Led driver as a NUBM44-V2 driver

[nicata]

Hi
I'm new in the laser world and i am having a little bit of a problem.
I have found on alibaba a very nice laser that does not cost very much but it looks really cool. (Attached picture)
My idea was to buy this cheap laser and discard the electronics and diode to replace them with a nubm44.
Now my question is, can i use a simple led driver for the laser diode or it's not suitable?
I got the idea because the alibaba laser is very similar to the sanwu striker and it uses a NUBM44 too, in the listing on their site tho they ask if you want a single mode driver (ON/OFF) or if you want a 5 mode driver (attached picture)wich has a strobe function and many more that coincide with the function of an led driver that i found on aliexpress ( attached picture)
In the reviews someone even says that they used the driver to power a NUBM44 7w so now i'm puzzled.
I tought of buying a super x 4.5A laser driver but since i live in italy the shipping cost is higher than the price of the driver itself and i would like to not spend that much money because i'm on a tight budget.
Even if i'm on my second year of electrical engineering i couldn't figure this one out so i'm turning to this forum.
Hope someone will respond and sorry for my english but as i said i'm italian.
Thanks in advance
Nicolò

 

[Ricker]

That will work great, as long as there is the proper size for that driver in the host to make connection on the negative outside, without touching any of the electronics on the driver itself.

 

[nicata]

That will work great, as long as there is the proper size for that driver in the host to make connection on the negative outside, without touching any of the electronics on the driver itself.

Perfect, very good to know because it will litterally save me almost 90 euros.
Tank you very much for the fast response Ricker

 

[Borislav@87]

Better instead of NUBM44, take NUBM0F.
My opinion is that it is better to make a laser from a lantern body yourself.

If you want to use this P4000 driver, here is a very good price.

P4000 20mm 5A Buck Driver Board

P4000 20mm 5A Buck Driver Board

kaidomain.com

I only use these drivers and they are great. They are easily modified by changing resistors to adjust the current. They have a soft start and 3 modes of operation. Even with longer work, they are stable without overheating

Laserdiode LD Driver Board PCB 4.5A für 3.5W NDB7A75 3 Modi High Low Strobe | eBay

Dieser Laserdiode Driver PCB 4.5A Konstantstrom kann zum Antrieb von 3,5W NDB7A75 verwendet werden. Pin definition: 445nm Fahrerboard speziell für das Pad konzipiert.Sie müssen es nur nach dem Fuß schweißen eine dreieckige Anordnung.

www.ebay.com

 

[nicata]

[COLOR=rgb(84, 224, 232)]Borislav@87[/COLOR]
Fantastic
I didn't know about those driver you mentioned and just for the fact that they have soft start i think that those are mor suitable for a laser driving application
About the laser diode itself i have considered the nubm0f but i could not find any information or datasheet instead the nubm44 has some "fake looking" datasheet but at leas they give a ball park in voltage and current so if i could source one for the nubm0f maybe i could use it
Thank you again for the advise on the drivers

 

[Borislav@87]

Keep in mind that these drivers are actually 3.5A, not 4.5A as it says. I modify them to 5.2A by replacing one transistor. Actually, I can modify them as I see fit. I can make them 6A, 4.7A, 2.8A, etc. You just need extra of those little resistors.

R100 + R620 +R500 = 2.86A

R100 + R750 +R500 = 2.8A

R100 + R820 +R500 = 2.72A

R100 + R082 +R500 = 5.2A

R082 + R082 +R500 = 5.9A

R220 + R820 + R500 = 1.56A

R180+R500+RO82= 4.3A

R150 + R500 + R082 = 4.5A

R500 + R500 + R470 = 2.7А

 

[nicata]

Keep in mind that these drivers are actually 3.5A, not 4.5A as it says. I modify them to 5.2A by replacing one transistor. Actually, I can modify them as I see fit. I can make them 6A, 4.7A, 2.8A, etc. You just need extra of those little resistors.

R100 + R620 +R500 = 2.86A

R100 + R750 +R500 = 2.8A

R100 + R820 +R500 = 2.72A

R100 + R082 +R500 = 5.2A

R082 + R082 +R500 = 5.9A

R220 + R820 + R500 = 1.56A

R180+R500+RO82= 4.3A

R150 + R500 + R082 = 4.5A

R500 + R500 + R470 = 2.7А

This is really helpful
It would have taken me ages to make a list like this tank you very much
I just don't like the fact that it is a 3 mode driver i'd like it to be on/off
There is a way to do it, or it involves reprogramming the buck converter ic and so there is nothing to do about it?

