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Drivers for 445

Tabish

Tabish

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EDIT:

For a 445 set at 900mA

Microboost or Flexdrive ?
 
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The diodes lasing threshold is around 200mA, so you won't see much power, I suggest the MicroBoost by drlava for a portable build.
 
I dont know about those drivers. Most people are using the microboost with a single L-ion battery. 18650 is needed if you want to set it to a high current.
Edit: forgot about the current thresh hold ....
 
Driver shmiver, just kipkay the hell out of it and hook it up to a fully charged CR123A battery. J/K My vote is Flexdrive.
 
Does anyone know of a driver that can power a 445nm diode at over 1.5 Amps? I believe the MicroBoost only goes up to 1A and the Flexdrive only goes up to 1.5A. I'm not sure if the Flexdrive can power a high voltage diode even at 1.5A though. I want to see how hard I can push these, especially considering how cheap they are.
 
Lumify said:
Does anyone know of a driver that can power a 445nm diode at over 1.5 Amps? I believe the MicroBoost only goes up to 1A and the Flexdrive only goes up to 1.5A. I'm not sure if the Flexdrive can power a high voltage diode even at 1.5A though. I want to see how hard I can push these, especially considering how cheap they are.
Click to expand...

The AMC7135 driver can. You can find them here: DealExtreme: Search for amc7135 (6 products in 1 categories)

Spyderfire has driven his up >1A using this driver. Check here for his results

http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/post-your-ma-mw-51432.html
 
I don't think the flexdrive would have an issue running the diode at higher currents since it doesn't need to boost the voltage very much, if at all. I believe jayob is using a flexdrive and hasn't had any problems. However, I would imagine you need some kind of heat sink on the chip as drlava describes in his user manual for the flex drive if you plan on running it at >1 amp
 
or you could make an lm317 driver replacing the 100ohm pot with say a 2ohm resistor to get ~500mA or 1.8ohm for ~700mA
cheers
EDIT: providing you are using the DDL driver design. just take the 10 ohm resistor out, rectifier diode and add the **ohm resistor in the place of the pot
 
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I believe if you planned on running these at the said "higher" currents at the 1 min duty cycle that has been talked about the flexdrive will not be all together hot.

I just finished some test runs with the flex v5 at 4.5 volts in and dummie running
at 574mA and the touch to feel was negligible. The test load however was almost smoking. Oh yea I failed to mention that these were 1 min runs also. Fun stuff.
 
The AMC7135 seems to be an interesting choice, although I doubt anyone needs a 10-pack of them. Even though it's only $16 at DX, perhaps this would be a good candidate for a GB? Call me a cheapskate! ;)

I was looking at the circular circuit board for these drivers, they are set at just over 1A and have three AMC7135 on each. The 700 mA version has only two. Is there a way to adjust the settings somehow between those values? Can I control this by decreasing the input voltage?

I know the 445nm diodes are quite sturdy according to the numerous power graphs on this board but the idea of directly chucking over 1A through a $50 diode is a bit frightening... II prefer to have some sort of control over what i'll be sending though this.

Robert
 
Lumify said:
Does anyone know of a driver that can power a 445nm diode at over 1.5 Amps? I believe the MicroBoost only goes up to 1A and the Flexdrive only goes up to 1.5A. I'm not sure if the Flexdrive can power a high voltage diode even at 1.5A though. I want to see how hard I can push these, especially considering how cheap they are.
Click to expand...

You can use a Flex Mod, they can push diodes up to 6 amps. You'll just need a 5v source for the TTL Mod input.

http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_diode/FlexMod01.php

But if you want it for a portable host then you'll have heating issues at those currents.

-Tony
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the MicroBoost designed to defeat the MicroFlex in amperage stability?

When it was a concern about Flex drivers being able to fully supply 405nm diodes at a high-wattage (5.5v @ 600mA for example), it was discussed that the new "better" driver to use was the Boost driver.

I don't know for sure.

I just ordered a MicroBoost to find out. I have a Flex V5 that I have run at 5.5 or 5.6V at 605mA without issue, so I will try them both on a 445nm when each arrives probably saturday to see which is the winner.

On second note, I am going to try the AMC7135 too. It's no secret that LEDs use more power than our laser diodes. So I see it being a likely suspect to higher amperage.
 
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There's nothing wrong with a LM317 driver, they are very easy to use and can be built pretty small and cheaply. All you really need is the 317 chip and a resistor, the cap, pot, and reverse polarity diode aren't absolutely needed, although a cap is recommended.
 
I have a question:
Would these AMC7135 work with ONE 18650 (3.7v) cell ?
What driver would be the most suitable, if I wanted something arround 700mA from just ONE 18650 cell ?

Thanks

Post nr. 100 \o/
 
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@Xplorer877 I was going to use it for a portable host, but I might look into heatsinking options for it.
@Roddenberry Haha I think if we did a group buy on those, it would cost half as much to just get 1 for each person because of shipping. :)
@Exerd That's what I was thinking.

Also, $50 is next to nothing when we are looking at the power these things can put out. Has anyone ever killed one? EVER? I don't mind killing $50 by running one at 1.4 Amps. I think I'll get one (or 10...) of the 1.4 Amp AMC7135 drives and see if these diodes are immortal. :)
 
Complementing my previous question: Is it possible to make myself a driver that can give me arround 700mA with a single 18650 cell ?
 
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