stonetek 16x sony closed can

at how much mA should i drive it at ?
standard aixis housing

(i still want it to be able to light matches as fast as possible, but dont want to damage the diode)

rajkosto said:

at how much mA should i drive it at ?
standard aixis housing

(i still want it to be able to light matches as fast as possible, but dont want to damage the diode)

Click to expand...

Been a while since I played with a 16X diode.

IIRC every drove their 16X diodes from around 200-350ma. My recommendation for good life would be 270-300ma, it will give good power and the diode will last you quite some time. Around 300ma was considered a good/"safe" current yielding some nice power output.


Thanks
brtaman

PS: These is a post/thread somewhere on this forum made by Spyder with all the knowledge you will need to complete your laser. (would find link but I am in a hurry, sorry)

agreed, 300Ma is perfect for a 16x... if you have at least a small heatsink. as they still get very hott. your wires could even come unsoldered and immediately kill the diode if it gets too hot inside the module. if you have no heatsink i'd run it at 250ma with a short 60-100 second duty cycle... maybe even shorter. "duty cycle is how long u can keep it on before you must let it cool for the same amount of time... twice as long if you want to protect your diode for its entire lifespan.

i have everything except the diode, will aixiz focusable assembly be enough as a heatsink ? i only intend to burn things for a while with it, so 2 minutes tops

its not open can tho, are you sure it can handle 300mA ? also, when i set the mA, instead of the diode i have my analog multimeter connected to + and -, nothing else...will that skew the mA rating as opposed to the actual diode ?

is the diode strenght dependant on the voltage going to it ? i have a ddl circuit that im powering with 4 1.2v batteries

also, the original diode in the aixiz housing fits back into it fine, but all the others that look the same dont ?

also, how would i calculate the mW from the mA and opposite ?

a DDL driver requires at LEAST 6 volts for a red diode. 8.5volts for a blueray diode.

the aixiz assembly provides SOME heatsinking... but dont rely on it. its not anywheres near good enough, just keep the duty cycle to 1 minuet and you'll be fine.

to measure Ma you must measure across the 1ohm resistor "or alternativly measure the pins of the diode, the + and -" set your multimeter to the "2000m" setting. the Mv reading on the multimeter will be EQUAL to the Ma output. so whatever # shows up is your current.

there is a formula for calculating "ROUGHLY" what the mW output will be from calculating the Ma... but there are factors that change this... such a the diode itself, the heatsinking used, the ambient room temp, and the type of driver used can all have an effect on this formula. so the BEST way would be to get a cheap LPM "laser power meter"

and yes your diode can handle 300Ma... but i would set it to 250 until you get a heatsink. if not your diode will live a fun...but short life.

Dark

Darkarmyofone said:

agreed, 300Ma is perfect for a 16x... if you have at least a small heatsink. as they still get very hott. your wires could even come unsoldered and immediately kill the diode if it gets too hot inside the module. if you have no heatsink i'd run it at 250ma with a short 60-100 second duty cycle... maybe even shorter. "duty cycle is how long u can keep it on before you must let it cool for the same amount of time... twice as long if you want to protect your diode for its entire lifespan.

Click to expand...

There is no chance that the LD could live to get hot enough to melt the solder on the pins. It would need to be 183-215*C , it would be dead by the time it reached that temperature.


@rajkosto : You can't calculate mW from mA really, you can only estimate. you need a laser power meter to accuratley measure mW.

The diode will become more powerful with more voltage, because more voltage means more current ( I=V/R ). the DDL circuit will supply a set current and vary the voltage accordingly.

if your running the LD for 2 minutes at those currents you need a heatsink, the aixiz housing isn't enough. I wouldn't even run it that long with a heatsink.

You shouldn't measure the Current that way. You should use a TEST LOAD to measure the current.

----- Right here I went to make soup, so sorry if I missed anything------

Regards,

Adam

low temp solder will melt, never happened to me, but i've heard horror stories of high power diodes that cost the guy over 300 bucks... and he lost them both to unsoldered pins. he claims this. sais he used a wierd kind of solder. some really expensive shit they sell by the gram, or inch or something.i think the name of it started with a U? anyways wasnt trying to sound like a knowitall, just was throwing a few helpful tips his way.

and you definately need a heatsink, keep it turned down until you get one bro

EDIt: diachi i see what you meant, im sure HIS diode will never melt solder, lol ecspecialy not normal solder. but im sure that the larger diodes could get hot enough inside the core of the module to at LEAST loosen the connections. even more so if your using gold solder or whatnot. if anyone can think of the name of the really expensive low temp solder let me know...its killing me

Ahh, but the diodes that could get hot enough to melt solder will die from those temperatures anyway, your meant to run them on TECs. So if the guys LD got hot enough to melt solder , it shows he wasn't using a TEC or at least a suitable heatsink and that the LD would have died from the temperature anyway.


But I know what your on about now !

you are correct sir, hes way to cheap to buy a TEC i bet lol. anyways i sent him a PM and he was using that low temp stuff for sure. and the diodes are definately dead, they shorted when whatever it was came disconnected. maybe he just sucks nads at soldering... why did he even waste his money on that special solder is what im asking myself now.

If it's a Stonetek x16 diode, and you got it from Stonetek. Why not ask Stonetek?

He can also supply you with a, "Dummy Load", test circuit.

