Need help: How do I power this laser?

trever22 said:

i completely agree with MojoLA again tech junkie must never spend time off line and since this forum is his life he thinks he can make other people feel bad about not knowing every detail about everything that hast to do with lasers or electricity

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Oooh, poor little you.
I feel so sorry for you, here is a tissue.

LMAO.........this thread is to funny. :crackup:
TJ, you didn't post for 3hrs so Dave knew you got lucky or had diarrhea. It was a 50% risk. Dang TJ looks like you have been working out. :beer:

MojoLA, if you would have read a while here before just jumping in with less that 101 level questions the responses would have been diff. You could have put TTL in Google and found that its Transistor Transistor Logic. Power is normally 5v +/- .25v. You wouldn't have used that 6v wall pack. It probably reads 9v on a meter...don't ask. People here don't mind questions, just that you do make an effort to find out what you can, learn and ask on something you have searched, cannot find or just can't find an explanation you understand. If you had been reading, learning dropped in and asked something like, "Been trying to figure this out for a while and I found 405 laser diodes take more voltage than the battery is! So, when I looked it up I found it needs a driver circuit. I read its a booster circuit to get the voltage up. I'd like to make a driver and that lead me to dc to dc converters. Would this circuit I found using a LM3410 work with this diode?"
You would have been flooded with help and suggestions because it showed effort on your part. You are asking ppl to take time to show you, but you don't want to take any time to learn. Your only focus is your problem and then you'll probably be gone.
Are you watching this movie? :wave:

Edit: I am curious why someone with "no electronics experience" would spend that kind of money on what has to look like total confusion, wondering if you can get it to work, will it need adjusting and abt 10 other questions....
Most people would have bought a 10mw pointer, took it to Rat Shack and said, I need to run this from a wall plug instead of these batteries. Been much cheaper..................

um, are you trying to be funny cause your not. You just another brit who says on line all day and has no life. so just please shut up

trever22 said:

um, are you trying to be funny cause your not. You just another brit who says on line all day and has no life. so just please shut up

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:crackup: There has not been a Brit posting in this thread since post #4

Also, you've not given much support for the "shut up" command

Peace,
dave

Vaproizer: I bought the laser because it was listed as "includes DC power supply." In my (apparently innexperienced) world, that means it comes with a power supply that I can simply plug into the wall.

Well, it didn't, and the seller told me "the circuit board is the power supply."

Maybe to you guys that's obvious, but I think most people who aren't electronics experts would have seen it my way.

So I came in here looking for help. Asking how to power that thing is NOT the same as asking "where can I get a green laser" or "how do I burn stuff?"

If people think my request is just too simple and I should come to the forums with that sort of knowledge already in hand, then change the name to "LPF for experienced folks only." Or an even better solution is to simply ignore the thread and not post in it.

And if a mod really suspects someone of being a troll, in an adult world he would close the thread and issue a warning - not support imature posts ridiculing the poster.

On a board that asks people to donate, that basic level of professionalism should be expected.

MojoLA said:

If people think my request is just too simple and I should come to the forums with that sort of knowledge already in hand

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No.......just the willingness to do some of the research on your own, when most people see that you are trying, they will do their best to help.

Mojo LA --- From my reading, TJ and Daguin have given you good information based on limited input. You admit that you have very limited knowledge of electronics yet you want to get into more advanced electronics and optics without doing some basic research.
YOU have to take the time to educate yourself in these matters so YOU can understand the replys. PLEASE don't blame others if you don't understand the answers. I had to learn this stuff myself years ago and now my answers to you would be way too advanced.
HMike

A stupid question is one where you don't know what to ask. It means you have not taken the effort and responsibility to understand the basics before you ask the question. We have given you all the answers you need; however, your lack of fundamental knowledge precludes you from understanding these answers. This is not a basic electronics forum. We are not going to hold your hand through understanding what +5VDC or ground are. Don't waste our time with that. Go away if you're not going to meet us half way.

The pictures I saw didn't look like a laser ready to just plug in at a street users level. Open boards, free wires, unknown acronyms......you can always ask them for an online assembly/wiring manual prior to purchase. If it looks like many things you didn't expect, start looking them up and then decide.
That's why I asked from the pics you posted. If there were no pics, I could see that as a surprise. One of the boards could be a power supply and needs wired up. The way you described it, I expected to see a box ready unit.
If you plan on continuing lasers as a hobby, you've learned something.
Lasers do not get the respect they should. Telling just everyone how to get hurt isn't the best of ideas.
One has to figure if the person knows little of basic electronics, a laser is an accident waiting to happen in the hands of this person.

The picture I see looks like an old DX driver. 5 VDC input (6VDC Regulated is likely OK), a 0-5 VDC TTL input (0-1 Logic) and a diode connector. I believe the TTL input needs ~4 Volts for ON unless it has a pull-up resistor on board - which many do have.
Using an unregulated 6 volt dc (AC???) supply can damage the driver - LD.
He needs to meter his stuff and report back.

HMike

MojoLA said:

Vaproizer: I bought the laser because it was listed as "includes DC power supply." In my (apparently innexperienced) world, that means it comes with a power supply that I can simply plug into the wall.

Well, it didn't, and the seller told me "the circuit board is the power supply."

Maybe to you guys that's obvious, but I think most people who aren't electronics experts would have seen it my way.

So I came in here looking for help. Asking how to power that thing is NOT the same as asking "where can I get a green laser" or "how do I burn stuff?"

If people think my request is just too simple and I should come to the forums with that sort of knowledge already in hand, then change the name to "LPF for experienced folks only." Or an even better solution is to simply ignore the thread and not post in it.

And if a mod really suspects someone of being a troll, in an adult world he would close the thread and issue a warning - not support imature posts ridiculing the poster.

On a board that asks people to donate, that basic level of professionalism should be expected.

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Just so we are all clear here:

The guy with 68 posts is telling the forum how it should be run?

Perhaps it would be better if you just ran your own forum instead of trying to use others' forums. You do not seem to understand culture or credibility.

In the same spirit that you have repeatedly tried to tell TJ and others, if you don't like the way it is here, go away. There are other laser forums. I'm sure that the people over at LE or at PL will be more than happy to have you help them understand the best way to run their forum

You come here, with an empty stomach and your hat in your hand, hoping for a meal. Then you complain because it isn't seasoned the way you like it. Finally, you want to tell the cook, how to make the soup better

I, for one, have fed this troll long enough

Peace,
dave

It's finished!

I decided to take the safe route and buy a DC adaptor that works at several voltages, including 5 (it will probably come in handy for something else eventually)....

It works great, and I love the fact that's the power output is adjustable. It surprising just how little power you really need. With so much talk around here for 150, 300 and even 1000mw, I worried that a "paultry" 15mw wouldn't be enough...

I played with it from 0 to 50mw (what they said is the max) but ultimately I'm leaving it at (approx) 10mw. For the lumia effect it's more than bright enough, and I figure underdriving it is always safer.

Attached is a nice picture of "the rig."

One question - what do people normally do with the circuit board that's just laying around? Aside from the clutter it's not really the safest thing in the world, and the big metal bit on the end that's designed (i'm guessing) for heat dissipation does get mighty hot.

As you can see in the pic, I keep a small fan aimed at everything, although I don't think it's required. Still, the motor does get hot after a while and although the laser itself stays cool in that giant heat sink, as I said the circuit board does get warm, so I figure it doesn't hurt to keep a fan aimed at it (especially since I keep the rig running for about 5 hours a night, every night).

Thanks to those who helped, and a special thanks to those of you who wanted to avoid the "drama" and PMed me with advice.

I couldn't agree with you more ;-)