New - "A better 1W budget boost driver" - AK-007

1) "Yes, the VOM Red is sense (+) and the Black is common (-)"
I thought you said negative wasn't common?

2) Change or disable? To change, you just do a quick off/on. To disable, I don't know yet. Often times the mode circuit IC is separate from the boost IC, so you can often disable modes by killing that IC without harming the boost. However, without one in front of me, I can't begin testing. Having said that, it often has to do with connecting one of the mode IC's pins to ground.

rhd, talking about the leads on the VOM, not the driver. Didn't want somebody confused and coming on and asking if the VOM red lead was plugged into the VOM positive. The driver positive input and output are NOT continuous, neither are the negative input and outputs.

So, no way to disable modes yet? I hooked one up to an A-140 (from DTR) just for kicks. paralleled the diode with a 10 mike SMD. Works fine with a Ultrafire 22600. Have note measured the currents in various modes. Cann't get the darned thing to stop switching modes on each power up cycle. Otherwise, fun to play with, makes a respectible beam in a semi-dark room and outside at dusk. With the beam focused as close to infinity as I can get with an Axiz glass lense, it will still burn through a black plastic trash bag in seconds at about four inches. Ran it for about forty seconds on High mode with no apparent ill effects (stopped at that point cause I didn't want to suck the battery dry, but batt still shows 3.7 volts no load).
I know it's not much of a review/evaluation (no power and current measurements), but it does show that it works. I'm gonna tear down the build and redo with a microflex anyway (if I can ever find one).

Well, I figured out how to disable modes. Take the top layer off. Bottom layer gives boost to 5V @340mA with a 3V input. Hooked up to a 150mW 405nm, in a o-like module head with a PLASTIC lense and it burns a pine 1x6 at 6 inches.

IGNORE THE FOLLOWING!! MY BAD*******Sure looks like the bottom layer has a continuous V+ to Diode + after all. Don't understand what was going on with my VOM in earlier testing (maybe I was asleep at the wheel, sorry).******IGNORE PREVIOUS

If it boosts 3v to 5v at 350mA without that top layer, then it makes sense to expect more current when boosting 4.2 up to just 4.6 for a 445

How did you find the outputs without the top layer?

First off: MY BAD- I was playing with the top layer trying to see what could be done with it when the wife pestered me to do a chore and I MISS POSTED the comment about the V+ and LD+ being continuous, THEY ARE NOT, REPEAT NOT CONTINUOUS!!
Sorry again, I got in a rush.

The 'top layer', or top board, appears to be the Mode controller part (the V+ in and the Diode + out ARE continuous on this board). The bottom board, with the inductor on it and the battery rings on the bottom side appears to be a complete Boost regulator (V+ & LD+ are NOT continuous, V- & LD- are NOT continuous).
As far as finding the outputs, EASY: There are two bare wires connecting the top and bottom layers (boards). One of these pins/wires feeds directly through the top layer to the RED wire (the LED+ or LD+ output). The other pin/wire MUST, by deduction (and verified by imperical application) be the output -.

Disconnect the top board from the bottom by: 1) desolder the pin/wire connecting the top to the bottom where the pin feeds through to the RED output wire. 2) solder a length of RED Flaminpyro wire @ to this pin on the bottom board. 3) desolder the other pin/wire from the top board. 4) pitch the top board. 5) solder a length of BLACK Flaminpyro wire to this pin on the bottom board. These two wires are the + (RED) & - (BLACK) LASER Diode connections (by leaving the pins/wires on the bottom board, and if you are good, you can solder a large SMD 5-10 mike capacitor to these pins as LD protection).

Have not had a chance to try other voltages yet, got honey do's to take care of first....

Gosh guys, I just got my second order of AK007's from DX.... wow, these stink now.

I couldn't get more than ~200 mW output from a 445 with them, and I went through 5 of them trying to figure this out.

I'm pretty disappointed - largely because I've got a bunch of tiny hosts, and to my knowledge, nothing the size of an AK-007 that works well any more. Thoughts? Alternatives?

Yeah - I actually just got one in the mail too. It doesn't seem to want to do anything for me... but then again, my PSU has been acting funky.

rhd said:

Gosh guys, I just got my second order of AK007's from DX.... wow, these stink now.

I couldn't get more than ~200 mW output from a 445 with them, and I went through 5 of them trying to figure this out.

I'm pretty disappointed - largely because I've got a bunch of tiny hosts, and to my knowledge, nothing the size of an AK-007 that works well any more. Thoughts? Alternatives?

Click to expand...

Well, that does suck. I opened up a new style of host a few minutes ago and immediately thought, "this would work great with a ak-007" darn.

Noooo!!!!

I was at the store yesterday and saw this cool little aaa flashlight for $3 so I bought it. Got home and took it apart and it's perfect for an ak-007 build. I was just about to order the drivers! Good thing I saw this.

aw that sucks! I've got only 1 left of the originals that work good.

Mohrenberg said:

aw that sucks! I've got only 1 left of the originals that work good.

Click to expand...

Well, that answers my question, moh. I was going to pm you to see if you had any more to sell.....

Yeah, but I have been working on a very small (hopefully 11-10mm and round to fit in the barrel of an axis) boost driver, with a 1A max output. At least I can use this little host I've got to test once I get a prototype built.

rocket689 said:

Well, that answers my question, moh. I was going to pm you to see if you had any more to sell.....

Click to expand...

bhwollen bought most of them off me as i had no need for them. I had kept 2 for my personal use.
the one doing 1.4A was one i accidentally desoldered a resistor so i just bridged the gap with solder.

Can you run these in parallel?

If so, they would be useful for driving 445's in hosts like the Saik

Hmm, I recently ordered 3 from DX, and to my surprise, they put out about 300mA each...

I'm glad I saw this thread lol. I fell in love with these things and was gonna order a bunch to resell. I'm glad i didn't now!