Rockstar V's Lavadrive

I hope that i put this in the right section. So far i have used Rockstar drivers for all my projects and am very happy with them and will continue to use them. I have come across some pretty cool hosts but in some cases they only have capabilities for one battery such as a cr2 or 123. Since Rockstar drivers need at least 5 volts it rules them out. If i am correct the lavadrives can be run off one of the described batteries efficiently thus making it a prime candidate for the previously excluded hosts. So basicaly that is my question, is a lavadrive better used in smaller hosts that only use one of the described batteries and rockstar for larger hosts? Of course i do want burning capabilities. I have lavadrives coming today along with my 6x blue/violet diode. I also have a rockstar on hand.

Thanks, Skylight

The difference between the rkcstr driver and a lavadrive (or flexdrive) is that the flexdrive is a buck/boost circuit, which allows the circuit to actually place more voltage on the load than the batteries produce. For example, a blu-ray diode has about a 5V voltage drop. With a flexdrive, you can use 2-3 AAA batteries (3-4.5V) to drive one. The flexdrive boosts the voltage from 3-4.5V up to 5+V for the blu-ray diode. This can help make builds possible that otherwise wouldn't be. With a rkcstr, you need at least 7.2V input to drive a red or IR laser diode, or 9V for blu-ray

I was on the right track then. Perfect thanks for your input. It simplified a lot.

thanks, Skylight

ElektroFreak said:

The difference between the rkcstr driver and a lavadrive (or flexdrive) is that the flexdrive is a buck/boost circuit, which allows the circuit to actually place more voltage on the load than the batteries produce. For example, a blu-ray diode has about a 5V voltage drop. With a flexdrive, you can use 2-3 AAA batteries (3-4.5V) to drive one. The flexdrive boosts the voltage from 3-4.5V up to 5+V for the blu-ray diode. This can help make builds possible that otherwise wouldn't be. With a rkcstr, you need at least 7.2V input to drive a red or IR laser diode, or 9V for blu-ray

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Are you sure? Several people told me my rckstr would work with 2 cr123's for my blu-ray.

I'm driving a PHR-803T with two rechargable CR123As and a Rkcstr driver; so it should work. They drop like 2V I think, which puts the 7.2V from the CR123A just above the diode's voltage threshold.

For a blu-ray build with 2 X Lithium batteries, yes... use the 3.6 volt RCR123 rechargeable battereis. (8.4 volts at full charge)

If you use the 3 volt CR123's, I believe they will be too low on voltage supply. Unless you have 3 X CR123...
Jay

Archienj7 said:

Are you sure? Several people told me my rckstr would work with 2 cr123's for my blu-ray.

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Yes, two cr123's will drive the rckstr no matter if they are 3v or 3.6v cells BUT and this is a big BUT, you will not even get close to the milliamp output that a PHR would like to see. You may not even get 80ma's at BEST with only twop cr123's driving the rckstr.