Micro-Drive laser driver by rkcstr

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Well I just got those 3 drivers you traded me hooked up and put into pen style lasers and they work great. They are soooo much easier to incorporate into a pen style laser than the other drivers out there. I also have a fixed current driver of yours hooked up to a blu-ray putting out lots of power. Thanks man, you rock.

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Thanks again for the great drivers and fast delivery!

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

hey rkcstr, here's what I'm thinking of. A 100mA driver and also an adjustable driver, both to use with a blu-ray. I'd like a test load for blu-ray with those as well

But here's my question. Would 2x 3.6V CR123a be able to work with that setup?

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Murudai said:

hey rkcstr, here's what I'm thinking of. A 100mA driver and also an adjustable driver, both to use with a blu-ray. I'd like a test load for blu-ray with those as well

But here's my question. Would 2x 3.6V CR123a be able to work with that setup?

Click to expand...

Well, it's been discussed a few times in other topics, but the base information you need to know is that the driver needs 2.25-2.5V OVER the voltage of the diode, AT MINIMUM, to put out a fully regulated current (it'll start to drop as you go below it). But, with these 803T diodes, they are running between 5 and 6V at higher powers like 150mA and such, meaning the driver will need upwards of 8V to be in regulation. As you get lower, likely around the 100mA point, 2x3.6V batteries will be fine, but if you start going over that, you may need more voltage or the output will start to droop. Since these diodes are so variable, it's tough to say exactly at what power output ~7.2V will not be sufficient.

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Well, I'll be using the 100mA driver with the 2x CR123a, so that'll work fine The adjustable version would go in a blu-ray labby I want to make, and I can easily get enough voltage for that

Now, lets say I was running the adjustable driver on 150mA. How long would that last, can that be run indefinitely at that setting?

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Murudai said:

Now, lets say I was running the adjustable driver on 150mA. How long would that last, can that be run indefinitely at that setting?

Click to expand...

Are you asking how long the driver will run at that current or the diode? If you run the driver, it will get hot with time... but I've run mine at that amount for well over 5 min. driving an 803T diode. The driver shouldn't have any problem running hot, but you should heatsink the diode well so that heat doesn't affect the diode. You could probably come up with a creative way to attach the copper pad on the one side to a heatsink if you feel you need better cooling, just be careful not to allow it to touch a grounded case as the heatsink will be connected to the output.

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

The diode will have a massive heatsink, labby sized heatsink Would I be able to heatsink the driver as well?

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Well I have made a driver in the past with a small heatsink on it... at 400mA it dropped the peak temp reached in 5 min of operation from about 110-120C down to 90C. I haven't measured any temps at 150mA, but I imagine it will be lower.

I have another person interested in the small heatsink and currently I'm looking for my aluminum stock and I can give you a price on one when I can get a few fabbed up.

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

In the Sonar Cases thread, you were talking about making a driver/switch setup? That's what the 100mA driver would be for, so maybe I'll wait to see what you do there May take a while, but I'm patient enough

Since the driver will be for a lab setup, not a pointer, size isn't an issue. So, if you could make an adjustable driver with a heatsink so it could run indefinitely that would be great [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

I have some TO-220 sized versions of the regulator, which are the size of the typical thru-hole LM317 you can get from Radioshack.  I could probably whip up a board with all the same components just with a thru-hole mounted regulator IC that you could bolt to a heatsink.

I also at one point made up a board with the SMD regulator IC mounted upside-down for my older style driver so that the "tab" could be mated to a heatsink with thermal epoxy or something. I never really followed up with it, but I could adapt it to my new design, if that would be something you'd want.

If you'd like something like either of those, let me know and we can figure out what will work for your application.  

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

My application is simply a high power blu-ray laser module running a PHR-803T, probably around 150-180mA. It has to run indefinitely like any good labby, so that's what I need the driver to cope with.

I really know little about electronics, so it's up to you to come up with a driver solution to that

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Murudai said:

My application is simply a high power blu-ray laser module running a PHR-803T, probably around 150-180mA. It has to run indefinitely like any good labby, so that's what I need the driver to cope with.

I really know little about electronics, so it's up to you to come up with a driver solution to that

Click to expand...

Lol, I understand... sounds like you're like me, I really have no training in electronics, so my knowledge is limited to my experience, outside of that I'm lost ;D

Basically I just needed some ideas of dimensions, like what size can you accommodate? Do you have a heatsink you can use? Etc.



Also, this is as good as a time as any to sort of announce that I'm working on an improved version of the driver. It will implement a design similar to the Fusiondrive offered by Bluefusion previously (minus all the drama!), which means it will have a lower input voltage requirement. It will be along the lines of ~1V as compared to 2.25V of my current driver. I don't have a timeframe as of yet for when it will be available. I just started working on the design and will be getting some parts for prototyping in the coming week. Once I get the design resolved and a working prototype, I will probably have someone evaluate it before starting to sell, then order all the extra parts necessary and finally sell them! I'm hoping this will be sometime in August, but I will be starting classes again August 25th, so hopefully that doesn't interfere.

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Thank's rkcstr got my test loads today Thanks!!!!

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Cool, drlava is selling some TTL lab drivers, that's exactly what I need

So scratch the adjustable custom driver, though I'll still take a 100mA driver and a blu-ray test load. Though, all that talk about new designs, I can wait until you've got something new

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

Yeah, I saw DrLava's TTL driver. I was actually looking to doing something like that, but it may be beyond my expertise. They require a totally different topology for a driver, which common involves (including DrLava's driver) an opamp driving a power MOSFET along with TTL interface circuitry.

There was another similar design on this site:
http://www.die4laser.com/dvd-rec/Die4Drive.htm

And another:
http://www.k3pgp.org/laserbias.htm

Sam's Laser FAQ also has a large number of designs, of course, this is assuming you'd have the ambition to make one yourself


As for the driver, you can order through my page (see link at bottom of my post). The test load has voltage settings for a "blu" or "red" range, but you really don't need to change the default "red" setting even if you plan to drive a violet diode if you're only using it to set the current. I just offer the other setting for if you need the extra voltage for testing something like battery efficiency, driver drop-out, etc.

Re: Micro-Driver laser driver *NOW ADJUSTABLE*

are those shipping methods correct? because 2-3 weeks, isn't that a bit long? and 10 dollars more for 6-10 days, 3-5 days 25 dollar and 36 dollar for a 1-3 days shipping time.
it's just a ~1*2cm module in a envelope!
(is there a sort of guarantee involved? because that will make it a bit more expensive ofcourse.)

ebay sellers send them even quicker, in ~5 days i have what i bought in my mailbox, for less! (from the US to the Netherlands)
[sub]
i don't want to say that your shipping is bad, or that you are a bad seller, i just think that the shipping a bit too long and expensive[/sub]