CNI 532 minimum voltage?

Does anyone happen to know what the minimum operating voltage is for a CNI 532, under 100mW, pen style or PGL-III style (2xAA or 2xAAA)? I don't have a low voltage, adjustable power supply and I would just like to know at what voltage these lasers will no longer operate.

Reason: I'd like to discharge test some common alkalines at my lasers current rate. Knowing at what voltage the lasers will stop working will help to get the best test results.

Thanks!

The pump diode needs about 2 - 2.2V and the driver about 0.4V.
And your battery/batteries will sag once it's loaded.

I would say minimum voltage unloaded would be 2.6 - 2.8V. With Alkalines, depending on how much they sag under load.
I have used NiMH AAAs in my old NOVA X105 (CNI pen laser) and the driver will regulate down to 1.27V per cell unloaded.

Edit: If you have a multimeter you can test minimum voltage and the amount of current the laser draws from the battery yourself.

I already tested the current draw on fresh alkalines. I found my PGL is pulling 530mA and the pen is doing 590mA. The PGL is more powerful, but also a lot more efficient I guess.

I am testing the cells on a battery charger that will measure the performance of the discharge cycle, which will hopefully make it obvious which brand performs best at the draw my lasers demand. I realize that in the laser, as the voltage falls, the current may increase, making the static discharge test results not completely applicable. I am just looking to cut the discharge cycle off at the loaded voltage where the laser would stop working. I don't have an adjustable low voltage power supply to drive my lasers with to find the magic voltage, so I figured I'd ask on here. I know that I won't have the perfect result (due to varible current draw in the laser as voltage sags) but I hope to get somewhere close.

Im confused, the PGL III lasers take 18650's, what are you doing with AA/AAA 1.5v batts

kingdave2357 said:

Im confused, the PGL III lasers take 18650's, what are you doing with AA/AAA 1.5v batts

Click to expand...

I have a low powered version that takes 2xAA.

The higher powered models take 18650's.

http://cnilaser.com/PDF/PGL-III-A-532.pdf

kingdave2357 said:

Im confused, the PGL III lasers take 18650's, what are you doing with AA/AAA 1.5v batts

Click to expand...

The pen style CNI laser takes AAA.
Concerning the PGL-IIIs, there are several types.
PGL-III-A (Alpha from NOVAlasers) made for AA or 18650s.
PGL-III-M (Spartan from Dragonlasers) accepts 18650s only.
PGL-III-C (Aries from Laserglow or Hulk from Dragonlasers) designed for either alkaline C cells or 18650s.

@mik: The cutoff voltage for the lasers should be around 2.4 - 2.6V, but I can't tell you exactly, since I no longer have my CNI pen.

Ahh....Okay, cool thanks, I new some of them took the 'C' cells, but not about the AA's