BluRay Diode GB

Greyfox · Oct 25, 2007

Archane said:
so I got my new violet diode up and running, i setup one of DDL's famous circuits for it and added enough resistance to drop the amps to 40ma. the color is jsut amazing but it's rather dim, is this what everyone else is seeing? i'm hoping I didn't shock the diode trying to solder it. I think i've got the wrong solder because it's having a hell of a time sticking. What kind of solder are others(with more experience than myself) using?

mines non acid resin core

What kind of soldering iron did you use? Is it gas or electric? If electric, what wattage and is it tip-grounded (3-pin power plug)? I've found that ungrounded electric irons more often cause troubles because of static potential, and these BR LDs are extremely static sensitive. If you're pushing 40mA at roughly 4.5-4.8v across the LD, you probably zapped it by accident. For both of mine, the dot is quite bright on a white wall.

As for the solder, I used standard 60/40 Pb-based with rosin core. Silver solder is too quirky with my butane iron, especially when I need a very quick joint.

Another thought: How are your eyes at picking up near-UV light? Some people have a hard time with light in that part of the spectrum. It's also possible that you may have a non-fluorescent, non-reflective target. These will show very dim spots even at 15mW output.

Hemlock_Mike · Oct 25, 2007

Solder : Kester 44 Rosin flux -- 63/37 eutectic -- 0.020 or 0.010 diameter.

I use a temp controled 25 watt mini iron.

Mike

Archane · Oct 25, 2007

well my eyes normally pick up light very well, I was even pointing it at a pure white sheet of paper. the Iron i'm using is a Weller electric 25W I believe(not at home right now) it does have a grounded pin on the plug. the solder just seems to ball up and not stick to the pins or wires i'm trying to solder. I know I haven't done this in years but i'm pretty sure I didn't have this trouble before so i'm assuming i grabbed the wrong solder.

Greyfox · Oct 25, 2007

That sounds to me like it's probably silver solder. That stuff is a royal pain in the arse, and needs an iron in just the right range. Too hot and it turns to carbon, too cold and it won't stick to anything. How long did you hold the iron to the LD's pin?

Hemlock_Mike · Oct 25, 2007

Some solder doesn't have a flux core. You gotta have flux or you will be
fluxed ;D The old Kester paste flux is OK but corrosive and I don't recommend it.
Pre tin the leads and the solder should flow out real nice.

Mike

marks47 · Oct 25, 2007

Did you remove the little semi-circular PCB from the diode? I left mine on. It may make it a little tricker, space-wise, but it allows you to 'tin' a 1-1.5mm piece of exposed wire, and then just heat it up right against the proper solder joint on the little circuit board the diode came on. It'll still go in its housing properly if you are careful and remove all the glue. This process makes it very very easy to attach your leads, and you will need almost no solder of your own... As long as your eyes are good, and your hands relatively steady.

By the way, If this helps anyone, great, if not....
I had been asking about the size of the diode vs. red 5.6mm's and the aixiz housings. I took a deep breath and used a modification of the 'vise' method and just used a pair of standard pliers on the 'wider' setting. I used a couple of layers of thickish coushiony double-sided tape to protect the pins from the metal pliers.. Worked great. I was scared to death to try it, but figured I'd have as much control as with a vise...

Zarniwoop · Oct 25, 2007

Or it may just be a question of "how dim is dim?" or "how white is white?".
I notice many things that look the same shade of white react quite differently to this frequency of light.
Compared to even a 5mw red, I'd say my BluRay looks quite dim, until it hits something that fluoresces even a little, then it jumps to life.
Without a power meter though, it's pretty subjective.

Archane · Oct 25, 2007

dim = can't see it if i'm not looking right at it. or have to look really hard to find the dot on a white wall.

i'll take a picture later when I get home, maybe im' just nuts(wouldn't surprise me)

as far as the PCB I removed it to give me more room to solder the pins

holy dear god. Mike, thank you. so i'm sitting here thinking about it and I think you just fix it. I was thinking that resin core = flux, god damn i'm retarded. i'm off to fry's electronics to get some flux....*kicks self* but that wouldn't explain the diode being dim, I was reading one of DDL's posts about his battery running out fast on these things, maybe my battery is lower voltage, i'll test it again. I know for FACT i'm only getting 40ma out of this circuit and I do have a cap on it to control any spikes.

Thanks guys for the insight, keep it comming.

marks47 · Oct 25, 2007

Archane said:
holy dear god. Mike, thank you. so i'm sitting here thinking about it and I think you just fix it. I was thinking that resin core = flux, god damn i'm retarded. i'm off to fry's electronics to get some flux....*kicks self*

I'm 95% sure that resin core = flux. what are you using? the 60/40 solid rosin core stuff from radio shack is just fine for most applications like this. I use the 62/35/2 thin stuff.

Hemlock_Mike · Oct 27, 2007

Note -- These BR LD's won't take 95 mA even for a moment accidently

OOPS --

Mike

Gazoo · Oct 27, 2007

Sorry to hear it Mike...I hope you give it a special resting place... :'(

Hemlock_Mike · Oct 27, 2007

Gazoo --

More info from this. As long as it was now a blue LED, I pushed the red. It became an LED at a miserable 75 mA..... Forget that red - it's weak.

My new BR LD has a little different curve and a pinch less power. Still very close.
I'm Blu again

Mike

Gazoo · Oct 27, 2007

Well I am glad you got another one up and running...

Thanks for that info on the red side of this...

BTW you were right...using a 5 volt regulator I have a 10.7 ohm resistor in series with the diode and it runs at a comfortable 37ma's. I don't think using a 1 ohm resistor would be a very good idea.. :

Zarniwoop · Oct 27, 2007

I managed to make an LED out of my red as well :'(
But yeah, it's no great loss - looked about like a 5mw and the focus difference was worse than I expected. I assume that's just the different refraction at a different light frequency as with a prism, since the two sources eminate from the same distance from the lens.

Oh well, the violet is still doing fine at 41ma.

Daedal · Oct 27, 2007

;D

You popped the red one and the BR was still fine? COOL!

I know first-hand now that PINK lasers are pretty... damn... AWESOME! Also purple (not violet) is a MUCH more attractive color!

If you've got a couple LM317 circuits and you can run both hooked up to the diode, you can see the color against a close object without one being WAY out of focus... it looks incredible! You can control the brightness of one or the other just by adding current, or lowering it.

--DDL

Zarniwoop · Oct 28, 2007

Yeah, I was having fun playing with both colors (2 regulators), but I got sloppy on the current I was feeding to the red. Fun while it lasted. I was just glad the violet was unaffected.
I suppose there's a middle-ground focus where neither one is a speck - maybe you could get them both pencil-sized. Unfortunately thats about when my red quit. :'(

Are you running your violet up around 40ma, plus the red, or do you back off the violet a bit?
I'm wondering if the supposed heat issue with running them both simultaneously is a myth.
What's a good current to run the red at?

BluRay Diode GB

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BluRay Diode GB