Sneak Peak / Tease - The "Zero DC" 635nm Build

"Zero DC" is short for "Zero Duty Cycle", because that's just about as long as the build can handle



It's a Mits 635, running at 1A, with essentially zero heatsinking. About 10 seconds into the run-time, you feel the heat throughout the host. About 15 seconds into run time, the power starts to decline, and you realize it's time to power down.

The entire build, diode/lens/host/driver, weighs just 15.86 grams (0.56 ounces, or less than the weight of 7 U.S. pennies) without battery, and still only 21.49 grams with.

An Aixiz module is actually wide than this host itself, so there was no potential to use standard components. Instead, an 8mm diameter module was used, with a proprietary lens system. The unit runs on 1x 10280 cell, and of course uses my Mosquito module, set to the (absurd in this case) current of 1A (though the cell itself maxes out at around 750mA of actual ability to supply current)

Hint: You need to let this video play beyond the first few seconds, in order for it to make sense. This isn't about the FandyFire you see pictured

VIDEO0052 - YouTube

Love it!
Add pictures! Oh yea, "sneak peak / tease"...
Is that a 10440 stainless steel host?

Ah the 10280.. Part of the secret behind my 50mW 532nm 1xAAA MXDL build.

Awesome. That is quite a power to weight ratio. Lol.
:gj: I love it!

Wow that's awesome!

Although I can't believe you used a 1A driver lol.

I remember seeing a tiny 5mw laser module on o-like and thinking it would be great to change the diode for a mini build. Is that what you used?

10280's are very cool. I had a super tiny direct drive keychain 445 with a 10280, but I scrapped it because it got like one minute of run time before its power dropped way down.

benmwv said:

Wow that's awesome!

Although I can't believe you used a 1A driver lol.

I remember seeing a tiny 5mw laser module on o-like and thinking it would be great to change the diode for a mini build. Is that what you used?

10280's are very cool. I had a super tiny direct drive keychain 445 with a 10280, but I scrapped it because it got like one minute of run time before its power dropped way down.

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Lol, I'm envying your one minute of run time.

I'm not sure this guy could survive for more than about 30 seconds. It's a good thing these diodes are so robust.

rhd said:

Lol, I'm envying your one minute of run time.

I'm not sure this guy could survive for more than about 30 seconds. It's a good thing these diodes are so robust.

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Yeah, at least with a 445 diode I didnt have to worry about over discharging the battery. Mine only utilized from 4.2 to about 4.0v though. It drew an average of about 400ma over that range.

It pretty much had unlimited duty cycle, because before it got too hot the voltage of the battery would start dropping and it would draw less current and cool back down

Working on my first 635 right now! Finally got enough spare time to get it going.

Great build!
I love the very small builds like these....one of my favorite builds of my own is my 10440 build....Short duty cycle though.:beer:

benmwv said:

Yeah, at least with a 445 diode I didnt have to worry about over discharging the battery. Mine only utilized from 4.2 to about 4.0v though. It drew an average of about 400ma over that range.

It pretty much had unlimited duty cycle, because before it got too hot the voltage of the battery would start dropping and it would draw less current and cool back down

Working on my first 635 right now! Finally got enough spare time to get it going.

Click to expand...

You know, i finally got the mosquito round driver in, and it didn't fit! The TO18 package had lead spacing different than our LDs

The worst part is that i can't find a single-lead part (like a wire pad hole) in eagle that is small enough to just place the lead holes manually without them over lapping

Hmm if your only getting minute long run times it's drawing a lot more than 400mA I think.

My little 50mW micro green will run about an hour on a charge on a 10280 and it draws around 300mA

I think Ben was direct driving. So his cells weren't depleting, they were just falling below Vf.

What green module did you use?

rhd said:

You know, i finally got the mosquito round driver in, and it didn't fit! The TO18 package had lead spacing different than our LDs

The worst part is that i can't find a single-lead part (like a wire pad hole) in eagle that is small enough to just place the lead holes manually without them over lapping

Click to expand...

Yeah, I know Same thing happened to mine. You have to bend the pins out a bit to get em on there. Gonna have to design my own package for it I guess.

qumefox said:

Hmm if your only getting minute long run times it's drawing a lot more than 400mA I think.

My little 50mW micro green will run about an hour on a charge on a 10280 and it draws around 300mA

Click to expand...

As rhd said, that was direct-driving. On a fresh battery it pulled over 400ma (don't remember exactly, maybe around 550ma?) then over the run it lowered down to about 300ma at about 4.05v and much below that it was just barely threshold so I would usually just recharge there. It took about one minute to go from fresh charge to a point where it "steadied out" for a while in a range of around 40-80mw.

I don't remember on that one. It was a module out of a pen I ripped apart.. I have two more to make using '100mW' DX modules but they'll be turned down to 20-25mW after IR filtering. They have to be turned down to a smaller diameter though to fit in the MXDL hosts.. Plus.. it also requires... getting creative with the collimation optics to get the modules short enough to fit. I manage to shave 15mm off the modules total length at the expense of an increase in divergence, but it isn't horrible. they're still better than the multimode 445's.

I may create a package tomorrow. I'll do it in a new library file, and try to send it to you.

Btw, have you seen any parts in any libraries that would work for the PowerSO8 and PowerSO10 package ICs?

I grabbed reflow paste from digikey, and I'm going to switch all of my drivers to STCS1 and STCS2

My 635 is alive!

I think I may have seen a powerSO8 before but I have no clue which library. It probably won't be all too hard to make, I've made some parts before and it isn't very hard once you figure out the process.

@qumefox

Do you keep the original drivers? You could save a lot of space by replacing them.

Yeah I keep the original drivers. Even eliminating them I don't think there'd be enough room for a 10440, so the only thing gained would be more expense.