Quick questions about the lm317 driver. Yes, I do need your help again :D

You should be asking the seller/builder... exactly what type of batteries (and voltage) he
used when he set the current on your driver..:thinking:


Jerry

That black laser I posted a photo of earlier has lit matches, burst balloons and engraved stuff....I have never charged the batteries.... It isn't as if you have to do it every 5 minutes.

Regards rog8811

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HMBREBT1

look and judge yourself.

Wait a second!
You measure current that flows through driver and not current that flows through diode?
As I can see, driver is in module.

But however, current through LD is even weaker.

Hallucynogenyc said:

I thing it may vary driver to driver, with the video you will see everything clear, wait

Click to expand...

I ran my rckstr on an average of 7.4 - 7.6 v, with 2 rcr123's. It did work fine, burns matches, ect. I dropped my laser and tore the pad on the neg. diode side but ordered another, I don't see any problems doing the same thing I did before when I get my new driver next week. The voltage isn't a must do, know what I'm saying? I set the driver with 8.2v, batt's ran down to around 7.45v before I got a charger but....it still worked just fine So, you may just need to get some different types of batteries. Try the Juice brand or Trustfires. Sorry so long winded but I'm trying to get a point out here, maybe it's unusual circumstances with mine but this is what I was told by a few members before I put it together.

Trustfires put out about 8.2, the Juice rcr2's the same.

Your best bet may be to replace the driver with a lower-dropoff regulator, or maybe a LavaDrive with an 18650 instead? Also, what is the voltage across the diode? In theory the LM317 only needs 2.25v more than Vout. On average, a PHR at 120mA shouldn't be more than 5.5v, meaning you need 7.75v input. That's not ideal for 2 lithium batteries, but you should be able to use it at max output for about 20% of the cell's total capacity.

Sorry for the DP but this is what I noticed on the video, that dot needs to be a lot smaller. Like around this size, . , close as that and it should light the match but you DO need close to 9 v with that driver it seems. I guess that driver, LM317, will take more voltage to get a higher current. The rckstr is stable from my experience at what it is set at no matter the input as long as it is close and supplies at leas 5 v to the driver and 2.5 to the diode. Hope that helps.

Archienj7 said:

Sorry for the DP but this is what I noticed on the video, that dot needs to be a lot smaller. Like around this size, . , close as that and it should light the match but you DO need close to 9 v with that driver it seems. I guess that driver, LM317, will take more voltage to get a higher current. The rckstr is stable from my experience at what it is set at no matter the input as long as it is close and supplies at leas 5 v to the driver and 2.5 to the diode. Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

When I'm trying to burn the match, if you look at it properly you will notice I am moving the match all over the beam to make sure it is for a moment on the best focal point. I've seen videos of phrs burning in "miliseconds", so I think it should have been enough.

The problem cannot be the batteries, as you can see on the video I'm doing the test with an AC supply!

halluc, you can get the batteries and charger at hightechdealz.com

My driver is set at 125ma and I couldn't burn a match without the 405-G-1 lens mod. Without the lens I could not burn a match but I could put a hole in a balloon but not pop it. Do you have an glass lens to give that a try?

Every PHR I had was able to burn matches with axiz acrylic lenses..
Just focus better.

ReNNo said:

Every PHR I had was able to burn matches with axiz acrylic lenses..
Just focus better.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't be posting here if I had not tried it many times with different batterys and AC supply many times.

I know how to focus it, it just doesn't burn because the driver is not providing enough current to the diode.

@k1kb0t: I've seen hundreds of videos of PHRs in aixiz burning matches in "miliseconds", it's not about the lenses >.>

Have you tried a different brand of match?

I have a PHR 803 with an LM317 based driver running at around 110ma with 3x 10440's , it burns red head matches very easily although getting the match in just the right place can be tricky by hand! but certain brands of brown headed match just wont burn, some will smoke but unless i get my dilda out i will not see flame.

I also have a PHR 803 in a module (no driver as yet) and run from my bench PSU at 5.3v 110ma it also burns red head matches very well, however if i try to burn brown heads it fails miserably.

I made a couple of video's to show the difference but with my camera phone so the quality is pants...



Try different brands of matches!

@Hallucynogenic, I would suggest at this point you replace the driver, or hook it up to a test load and see what's going on whilst it;s running.

@Ways, I'm glad to see you're putting that module to good use (I've had people run my diodes at 400mA with the sole intention of watching them burn out, not that that's a bad thing either - see http://laserpointerforums.com/laser_pointer_forums_3/forum/showthread.php?t=20077 )

@Ways: Thanks, that really helped me. I just added you some reputation points for the time you spent making those videos. Thanks again.

I've got news about it. I've now arrived to a conclusion. There's not a single problem, there are two. First one is the driver, it's making the diode run at 80mA instead the 130 it should. The second, as Ways suggested, are the matches. They are that kind of dark red/brown Ways showed in the video and I suspect this is part of the problem too because after using the PSU to power it properly and measuring it was at 130mA, it makes more smoke than before and the dot is way brighter (50mW difference lol) but I still COULDN'T light the match. I'll try another brand of matches and I tell you.

The easier solution is to put another CR2. I'm amazed with those batteries because after hearing many times the batteries max current could be the problem I measured the current they were droping to the 1 ohm resistor alone, and I measured 317mA, can't understand how is this posible, 300mA seems a huge current for those little cells!

Hallucynogenyc said:

When I'm trying to burn the match, if you look at it properly you will notice I am moving the match all over the beam to make sure it is for a moment on the best focal point. I've seen videos of phrs burning in "miliseconds", so I think it should have been enough.

The problem cannot be the batteries, as you can see on the video I'm doing the test with an AC supply!

Click to expand...

Far as the batteries, I mean you need to get 9v or close as you can. Beam, tinier it is the faster it'll burn, mine won't if it's not focused right. Mohrenbergs advice on the batteries is good, I just got mine today from there. Kendall's fast

It MAY just bee those type of matches, lot of variables here. I hope you get it sorted out though, it is frustrating I know. Least you have one right now, mine's dead