up a 9v battery straight up to it, no resitors or voltage regulatars no nothing. The brightness didnt change at all! it was pathetic! The diode did get pretty hot though, I think I must have left it on like for a about a full minute before it whent out.

Another question that hase been bothering me is what can use as a host for this laser. Being that I am making my owne driver I dont think I could fit it all in a mag-light or flash light of some sort. I saw some project boxes at radio shack that I could possibly use, and Ive seen sevaral pictures of peoples rigs where they have everthing in a project box. If any body has some unique creative ideas hit me up with them.

 

[chipdouglas]

^^^ you can literally use anything. one guy here even used a mustard bottle that turned the laser on when you squeezed the bottle. A lot of ppl use to guns.


good luck
michael

 

[Tux]

Alright Im going to look around my house and see if i can dig up some old toys that I could fit a LD, driver and a 9v. Idk if I should use something totaly random or something awsome like a bubble blowing gun. :gun:

I ended up buying the galsses from O-like btw

I will probably just use the same driver I built earlier, I might make a few modifications to the circut design though.

I need to make another run to Radio Shack to buy the diodes for a test load. Is there anything you guys could think of I might need, I have a soldering gun but the tip isn't to good on it, should I invest in a sharper tip for it. Uhmm... thats all I can think of right now I might need.

 

[chipdouglas]

one more point of interest tux....

if you want strong power for a good amount of time, you will not want to use a rectangular 9v. they don't last long because of current capacity. once you get your laser built, try to slowly order complimentary parts for lasers....

lithium batts. 3.6v
different sizes 10400, 14500, 18650
a charger that can take all those sizes
extra modules

stuff like that so your future builds will be quicker and easier.

michael

 

[Cheech]

Alright Im going to look around my house and see if i can dig up some old toys that I could fit a LD, driver and a 9v. Idk if I should use something totaly random or something awsome like a bubble blowing gun. :gun:

My last build was a Shrek figure from McDonalds with a SF-AW210 bluray diode set at 200mw coming out of his mouth and a momentary switch mounted as a medallion off his shirt laces, I have a 1 year old boy and Happy Meals are only $2. It seems like most of the toy hold a 9v very nice too, but as it was stated above rectangle 9v batteries do sag pretty fast.

 

[Vaporizer]

The last 9v rechargeables I bought were 75 & 100ma. I was looking for the highest too.
That was abt a yr ago though. After my eyes bleeding from reading here lol crunching numbers, I'd say abt 1/2 hr max if you were running 50ma and you're gonna see a fast drop out. Those rectangular 9v just don't carry any current unless they have a new composition.
Also consider I haven't built my 1st one yet either! It may be more realistic at 20min max.

 

[qumefox]

If you take one apart, you'll actually find it's 6 sub-AAA cylindrical cells in series in a rectangular housing.

 

[Vaporizer]

Yea, played with a few of those "short stacks". lol
When you see the size and think they are in series, not much hope.
Lipos are just amazing for the current they have size, weight and rechargeable.

 

[qumefox]

But with great power comes great responsibility.

Alkaline's don't tend to blow up in your face if mishandled. heh.

But I think we're starting to derail the thread. Back to lm317's.

Back on topic though. Any luck finding a host Tux? The ddl circuit can be made to the width of the lm317 and a couple inches long if you lay it out right. Should be small enough to fit into most things except pens and small flashlights. With it you'd need two batteries anyway (if using li-ion) so the battery requirement rules out most small flashlights anyway.

If looks aren't an issue, just pick up a small plastic project box from radioshack.

 

[Tux]

No finding a host is proving to be a problem (my mom gave away all my childhood toys and guns), I think I'll just stick with a project box for now from radio shack or just make one.

@ Cheech dude thats hilarious that you put it inside a Shrek happy meal toy. I can actually say LOL (how often does somebody actually really laugh when they post lol?)

Originally I was planning on using a 9v battery, I know a 9v can drain pretty quickly but you guys are making it sound like it would be gone in less than 30min of use @100ma. Now that Im thinking of using a project box should I consider a different batter configuration?

 

[qumefox]

Go with lithium-ion's.. It's the only way to fly.