 

[Borislav@87]

I can not say. Apparently it needs to be reprogrammed. Personally, all three modes are good for me. You have a weak impulse mode, with fast movement it gives an interesting effect. A blinker is a blinker. The power is smooth, as in the beginning, and is slightly impulsive, as in the weak

 

[nicata]

Okay so a little update if anyone is interested.
The laser finally arrived and it is really good, the host is all made out of stainless steel and without batteries it weighs 600g.
The power is good, certanly not the 7W of a NUBM44 but at 2W it is pretty powerful ( i do not own an LPM so on the 2W i'm trusting the manifacturer)and for the price the beam divercence is pretty good.
For those reasons i really don't want to tear it down and replace all of it's guts so i tink i'll hang on to it as is for a while and in the future i will maybe do the diode upgrade.
If anyone wants to check it out i put the link in the picture because i cannot post links for some reason.
Tank's again for all the good suggestions and tips, hopefully they will be useful in the future
P.S.
The stock driver for the laser diode actually has a pot on the board but i cannot access it without completely taking the laser apart so i will not touch that for now but who knows maybe the diode can pump out another 0.5W or even more. If i do any of that i'll let you know.
Thank's again
Nicolò

 

[Borislav@87]

Better not take it apart, but make your own laser with a higher power

 

[nicata]

Better not take it apart, but make your own laser with a higher power

Why do you think that?
I mean the host is really nice and has a 20mm diameter bore on the inside so a nice heatsink sould fit.
Do you have any suggestions?

 

[Borislav@87]

I don't know exactly how this host is built, but I've taken apart off-the-shelf lasers and it's not that easy to take apart without damaging anything on the driver and diode. It wouldn't hurt to upload a few pictures to better see how to take it apart.

 

[nicata]

I don't know exactly how this host is built, but I've taken apart off-the-shelf lasers and it's not that easy to take apart without damaging anything on the driver and diode. It wouldn't hurt to upload a few pictures to better see how to take it apart.

Okay so now i'm not in my "laboratory" so i can't post any pictures but i have taken the laser apart and it was easy on paper but hard in practice.
Basically i had to make a tool to press out the whole heatsink/diode/driver assembly and it took a lot of force in the vise, guess the interference fit was really tight but i managed to do it so now i am planning to take some measuraments with a calliper so that i can buy an appropriate heatsink for a new diode.
The new diode i found is a SHARP GHO4CO5B9G 5w blue laser and i was hoping it would be an easy drop in replacement but it is a TO-5 case so it will not fit, plus i tink that the chinese manifacturer having done a great job on the host of the laser had to cut cost somewhere and the "adapter" from the diode to the outer heatsink is really small so it probably won't handle 5w anyway.
The dimension of the new "adapter" sould be 20mm in diameter and the lenght will depend on the driver i will use.
I found the laser diode the driver and the heatsink on aliexpress so i'll attach some pictures to show you what i'm talking about.
For the driver i think i'm gonna use a p2500 wich is the smaller version of the p4000 for wich i originally started this thread.
The diode takes a maximum of 3.2A so i will under power it so that it will last longer i really don't care if it does not reach full power, i'm fine with 3w even but hopefully i will get a little more. I tought about using the drivers you suggested in a previous response but i can't find them on aliexpress and i was hoping to buy all of the parts from one site so if you have a link it would be greaat.
Again sorry for my bad english.
it is really fun and helpful talking with you borislav, tank you again.
Nicolò

 

[nicata]

Okay so now i'm not in my "laboratory" so i can't post any pictures but i have taken the laser apart and it was easy on paper but hard in practice.
Basically i had to make a tool to press out the whole heatsink/diode/driver assembly and it took a lot of force in the vise, guess the interference fit was really tight but i managed to do it so now i am planning to take some measuraments with a calliper so that i can buy an appropriate heatsink for a new diode.
The new diode i found is a SHARP GHO4CO5B9G 5w blue laser and i was hoping it would be an easy drop in replacement but it is a TO-5 case so it will not fit, plus i tink that the chinese manifacturer having done a great job on the host of the laser had to cut cost somewhere and the "adapter" from the diode to the outer heatsink is really small so it probably won't handle 5w anyway.
The dimension of the new "adapter" sould be 20mm in diameter and the lenght will depend on the driver i will use.
I found the laser diode the driver and the heatsink on aliexpress so i'll attach some pictures to show you what i'm talking about.
For the driver i think i'm gonna use a p2500 wich is the smaller version of the p4000 for wich i originally started this thread.
The diode takes a maximum of 3.2A so i will under power it so that it will last longer i really don't care if it does not reach full power, i'm fine with 3w even but hopefully i will get a little more. I tought about using the drivers you suggested in a previous response but i can't find them on aliexpress and i was hoping to buy all of the parts from one site so if you have a link it would be greaat.
Again sorry for my bad english.
it is really fun and helpful talking with you borislav, tank you again.
Nicolò

Okay so i just searched the code of your drivers and found them immediately on aliexpress (idk why they didn't come up before) and i think that at 3.5A as you said they will be a little too powerful for the diode so if you don't mind explaing me how to lower the output current because i'm reading the table of resistor that you hve written on the post but i see 3 resistance values but the resistors on the driver are only two so there is something i'm not getting.
Tank you in advance
Nicolò