I have one of these diodes in an Aixiz. I have mine set quite low and it will light brown matches after a couple of seconds and as for duty cycle... No limit set so far. It doesn't even get warm and it has NO heatsink. It runs quite happily with a RKSTR driver on 3.7V!

Are you sure you guys are talking about the x16 closed cans FROM STONETEK? Those currents seem more like Long Can Open diode currents.

Adam - The ddl driver is a current limiting driver. Doesn't that mean that the VOLTAGE is fixed and CURRENT is variable?

I'm not certain this is helping our new friend rajkosto, (hello by the way! ), as the info coming through seems confusing but I think it's important to get it right for him.

M

i beleive the output voltage adjusts according to the diodes demand, and the current you have it set at.
I still say it will run just fine at 300Ma-350Ma WITH A HEATSINK of course.

if your module can run with no duty cycle without even getting warm... you must be below 150Ma... am i close? i have a 16X closed can and it gets HOT AS HELL at 200Ma, it would kill itself and probably melt the acrylic lens if i didnt have a small heatsink on that baby. can you see the beam in the daylight? "not direct sun, but a lit up room"

rajkosto said:

i have everything except the diode, will aixiz focusable assembly be enough as a heatsink ? i only intend to burn things for a while with it, so 2 minutes tops

its not open can tho, are you sure it can handle 300mA ? also, when i set the mA, instead of the diode i have my analog multimeter connected to + and -, nothing else...will that skew the mA rating as opposed to the actual diode ?

is the diode strenght dependant on the voltage going to it ? i have a ddl circuit that im powering with 4 1.2v batteries

also, the original diode in the aixiz housing fits back into it fine, but all the others that look the same dont ?

also, how would i calculate the mW from the mA and opposite ?

Click to expand...

Yes the diode ca handle 300ma safer is 250ish ma, but 300ma will give long life.

With a linear driver such as a DDL, you can measure the current without hooking the driver up to anything. Just hook the driver up to batteries and attach the DMM to the + - leads going to the diode.

BTW 4x1,2v batteries will not be enough for the driver to successfully supply your diode with current. At least 5 batteries, though 6 batts is recommended, otherwise the driver will go out of regultion. The LM317 has a high dropout with the diode adding to that.

and it would probably help him if we all came to an agreeance on at LEAST one current setting... then just average them all lol

i say 300Ma... 350 if your feeling squirly rajkosto! lol

Dark

Yeah i think i told him about the voltage factor, 4.5-4.8volts will make the driver MAX out at around 100-125Ma. found this out through first hand experience.

Darkarmyofone said:

you are correct sir, hes way to cheap to buy a TEC i bet lol. anyways i sent him a PM and he was using that low temp stuff for sure. and the diodes are definately dead, they shorted when whatever it was came disconnected. maybe he just sucks nads at soldering... why did he even waste his money on that special solder is what im asking myself now.

Click to expand...

It may have been the sheer current that melted the solder if it was a really high powered LD.


Good luck with your 16x build :beer:

Darkarmyofone said:

i beleive the output voltage adjusts according to the diodes demand, and the current you have it set at.
I still say it will run just fine at 300Ma-350Ma WITH A HEATSINK of course.

if your module can run with no duty cycle without even getting warm... you must be below 150Ma... am i close? i have a 16X closed can and it gets HOT AS HELL at 200Ma, it would kill itself and probably melt the acrylic lens if i didnt have a small heatsink on that baby. can you see the beam in the daylight? "not direct sun, but a lit up room"

Click to expand...

150mA would probably be a fair assessment and the beam is not visible in the daylight. I do tend to be conservative though as I like my diodes to last. When you're just starting out you probably only have ONE diode, (most prudent advice would be to always buy a spare!). At the time I built mine, I had neither a dummy load or laser power meter. I was however aware that these diode are well capable of lighting matches, (at least the darker ones), and therefore set the power by setting the pot at a point that it would do just that. For those who are lacking either dummy loads or LPMs I think this is a reasonable, "real world", way of setting current. If you want your laser to light matches, burn tape and all the cool things we know they can do then who cares what mWs it puts out? Once you gain more experience, and better equipment that then becomes relevant, but for a first build...

Yes, the driver will provide the necessary voltage required by the diode, (assuming you're covering the voltage drop of the driver). It is then the current that is set. If the voltage is increased to the driver, all that happens is it gets hot! No more voltage or current goes to the diode. This is why I queried what Diachi stated. Not a dig, (Adam - you know that right? ), just wanted to clarify.

I would still go to the man that supplied the LD, Stonetek, for any power queries. I've found Greg to be pretty helpful.

As to those graphs for various diodes mentioned earlier, I'm sure these will eventually get stickied again on request, (maybe a, "search", will pull them up). The changeover still has a hangover!

When you've got pics of your project, we'd love to see them!!! (And what you eventually chose as a current! )

Thanks,

M

but if your diode IS capable of burning whatever it is your burning...why not have it up to a SAFE maximum. i mean when you do this you can light matches and pop baloons, light ciggs, whatever with a beam focused to infinity... im assuming you light matches with the beam focused to a pinpoint morgan? 150Ma on my 16x wouldnt pop a baloon at 150Ma unless i colored it with a black marker, or focused it to a tiny pinpoint. maybe were working with different diodes, who knows.

good luck with your build man, hope it turns into a burning beast of a laser for you!

Dark