But there's a bit of expense. You need a decent charger. the ultrafire wf-139 is about the cheapest charger you can get that's considered 'safe' They run around $15 usually. For batteries i'd really recommend 18650's. They have the largest capacities so will yield the longest run times. They can be had anywhere from $2 to $20 per cell, depending on the quality, whether it's protected or non-protected, etc. In a pinch, you can scavenge a laptop battery pack. They'll have non-protected 18650's in them but usually people don't get rid of good packs so most of these cells will have fairly low capacity.

If you go with 18650's. I recommend one of these holders.

link: Battery holder: Li-Ion 18650 Battery Holder (2S1P) With 2.6" long 20AWG & PCB

It has the protection circuit built in, so you don't have to worry so much about watching the voltage when you use non-protected cells (which is actually all I own.. and I have well over 30 of them )

 

[Cheech]

check out the purple dragon in my my signiture
It's another happymeal toy

 

[Vaporizer]

That is cool Cheech. I winced when you mentioned Shreks mouth and a son, then I saw the 1yr old and knew he wouldn't ever get that one back!

Tux, I have just the opposite problem for hosts vs McDonalds. We have 4 huge boxes in the garage from my 3 kids toys and happy meals. My youngest is now gonna be 19 in a couple weeks so I have some really old stuff to go through. We decided to get a bench model running at 50ma, since its our 1st build, then go from there. I have optics out the wazoo from my telescope days Some are 7 element lens. My astro photography proved they dont filter anything blue or near UV for sure. Color photographic film is very UV sensitive.

I'll start my own thread when I get my parts in as not to jack yours up with pics and such. Thanks to all for the info and the couple PM's. I'm still reading in anticipation.

 

[Tux]

Ok today I was running in a field for cross country when I came across a cell phone. The phone worked perfectly too. I figured the phone most belong to somebody so I snooped through the contacts, messages and recent calls to find out who it belongs. It turns out the owner of the phone must have been a complete loner. It had no photos no contacts no messages no nothing.
You might be asking yourself Why the hell is he telling me about a dumb ass kid who left his phone in a middle of a field. Well it turns out cell phones use Li ion batteries :O. so could I potentially use use them with my driver? The battery is 3.7V and 800mAh, it looks like 3.7 volts isn't going to cut though. Two in a series then? I didn't see any threads on cell phone batteries but I did see one who used a cell phone to charge his Li-ion battery. Cell phone batteries are dirt cheap on eBay. The phone I found is also convenient because it is a Samsung, and I have a phone charger made for Samsung phones.

Yeah Im going to have to stick with a project box for now, I think It will be good for my first build anyway.

 

[qumefox]

It's probably a LiPo rather than a Li-Ion. I don't think you'll find it useful because it's going to be really hard to charge. To charge it properly, you'd have to take it out of the laser, put it back in the phone.. and charge the phone. You can't just hook these batteries to any old power supply and charge them. If you don't use a proper CC/CV charger rated for the right cutoff voltages and current output.. these batteries WILL explode/catch on fire.

Just spend the $20 it'd take to get a couple of cylindrical Li-Ion's and a proper charger and be done with it. Then you'll already have batteries that will work in other hosts/flashlights as well.

Pay for shipping and I can send you a couple of salvaged samsung 18650's. They're 2600mAh rated but since they're scavenged from laptop packs, I guess their capacity is probably roughly half of what it was originally, and the packs I scavenged weren't EOL yet so they aren't total junk. They charge fine to 4.2v though. And don't self discharge. They're non-protected though so you'll have to make sure not to run them down past 2.75v per cell or they'll die.

If you want exact capacities on them, you'll have to wait a few weeks until I get my battery tester built. But tested batteries will cost more.

But so far i've used one over an hour in a tank007 hc-128 flashlight and it's still over 3.7v.

 

[Tux]

t's probably a LiPo rather than a Li-Ion. I don't think you'll find it useful because it's going to be really hard to charge. To charge it properly, you'd have to take it out of the laser, put it back in the phone.. and charge the phone. You can't just hook these batteries to any old power supply and charge them. If you don't use a proper CC/CV charger rated for the right cutoff voltages and current output.. these batteries WILL explode/catch on fire.

Yeah my original plan was to charge the Li-ion battery with the spare phone I found, which is nice because I can use the same cord that I use to charge my Samsung blackjack.

I have a Dell laptop that is about a year old now and Im thinking about tearing the batteries out of it, the battery pack went bad in like the first 3 months after I bought it, and I severely doubt the batteries went bad in it. My guess is that it was some circuitry in the pack itself that died.