NCP1529 Driver For RED LASER DIODES - What do you think?

Here's a Driver for Red Laser Diodes which i found out on a Russian Laser Forum.. I couldnt understand the website but the GuuGLe KRome Did translate for me..
Input Voltage: 1x Li-Ion Battery 3.7V
Efficiency ~95% V(out)= 2.9V ~400mA
~90% at 500~600mA
~80% at 1A
Compact high-performance driver
-Adjustable
-Soft start
-Protection against reverse polarity
-Overload and overheating protection
-Low battery indicator and the protection of its overdischarge.

Driver type - synchronous step-down switching voltage regulator.





I myself cannot explain the working and internals I picked this up from a Russian laser forum which i could not understand one bit, But sharing as much as i could extract.. schematic is there though..
I am sure someone experienced enough can lend some words..

In my opinion..
I think it is the best driver available for good old red ld's.
It is a great addition to current driver database.
It is more efficient in many ways and has zero heatsinking needed which is a good thing.
It is not too small to fit inside aixiz but not too big either, it will easily fit inside any 18650 host.
Therefore it opens the way for Reds into Small Sized i.e:10440~15270~10270 builds..
Unlike other linear drivers, it has a switching regulator and complex design which covers almost all aspects of commercially available lasers in addition to which there is a "led" for battery low sign , and if it gets overdischarged it wont let it get any lower than 3.4V (newer Li-Ions have 2.9V overdischarge point)
It can be DIY aswell but it will need some PCB skills and experience.
It is a little expensive to DIY , although it is available for sale at $7..
So thats about it!! Will share more info if i get me a russian translator from the Embassy Of Russia!! XD

They sell on ebay:

660nm red laser diode driver (HTV Inferno 2.11) | eBay

Expensive on Ebay but of you can get them for 7$ ill pick up a few to try.

lazeerer said:

They sell on ebay:

660nm red laser diode driver (HTV Inferno 2.11) | eBay

Expensive on Ebay but of you can get them for 7$ ill pick up a few to try.

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Yes they are, strange! Maybe they sell it for $7 Only in Russia, I will be in touch with the person one that russian forum and look into it!!

Got a link to the forum?

GBD said:

Got a link to the forum?

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Sure do..
http://forum.hobbi.tv/showthread.php?t=276

:beer:

Hello, I am from Russian laser forum that created this driver. Our community are reading your forum with interest.


We invented own drivers for red LD (660nm), infrared LD (780nm and 808nm), Blu-Ray LD (405nm) and Blue LD from projector (445nm). Scheme in this thread is from some old version of this driver. This are last version of couple our drivers (its diameter is less than 10mm):



Our drivers were designed for aixiz’s module. It’s puts in it without any problems (driver with pot mod too). This driver costs $10 + $5 for shipping in Russia. But Ebay and PayPal's fees make it more expensive then in Russia.

If you have interest to our drivers, don’t be shy. I will answer on it with pleasure.

I would be interested in one if it could run a 12x 405 @ 500ma from two lithium ions.

BTW - a quick pricing of the components on Digikey points to about $6 per driver if made in a small QTY of 10x drivers. So the $10 price tag looks more or less fair. The only note I would have for the OP is that there's probably a bunch of stuff on this driver that isn't strictly necessary. It would be really interesting to see what these could cost as basic buck drivers without all the low battery stuff that most of us may not care about.

EDIT: I take that back - I'm pretty sure this isn't a constant current driver, but rather a constant voltage driver... ?

rhd said:

EDIT: I take that back - I'm pretty sure this isn't a constant current driver, but rather a constant voltage driver... ?

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yep it seems like it's wired as constant voltage with pot for adjusting the voltage...
it wouldn't run a 12x since the max output voltage of that is 3.9V according to datasheet.

foulmist said:

yep it seems like it's wired as constant voltage with pot for adjusting the voltage...
it wouldn't run a 12x since the max output voltage of that is 3.9V according to datasheet.

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And at least two of the ICs are there simply for the battery voltage monitoring.

Also, I can't say I understand their usage of the MOSFET. I don't fully understand MOSFETs to begin with, but I'm not sure I understand why the gate is connected to GND, the drain to battery (+) and the source to the rest of the driver circuitry.

Yeah - this definitely seems like a voltage regulator. I like it, but it's a voltage regulator :\

rhd said:

And at least two of the ICs are there simply for the battery voltage monitoring.

Also, I can't say I understand their usage of the MOSFET. I don't fully understand MOSFETs to begin with, but I'm not sure I understand why the gate is connected to GND, the drain to battery (+) and the source to the rest of the driver circuitry.

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I am not fully sure but the mosfet seems to be used as a switch. When the voltage of the battery drops to a certain level it doesn't allow the regulator to turn on... just guessing here I am not quite familiar with mosfets as well

rhd said:

I would be interested in one if it could run a 12x 405 @ 500ma from two lithium ions.

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We have different types of drivers:

_ Inferno is for Red LDs.
_ Indigo is for BR and Blue LDs.
_ Invisio is for Infrared LDs.

So, we don't recommend use Inferno for supplying BR LDs. We test Indigo PE for supplying BR LD from 12x sleds. It will be available in January 2012.

BTW - a quick pricing of the components on Digikey points to about $6 per driver if made in a small QTY of 10x drivers

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Components costs more expensive in Russia than in Digikey.

I'm pretty sure this isn't a constant current driver, but rather a constant voltage driver... ?

Click to expand...

Inferno 2.11 (on picture from topic starter) is constant voltage driver.
Indigo 2.00 is something like constant power driver.
Invisio 1.11 is the same that Inferno, but voltage range is for Infrared LDs.

Also, we developed scheme for 445 LD. It is constant current driver (gives up to 2A from one Li-Po). It will be available in February of 2012.

Why would you make a constant voltage driver for running Laser Diodes? I don't get it. :thinking: Converting one to a constant current is very easy task and it's a must if you want you diodes to live.

rhd said:

And at least two of the ICs are there simply for the battery voltage monitoring

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We don't like Li-Po with protection circuit. So, one of IC is for protection of Li-Po’s over discharge.

I can't say I understand their usage of the MOSFET

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This is polarity reversal protection.

foulmist said:

Why would you make a constant voltage driver for running Laser Diodes?

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Constant voltage makes driver more efficient and permit increase temperature stability of LDs . But, constant voltage can’t be used for all types LDs. For example, it can’t be used for BR or Blue LDs.

if you want you diodes to live.

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We can give 3 Inferno 2.11 for test to 3 different persons from LPF for free. You'll see that our Ideas are working.

HTV said:

Constant voltage makes driver more efficient and permit increase temperature stability of LDs . But, constant voltage can’t be used for all types LDs. For example, it can’t be used for BR or Blue LDs.


We can give 3 Inferno 2.11 for test to 3 different persons from LPF for free. You'll see that our Ideas are working.

Click to expand...

Hah really? Can I get one for testing then?