HOW TO: 100+mW 405nm w/ 803T Dorcy Jr Laser

shamb1s said:

apparently i did something wrong, and i actually burned up the voltage booster on the dorcy jr itself, i hooked the LED back up and it very dim, and if I measure the voltage off the booster it peaks about 2V and then rapidly drops down to only .7V. Being this is my first Laser project I think I'm just gonna get a couple CR123 battery holders and throw it all in a hobby box, see what I get. My only questions with that is will I need to place a diode in the mix with my batteries like you do with the lava drivers when using more than one battery. I'm hoping 2 CR123's will get the job done. They are the 3.6V 900mAh rechargeables. Thanks in advance guys.

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If you are using the dralva flexdrive, you only want to use one CR123. Its max voltage is 5 volts.

If you are just using the flexdrive as an example, you need to limit the voltage to what the limit of the driver you are using is.

Until we know what driver you are using, we can't help much. It would seem that the "driver" setup you had with the Dorcy is dead.

Peace,
dave

well I'm using the rckstr driver, the newest adjustable one.

shamb1s said:

well I'm using the rckstr driver, the newest adjustable one.

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If you are putting it into a box, use a 9V battery.

If you are going to limit the laser to 110mA then two 3.6V will work. The problem with 3.6V rechargeables is that at full charge, they are over 4V. At that voltage two 3.6 are fine, but as soon as they start to sag, the power goes down in the diode. At higher current settings 7.4V won't give the diode what it needs. Using three 3.6V would put you over 12V when fully charged. The Rkcstr can only take 12V.

So either get some combination of batteries to give you 8-11 volts, or limit the input current to 110mA.

Peace,
dave

I might go with the 3 RCR123 option, since I already invested in a 6 of them and a charger.

shamb1s said:

I might go with the 3 RCR123 option, since I already invested in a 6 of them and a charger.

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Watch your overall voltage. Remember, a fully charged 3.6V rechargeable battery is putting out 4.2V when fresh.

Peace,
dave

thanks for the help guys, feel like I hijacked the thread :-[

i got a dorcy jr from senkat and it is totally different - it doesn't even have a driver, so i have had to improvise. I haven't finished it yet as i can't afford flux atm ,so i can't solder to my lavadrive at all

robjdixon said:

i got a dorcy jr from senkat and it is totally different - it doesn't even have a driver, so i have had to improvise. I haven't finished it yet as i can't afford flux atm ,so i can't solder to my lavadrive at all

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what flashlight did you get? It looks the same in the picture. You should really just buy it from Dorcy Direct for $25.... but your choice.
http://www.dorcydirect.com/p-15-41-4262-45-lumens-1-watt-led-flashlight-with-cr123-battery.aspx

and you don't HAVE to have flux, it just helps. and also, the lavadrive has holes that you can put the pin / wire in and bend it a bit. it makes soldering stuff to the lavadrive quite easy.

good luck,
Kendall

I need the flux because my lavadrive has been sitting in my garage for 2 months, and I can't solder to it because it is too dirty.

I've never found flux to be all that effective at cleaning, it helps, but I always use isopropyl alcohol to clean my contacts with. It has some bite to clean the dirt off, but not too much to damage anything and it will evaporate in about 1 or 2 minutes, faster if you blow air across it.

Beautiful job sk! Thanks for taking time to do the article.
What's the cheapest blue ray diode available?

photongeek said:

What's the cheapest blue ray diode available?

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The most efficient, and most wanted one is an 803T, they are going for low prices these days. You can expect upwards of 120mW with them if heatsinked appropriately for longevity of the diode.

Help me!!

I just assembled the laser according to the directions and it doesn't light up. I seriously doubt I damaged the diode so I'm ruling that out. Is there way to test what is wrong with it? Iv tested the resistance on the cables (by touching the + and - with the multimeter) to see if the solder is actually forming a connection to the laser diode and the lavadrive and there is resistance. Is there anything else I can do that might get this to work?

Oh, I forgot to mention something. When I was setting the pot on the lavadrive I had it hooked up to power (like 3.3V) for no more then 1 second. I didn't realize there was power going to the breadboard when I hooked it up. : But I tried to set the pot anyways after hooking up a test load, and it seems to still be working. But maybe it is fried... how fast do they fry when hooked up with no load?

I'm gunna keep tinkering with it to see if I can figure out whats wrong, but if anyone can help me out that would be great. If needed I'll post pics of it or something.

EDIT: IT LIVES!!! I hooked up two aa's directly to the lavadrive and it worked! Once I get the damn battery connector thing to work I'll post pics of it

i was gonmna say its most likely a connection from the batteries or possibly the switch.

glad you got it!

k well while im redoing the soldering connection, can someone please help me figure out a way to keep the heat sink from coming out of the casing? I don't want to hot glue it, that seems kinda unprofessional.

EDIT: well i gave in and used hot glue... but just a little so i can take it off. If anyone has a better solution let me know! Also, i tested the laser on a match and it didn't light i DO NOT want to take it apart just to reajust the pot, lol, so i gues this one wont light stuff on fire. oh well :

mmykle said:

k well while im redoing the soldering connection, can someone please help me figure out a way to keep the heat sink from coming out of the casing? I don't want to hot glue it, that seems kinda unprofessional.

EDIT: well i gave in and used hot glue... but just a little so i can take it off. If anyone has a better solution let me know! Also, i tested the laser on a match and it didn't light i DO NOT want to take it apart just to reajust the pot, lol, so i gues this one wont light stuff on fire. oh well :

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the little black rubber ring in the flashlight keeps the heatsink in the head of the flashlight, put it back in if it's not already in, otherwise I dont' know.

and you probably just need to focus it better to light a match, you should be able to see a small spark when it's burning and the light will kind of flash dark and bright as it's burning. focus it to about 6-10 inches away to have the smallest dot possible then try again. you shouldn't have to, but you can also try using a black sharpie to color the tip of the match black, should be easier to light that way.

good luck,
Kendall