FREE DIY open source BOOST driver!!! Tested & working!!

Yep tj ya could you got one?

i got a reflow setup not so much an oven but it works 100% the same, these drivers are nice but missing something i cant but my finger on it.
(where are the ST parts?)

I'm getting started on these.
Placed the order for the PCBs.

With permission from Ben and RHD of course.

I'm starting with 100 and we'll see how it goes from there.

Have to figure out which resistors to get. I don't want to have to buy 30 different set resistors, so i'm gonna shoot for like 5 "common" outputs

Mohrenberg said:

I'm getting started on these.
Placed the order for the PCBs.

With permission from Ben and RHD of course.

I'm starting with 100 and we'll see how it goes from there.

Have to figure out which resistors to get. I don't want to have to buy 30 different set resistors, so i'm gonna shoot for like 5 "common" outputs

Click to expand...

I'm a noob, but why not put a variable resistor in place?

I know everyone on this forum hates the idea of being able to pot mod something, but on a board like this wouldn't it make it much easier for the builder/supplier and even for those of us ordering them to be able to easily change later?

:thinking:

P.S. note to Ben and RHD, I think $10 is a very reasonable price. You deserve to make money for your efforts. Especially since you have shared the schematic for free meaning the truly cheap can do it themselves.

P.S.S. I am curious to see what Jerry is asking about. Maybe he has found some things that could be further improved?

So far it's look like production cost of $5.01ea without counting the cost of the PCB board.

That's with a Mouser part list.
http://www.mouser.com:80/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=b43371e29c

not sure if others can view the project parts list....
sense resistors for
495mA
879mA
1.2A

using .768,.316, and .432 ohm resistors
So you could actually get the following combinations.

247mA
495mA
601mA
687mA
879mA
1041mA
1.2A

Moh, whenever you start selling them put me on your list.

I can't build it myself, and I'd rather not screw up soldering those tiny tiny pieces. SMT just isn't my thing :B

bennett326 said:

Yep tj ya could you got one?

Click to expand...

Its only a quarts toaster oven with a micro controller. $100 investment.

Tech_Junkie said:

Its only a quarts toaster oven with a micro controller. $100 investment.

Click to expand...

I should probably get a new one. I'm still using an old one I found in a flea market for $5. It's old enough that it has fake wood trim, but it still works nicely when I've got multiple drivers to assemble.

Yeah I see them all the time too. I could have gotten one for $1 once, LOL. I dont have the room for any new appliances though, and I have nothing to reflow.

lasersbee said:

:beer:...


No I don't think so... it would be cheaper to do that with
a Shottky diode...

There seems to be another issue but I'll wait for a reply first...
I could be wrong...


Jerry

Click to expand...

It is for reverse polarity protection. If you don't want it all you have to do is not put it on and solder a jumper across to top pins (the 3 pins on the opposite side of the dot).

It may be cheaper to use a diode, but that diode will drop a lot more voltage and will get very hot considering it would have a max of 2.8A going through it. The mosfet will drop <0.1v, so it is a lot more efficient.

Moh:
I was going to find some good resistor combinations and post them, but it looks like you got it figured out already.

As to toaster ovens, I just use the cheapest one I could find in walmart which was like $10-15.

tsteele, everyone hates pot modding cheap green lasers. Having an adjustable driver doesn't mean it's a "pot mod". This driver isn't adjustable because it's not needed here. It would only add to the size, price, and complexity of the driver.

benmwv said:

It is for reverse polarity protection. If you don't want it all you have to do is not put it on and solder a jumper across to top pins (the 3 pins on the opposite side of the dot).

It may be cheaper to use a diode, but that diode will drop a lot more voltage and will get very hot considering it would have a max of 2.8A going through it. The mosfet will drop <0.1v, so it is a lot more efficient.

Moh:
I was going to find some good resistor combinations and post them, but it looks like you got it figured out already.

As to toaster ovens, I just use the cheapest one I could find in walmart which was like $10-15.

tsteele, everyone hates pot modding cheap green lasers. Having an adjustable driver doesn't mean it's a "pot mod". This driver isn't adjustable because it's not needed here. It would only add to the size, price, and complexity of the driver.

Click to expand...

If it is only for voltage protection then I would reverse the
connections of Q1... They are reversed for a P-Channel Mosfet
transistor. Unless you've found a trick that I'm not aware of..

The Source (S) needs to go towards the +V Input and the
Drain (D) needs to go towards the circuit it is protecting.

As it is the it seems that the protection diode in the Mosfet
transistor between the drain and source is doing the only
polarity protection...


Jerry

You can contact us at any time on our Website: J.BAUER Electronics

dayumm i'd be interested =D for $15

nosebleedXD said:

dayumm i'd be interested =D for $15

Click to expand...

you mean $10?

yes $10 =D, i would be interested also if it was for free lol

but anyways moh, is my driver going to be shipped by today? (cliff2010@live.ca) i ordered one of your mohgasm drivers

i read somewhere you were going on vacation and any orders before feb 12 wont be shipped till you come back

let me know

Jerry:
I'll wait for Ben's input on the MOSFET question. That was an addition that was added after the PCBs I tested, and I don't know much about MOSFETs myself. So I'll let Ben weigh in on that one.

Moh:
Mouser is a rip-off for the LM3410 ICs. I put together the cheapest parts list I could find. By far, FutureElectronics is the best deal for the ICs at around $1.50 per chip. Even if you were doing a separate purchase from them just for that one part, their shipping is only $7.50, so you would make back the extra shipping cost after just 7 parts. At a QTY of 100, this board really should cost less than $4 to make. If the reverse polarity protection was not desired, then it could get down near $3.

To everyone else on the topic of making these. The parts will cost under $5. I think what Ben and I settled on is the notion that anyone can make these. We'd like to see them sold for no more than $10. I'd like it if everyone would donate $1 back to Ben per driver sold. But of course this is just a request - and it's on the honour system. But I think he deserves it

Now to anyone that thinks these are difficult to make, you're crazy.

I learned how to reflow properly about two months back, and it's the easiest thing on the planet to do. You don't need a stencil, or fancy thermometers. A $20 Walmart toaster over is just fine. In fact, an oven worked in a pinch before I got my toaster oven (and once I had confirmed that all my parts and solder paste were lead free).

It takes about 2 minutes per board, assuming you're doing more than just one or two. So, if you have half an hour, you can pretty much paste up and reflow about 15 boards. Now the cool thing is that this gets even better if you're doing more at once. You could probably do 15 per half hour, or maybe 45 per hour. It's not difficult.

In fact, if anyone was serious about wanting to expedite the creation of boards, what I'd probably suggest is that you sacrifice about 1mm in each dimension. That's not a lot of extra space, but it would actually allow for making the board more easily reflowable.

lasersbee said:

If it is only for voltage protection then I would reverse the
connections of Q1... They are reversed for a P-Channel Mosfet
transistor. Unless you've found a trick that I'm not aware of..

The Source (S) needs to go towards the +V Input and the
Drain (D) needs to go towards the circuit it is protecting.

As it is the it seems that the protection diode in the Mosfet
transistor between the drain and source is doing the only
polarity protection...


Jerry

Click to expand...

From what I've found, this is hooked up correctly.

As soon as power is applied the diode will pass the current flow over the mosfet. Since the gate is connected to ground that makes the Vgs somewhere around -3v, turning the mosfet on. Now that it is on the Vgs will be around -4v lowering the resistance further. And all of that will happen extremely fast. But if the battery is connected backwards the mosfet wont turn on because it will never get a negative Vgs.

Please correct me if I am wrong about this :thinking: