Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 volts

I have completed a heatsinked sony16X (Stonetek) laser pointer using a host from an 'energizer' torch which uses 3AAA batteries.
I am using a rockstar driver set to 248mA, and was quite surprised to find that it lases well using 3 AAA alkaline batteries.
What concerned me was that with all the reading that i have done on these forums, as well as the info that comes with the rockstar drivers, I didn't think i would be able to run it at such a low voltage. I used my DMM to measure the voltage and it was 4.42 V. (also measured 125mW on my friends Coherent laser meter, using axiz glass optics)

I then put 3x NiMH AAA batteries (3.93 V) and it worked too!

These values are significantly lower than the stated 5.15 V for a red laser/ rockstar driver combination.

Can anyone shed any light on this, could this possibly be damaging to the diode? ( I wouldn't think so but I'm certainly no expert)
I have been using it for ages ( with the alkalines) and it is still working fine.

Regards,

Gammadude

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

Haha nobody can spell it right

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

Sorry RKCSTR I may be a bit dyslexic too!

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

It will still light the diode with an under powered supply, but it will not be giving a regulated current. A Sony/Senkat diode at 248mA's should give you about 165mW's. If the driver is powered with less voltage than it is designed for, then you will not get the 248mA's it was set for. This is why it only measured 125mW's on your friends meter. It shouldn't hurt the diode, it will just be under powered...
Jay

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

i used to drive my diode that way
and then i gave it proper voltage and then it died

DO NOT give that 16x diode anything over 200ma (only if you bought it 6-7 months before)

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

"DO NOT give that 16x diode anything over 200ma (only if you bought it 6-7 months before)"

What? 200mA will give you very little power with a 16x, far below 150mW. My red laser (the SAME 16x diode) is driven at 297mA which gives it about 210mW. That is, accoriding to IgorT, a relatively safe current.

Either you had a bad quality 16x diode, or you were just unlucky. 300mA is maybe the top, but you should be fine with 250-300.

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

i forgot to mention that i have bought 2 sony 16x diodes (stonetek)
gave them 200 ma, and they died
they were proper cooled and everything was fine, but they died
that is why i told that

i know what is safe current for true 16x
the two diodes i encountered were not 16x, but they were sold as 16x

gammadude bought the same diode, and my advice to him is that he should max the current at below 200ma

i think i was not unlucky
because that happened with two of my diodes
i bought them in time split of one or two months so i think they are all like that

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

Thanks for the input guys!

The reason I tried with the 3 AAA batteries is because I made a blu ray from the same host which I used 2 of those 10440 Li ion (AAA size) which put out a suitable voltage for the rkcstr/phr803T combination but was probably too high for the red diode.

Rkcstr states that 2V over the required load will lead to excessive heat and possible damage to the diode(if I understand correctly) so I was stuck with a battery holder that used AAA sized batteries.

Does anyone know if 2 x 10440 would end up killing the red diode? This would give me the proper current but the voltage could be a problem. They are rated at 3.6 V but fully charged they put out about 4.2V each.

With regards to Jed2i's comments I did actually kill one of those stonetek 16X by attempting about 300mA or so (using 4 x NiMH AA , 6V). It died pretty quickly too, but I put it down to not being heatsinked.

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

Rangedunits said:

Haha nobody can spell it right

Click to expand...

R-K-C-S-T-R. I want my cake now!

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

randomlugia said:

[quote author=Rangedunits link=1225970053/0#1 date=1225972104]Haha nobody can spell it right

Click to expand...

R-K-C-S-T-R. I want my cake now![/quote]
You gets cake.

Scrumptious!

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

Yes! Chocolate with crunchy stuff on top, my favorite!

Re: Sony 16x with rockstar, runs off less than 4 v

First off you can't measure a battery's voltage with just a multimeter and no load. If you just measure voltage you will get 4.2v. That is over the battery's rated voltage. Once the battery is supplying current the voltage will drop across the battery especially if your sucking alot mA from it. You should find that after hooking up the batteries to the rkcstr driver they will supply a lover voltage. The more mA you draw from battery the more it struggles to keep the voltage up to its rated level.

That said If I were you I would get a better diode (one you can extract from a DVD burner yourself) and listen to rkcstr. Go 2v above the operating current of the diode. Note that the higher the current a diode is run at the higher the voltage drop. So aim for 5-6v not 9v. At 9v the driver will generate too much heat trying to dissipate the extra voltage.

Jayrob says hes making his redburners from a open can diode from a pioneer 115D 20x burner running around 400+mA and getting nearly 300mW!! I haven't tried this but I think this is the DVD burner hes using:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=DVR-X152-R&cpc=SCH