What voltage to use with a blu-ray diode

I bought and assembled a micro-drive laser driver (rkctsr) and a dummy load. Now I need to know what voltage to use.
I got an Xbox HD DVD laser diode (PHR-T083) and two 18650 from DealExtreme. Do I use one or two batteries? 3.7 or 7.4 volts? Can I set the diode to 50 mW by setting the current to 50 mA? And finaly, will I get alot of heat from it at that power? Please answer quick!  :exclamation


[move]HELP![/move]


P.S. : I didn't see any tutorials about how to make your own PCB on the forum, any body interested? It's great for making your own laser drivers in a very compact format.  

You'll need at least 7v, but no more than 12v.

Wattage (light output) and amperage (current input) aren't directly proportional to eachother.. Look around the forum for a graph for the PHR, it'll give you a rough idea of how much power you should be getting out of it for any given amperage, though PHR's vary a lot, plus things like temperature and optics will affect the power as well.

Anyways, just set it to between 90mA and 110mA, this is considered the safe zone for the PHR which will give you the most power without sacrificing the lifetime of the diode.

OK thanks. That was a quick reply.



[move]SUBLIMINAL MESSAGING[/move]


So anybody interested in the tut?

You could, but there are a lot of them already out.

OK, well I think i'll do it

I've done it! My first DIY laser. It works great, had no problem. I used a 9 volt battery, works fine since I got a diode fom the older Xbox sleds. I have set it to 75 mA, I should get around the 40 mW. Is this enough to burn stuff? Now all I need is a host, and I know were to get cheap aluminum flashlites. The best of it is that I got it first try! No trouble with static electricity or anything else!. This won't be my last laser...


[move]I love Blu-Ray![/move]