Buck only driver

Are there any buck-only drivers (prefferably that will handle a generous voltage)? If not, is there anyone who could (and would) make one? DrLava? A buck-only driver would be great for a host like the Coleman Max (featured here), for a red or Blu-Ray build.

For that host use a 14500 li-ion rechargeable with the FlexDrive. You'll get better runtime than with a buck only and 2 CR2's, and much less heat and much better runtime than if you used 2 RCR2's and a linear regulator.

I'm not looking for runtime, I'm looking for cost. A boost-only circuit would be cheaper than a FlexDrive. (Or if it's not, then what's the point?) DrLava, if you could perhaps make buck-only and boost-only drivers for, say half the cost, you could charge 2/3 the price, giving you a greater profit margin and even happier customers at the new lower price. It's not really a bad idea from where I'm sitting. As it is, one of rckstr's fixed driver kits is just over 1/3 the cost of one of your FlexDrives, and since my lasers aren't on but 10 hours/year or less, battery time is really not a concern of mine. The deal is just that the linear drivers heat up real fast, especially when I'm running a PHR on 12V.

But even so, why not just make a boost-only driver for less money than the FlexDrive?

LM317 driver

Bearded_Galaxy said:

I'm not looking for runtime, I'm looking for cost. A boost-only circuit would be cheaper than a FlexDrive. (Or if it's not, then what's the point?) DrLava, if you could perhaps make buck-only and boost-only drivers for, say half the cost, you could charge 2/3 the price, giving you a greater profit margin and even happier customers at the new lower price. It's not really a bad idea from where I'm sitting. As it is, one of rckstr's fixed driver kits is just over 1/3 the cost of one of your FlexDrives, and since my lasers aren't on but 10 hours/year or less, battery time is really not a concern of mine. The deal is just that the linear drivers heat up real fast, especially when I'm running a PHR on 12V.

Click to expand...

I don't believe what I just read....

There is are reasons for the price of the Flexdrives or any other Laser
Diode Driver... and only the Manufacturer knows the "actual real" costs
of producing his product and not make a loss..

We still get requests from people (that have no clue to actual costs) to
produce a LaserBee I for less than $100.00 and cite how much better it
would be for our sales...:wtf:
The only thing that these people are looking for is to not pay the fair
market price..

Rather than show us how we should produce new products.. these people
should Invest in producing and selling these "inexpensive new better"
products themselves... Then they would see the "Actual Real" costs
involved...

In your case why don't you just build a DDL Current Regulated Driver..
that is the least expensive LD Driver there is....


Jerry

For the people who want a cheaper but flexible solution.. I have heard you and will satisfy your hunger.. be looking for the 'Groove 2' driver by the end of the year
Till then, most people who know about electronics and take pride in doing near-impossibly tiny builds (think jayrob) and high quality, low surplus heat builds understand what a deal the FlexDrive really is, thank goodness for youall. It's your positive feedback that has made the FlexDrive worthwhile to build!

If you want it cheap, build your own. When you're only looking at driving a lower voltage, a lm317 or other simple current source might be the best option.

It is obviously possible to build a buck driver from rather inexpensive parts, which would give you a bit more runtime. Since they usually require at least one chip, one inductor and one diode, it will not be the cheapest solution. On the other hand, you can get it working for $5 in parts if you need to.

lasersbee said:

I don't believe what I just read....

There is are reasons for the price of the Flexdrives or any other Laser
Diode Driver... and only the Manufacturer knows the "actual real" costs
of producing his product and not make a loss..

We still get requests from people (that have no clue to actual costs) to
produce a LaserBee I for less than $100.00 and cite how much better it
would be for our sales...:wtf:
The only thing that these people are looking for is to not pay the fair
market price..

Rather than show us how we should produce new products.. these people
should Invest in producing and selling these "inexpensive new better"
products themselves... Then they would see the "Actual Real" costs
involved...

In your case why don't you just build a DDL Current Regulated Driver..
that is the least expensive LD Driver there is....


Jerry

Click to expand...

I really was just guessing here, that it might be do-able for not much more than half the current price. Usually, as one adds features, things tend to get more expensive than the sum of their parts, because often new parts have to be developed to keep a reasonable size, or just plain engineer the parts to work together. Based on that, I was guessing that a buck-only or boost-only driver might be relatively easy to design/implement, considering how awesome the FlexDrive is, and still so small.

You could sell a 'LaserBee I' for less than $100...just remove all the insides and sell them an empty case, lol. (Or is the case even more than $100 )

I do appreciate the FlexDrive, and I'm not asking him to sell it for cheaper, because DrLava seems like the type of person who isn't looking to make a living on just his driver alone, and he's just looking to make some money on the side while providing an inexpensive and easy solution for most laser needs.

Also, DrLava, how hard would it be to make the FlexDrive capable of bucking higher voltages, without just burning off extra voltage with 1N4001s? Is 5.5V the max because bucking more than that would make the driver too hot and risk damage, or does it just seem like a reasonable peak voltage?

Bearded_Galaxy said:

You could sell a 'LaserBee I' for less than $100...just remove all the insides and sell them an empty case, lol. (Or is the case even more than $100 )

Click to expand...

We already sell a Deluxe LaserBee I Enclosure (empty case) Kit for $49.99..:san:
but you will still need a LaserBee I to put in it...

Jerry

DrLava's chip of choice (from Texas Instruments) is rated 5.5v continual, 6v max if I recall correctly. Beyond this would need a new chip (though it would probably work up to about 6.2v before being damaged).