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NEW - ShiningBeam Boost Driver - 445 @ 1W

rhd

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In my testing of LED boost drivers, I think I've found another fairly good candidate for 445s.

It's from ShiningBeam, and it looks fairly similar to some drivers I've seen before on chinese gadget websites. It may be a re-sold chinese gadget website driver, I'm not sure. But regardless, this one actually performs fairly well. I just built one of the typical $15 OdicForce "waterproof hosts" using it, and it works great. What I like, is that it's smaller than the NJG-18, so it actually fits in these common DIY hosts (which OdicForce and Rayfoss sell). As always, I used a ceramic SMD cap on the diode leads for protection.

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Running it from an AW IMR 16340, it put out 900mA on "HIGH" mode.
It also has MEDIUM and LOW modes. The cool thing I noticed, is that those lower modes are not achieved via PWM like on the AK-007 driver, but rather, they're actually lower current outputs. So, no "blinking" effect to the LOW and MEDIUM, just a nice solid beam, with lower output.

I didn't test the actual output at LOW or MEDIUM, but on HIGH, this guy hit 1,050 mW raw optical output.

Here's the URL for the $5.45 driver from ShiningBeam:
http://www.shiningbeam.com/media/00/a20791f12e74f79896f076_m.jpg

Before anyone rushes out to buy a bunch, lets do some further testing. I ordered two, so I have a second one here. If a reputable member with some experience and ability to really test this driver would like it, I'd be more than happy to mail it off in their direction tomorrow.
 

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Waiting on mine so I can begin testing. If I can get this thing working well, I may try to figure out a way to bypass modes.
 

jeffd

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Looks promising! You could easily build a 445nm 1 watt laser for under $100 with driver! I think I might order one to play with...

Thanks for finding/testing these rhd! +rep'd
 

ped

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Doesn't anyone have a 'scope to test these with?

I do, i'll order a couple and scope the output.

* Will signal when the voltage of Li-Ion is 3V and below (Blinking 3 times on low and medium mode).

Good feature!
 
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chefla

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Great, another interesting driver! I will hold off with my next order until I see some more measurements from rhd. A big thanks to him for all his efforts and to all the others who are contributing their findings!
 
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I have some of those in hand. I'll test those after I got back home in couple days. It happened to be one thing I'm planning to do.
This driver is the old version. The guy comes out the second generation. it's better. this also work with 1.5V input.
 
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So I may have gotten a defective unit, but my driver, outputs a maximum of ~660mA. On the lower modes, it hardly outputs any current (testload of 5x 1N4001s to mimic a 445 at low currents).

Possible change in the driver? Or what am I doing wrong?

Will continue to log my tests in this post, so look for updates.

EDIT 1: I attempted to check the current draw for said 660mA of current. It was drawing at least 1.8A from my 18650. This may be why I wasn't able to get as much current out as I wanted - the protected cell may have been limiting the current draw. Will attempt with an unprotected cell. Wish me luck.

EDIT 2: Attempted with an unprotected 18650. Same results - current draw of 1.8A or so, outputting around 660mA at max. The modes seem to work, they just seem to work incorrectly - on low, I get about 3mA, on medium I get about 36mA, on high I get about 660mA.

Now I am starting to wonder if I got a defective IC or these things just can't boost to this high of a voltage.

EDIT 3: Did some more tests. Some interesting results: while on high mode (my reading comes out to about 660mA, but I know it's "high" mode), I get an output voltage of around 5.12V. Also, when I read the current between input + and output + (shorted), I get roughly 900mA. If I read the current between input - and output -, I get 100-150mA. This is interesting because the output current is supposed to be around 1A, and if you add these two together, you get around that (+-).

Further, I did some research - the store says that it is built to regulate Cree XM-L, XP-G and XR-E emitters. None of those have forward voltages higher than roughly 3.7V, which makes this very interesting. I am going to test this with a Eneloop Rechargeable and an Alkaline battery to see what output voltages I can get with this baby.

EDIT 4: Just tried it with an Eneloop Rechargeable (1.2V nominal), and it was capable of boosting up to around 3.6V, which is pretty damn good. Further, on high mode it was only outputting around 250mA, but that is understandable because of the low voltage. When I shorted the battery + to the output + it was about 100mA. When I shorted the battery - to the output - it was about 200mA (all took place on high mode).

Will go test an alkaline battery.

EDIT 5: Just tested a Panasonic "Oxyride", 1.5V nominal, and it was capable of outputting around 3.7V. It, too, was outputting ~250mA on high.

I am starting to think that this driver is built to drive roughly 3.7Vs, and only 3.7Vs... hmm.... Note that all of these past tests have taken place on my 5x 1N4001 test load.
 
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rhd

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Interesting - as bad as 1.8 in for 650 out may seem, its a bit better efficiency than the NJG-18.

Do you have any cells that can provide more current? I used AW IMRs
 
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Well, I have lots of unprotected cells that *should* be able to output enough current... an ultrafire 18650, which usually have 2C or so, rated at a minimal 1500mAh, should be able to get me at least 3A. It just doesn't seem to want to draw more.

My unprotected li-ion AA (14450? forgot) was outputting the exact same current (just tested it as well, same results as the 18650), and we all know that the larger the cell, the more current it can provide. So it obviously is only *wanting* to draw 1.8A. I am going to test it with less diodes in series to see if it's just the Vf of the diodes that are preventing it from getting up there.

Did some tests with 4x 1N4001s in series as a testload.
The results (for high mode?):
Vin: 3.48V Iin: ~1.8A Pin: 6.3W
Vout: 3.8V Iout: ~900mA Pout: 3.4W

Efficiency: 54%

That's really crappy, honestly. What's the efficiency of the NJG-18?

EDIT:

Redid an experiment with the li-ion AA to get more accurate results (my test leads are really crappy, using new ones with little to no resistance).

Vin: 3.55V Iin: 1.34A Pin: 4.76W
Vout: 4.4V Iout: ~920mA Pout: 4.05W

Efficiency: 85%

That's more like it.

EDIT: So all in all... I don't think these things are going to be very capable of driving 445s until I can get another 445 on me to test it out with the actual diode (just stick a cap on the diode, and then run the amperage on the way to the diode through an ammeter.
 
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