Is it worth starting?

Hey Everyone,

My first post, and I'm probably going to piss off a lot of people with it, but here it comes:

A friend heard about how I was into lasers, and asked me whether I could make her one that fits into a gutted MP3 player case(probably no problem with the dimension, I checked the specs against the host, which is 5.5 cm X 1.8 or 2 cm if I move the driver out of plane with the screws), but the bigger problem is power, since the case only holds a single AAA battery. There's no way it can drive anything that's capable of burning something, right? If I remember correctly, the Rckstar driver needs 6 V to drive a red laser diode.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it wil never work, right? Just so that the more people (who are, not coincidentally, more qualified than I am) tell her, the more convinced she will be...

Thanks in advance,
ThunderBird

You can use a flexdrive with a single 10440 (3.6V) battery for this build

She will need to get a charger for the 10440, but we use this combination to make "burning" violet lasers all the time. I have two on my desk right now

Peace,
dave

So it's not a hopeless endavour after all! Great to hear that! Thank you for the reply, and I think she can charge the batteries.

Now on to looking for parts and supplies! (I hope there's a supplier directory somewhere...)

ThunderBird89 said:

So it's not a hopeless endavour after all! Great to hear that! Thank you for the reply, and I think she can charge the batteries.

Now on to looking for parts and supplies! (I hope there's a supplier directory somewhere...)

Click to expand...

Check the sticky's in the Buy/Sell/Trade board for the flexdrive (drlava) and she will need a 3.6V charger for the 10440 battery.  DX carries them and the batteries pretty cheaply.  There are domestic sources for both, but the costs are higher.  She will NOT be able to use regular AAA batteries and/or charger for this (Unless you can squeeze two AAA batteries in there).

Peace,
dave

Not a chance in hell, that's why I thought the project was doomed.

As for charging, I don't think I will incorporate a USB charging circuit, looks too much trouble to actually make one, and I can't figure out for the life of me where it is on the MP3 player she gave me to work with. I think it's integrated into the main chip...
However, I do have a charger that charges four batteries simultaneously, so I think it can route the output of two into one slot.

Right now I'm looking for diodes at stonetek, they're supposed to be good, right?

Not to piss someone off or anything, but you can find them cheaper than there
If i am right they cost round 27$ or something?
Only 13$ here, and only 10.5$ if you wanna harvest it yourself:

http://modwerx.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=16

If you also want it in a module, you can buy a pre inserted LD in module for 18$.

That's cheap

ThunderBird89 said:

Not a chance in hell, that's why I thought the project was doomed.
As for charging, I don't think I will incorporate a USB charging circuit, looks too much trouble to actually make one, and I can't figure out for the life of me where it is on the MP3 player she gave me to work with. I think it's integrated into the main chip...
However, I do have a charger that charges four batteries simultaneously, so I think it can route the output of two into one slot.
Right now I'm looking for diodes at stonetek, they're supposed to be good, right?

Click to expand...

The 10440 should be charged to a MAXIMUM of 4.2V. The 10440's are NOT protected, so they can be damaged by being overcharged and damaged by being completely drained

Peace,
dave

Are normal, say Ansmann, AAA cells protected? there doesn't seem to be room inside to fit a microcontroller, so I think the protection is done by the charger watching the voltage between the two contacts. This is just my tip though, but it should mean that even if it requires double the voltage, and it's not protected by a controller, it shouldn't get overloaded...

EDIT: Also, how about some red diode that can deliver 6-800 nm. They require less powe to drive, no?

They require less voltage. Violets need ~5V. Reds require ~3V. However, that doesn't really affect your power/driver challenge. You're still going to need at least a 3V battery and a flexdrive.

Peace,
dave

True, but it enables her to get more life out of the battery between recharges, if I remember my high-school physics right(it has to do with voltage being lower, resistance constant, so current is lower, therefore mAh gives you more h for less mA. I hope I got that right).

Okay, after some browsing, comparing and selecting stuff, I put together a list of what I'm going to need:
1 X Aixiz housing from Stonetek.org
1 X Dummy Load from modwerx.com
1 X LPC-815 red laser diode assembly in sled from modwerx.com
1 X Microflexdrive from laserpointerforum
1 X 10440 battery from batteryspace.com
1 X AAA Jacket from batteryspace.com
1 X Smart charger from batteryspace.com
Got any suggestions/corrections for the list? All input is welcome, since this is my first project, and I don't want to mess it up real bad...

Thanks in advance!

You can get charger and battery from DX for less than 10 bucks if I'm not mistaken. Btw, keep in mind that the diode is being driven by a regulator so even though the violet is 5V and the red 3V, the current for the violet is LOWER, and the total power consumed by the diode is lower....the driver power input (the total power being drained from your battery) is 5V * 110mA = 0.55W and for a red is 3V * 250mA = 0.75W. So in most cases the battery will last less in a red laser.The red laser optical power output is also higher of course.

Alkaline, lithium primaries and NiMH are not protected because they don't need to be, however lithium rechargeables can be easily damaged by overcharge or by overdischarge.And could also blow up and be a fire hazard by overcharge. :-/ And one more concern is that the flexdrive WILL drain them lower than the safe limit before shutting down.(lower than 2.85V or 2.75V) When you're using unprotected cells it is recomended that you use a protected charger and that your device has a built in protection circuit or is uncapable of draining them below the 2.75-2.85V limit. :-/

Okay, the charger is no problem, and you say that the red diode actually draws more power, but delivers more power too. I guess then I'll stick with that. Are red diodes "harder" to work with then violet diodes, meaning are they harder to set the proper current?

Also, I'm supposed to set the current by hooking up the dummy load, the measuring the current across the load's resistor with a multimeter, right?

Sorry for the many questions, but I don't want to mess up anything...

Well, there IS a saying among generals: "No plan of engagement survives first contact with the enemy". Likewise, I'm making major revisions to my original plans, since
- The diode doesn't fit in the compartment made for it. Guess I underestimated the aixiz module's size...
- The battery was too damn expensive, batteryspace wanted to charge $74 for just the shipping! So now I'm going either with 3 1,5V batteries in a custom battery holder, or trying to bring a 9V to heel with some resistors(calculations pending...)

But, at least I received the test load and the diode, so at least I can make some more solid plans, while I try to figure out how to fit the whole thing into a MacGyvered host...

Cheers,
Thunder

ThunderBird89 said:

Well, there IS a saying among generals: "No plan of engagement survives first contact with the enemy". Likewise, I'm making major revisions to my original plans, since
- The diode doesn't fit in the compartment made for it. Guess I underestimated the aixiz module's size...
- The battery was too damn expensive, batteryspace wanted to charge $74 for just the shipping! So now I'm going either with 3 1,5V batteries in a custom battery holder, or trying to bring a 9V to heel with some resistors(calculations pending...)

But, at least I received the test load and the diode, so at least I can make some more solid plans, while I try to figure out how to fit the whole thing into a MacGyvered host...

Cheers,
Thunder

Click to expand...

When it comes to the batteries, did you not read what other people have said? GO TO DX!!!!
Bateries
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.974
Charger
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.973

then use a Lavadriver Micro V4
It's as simple as that!!!!

You are making it much more dificult than what it has to be.

Yes, I'm using a Dr. Lava Microflexdrive (due to arrive soon, hopefully )

As for the batteries, I was set to buy them from batteryspace, but backed out of it, when I saw the price of shipping, and to tell you the truth, since my card was not accepted by paypal, I'm using my mother's card, and she nearly took my head off, so I'm forced to improvise now. I don't like it either, but I have to make do with what I can scrounge up, and buy really cheap locally