GGW-H20L 6x Sled GB!!! THE EPIC GB THREAD LAWL!!!

[IgorT]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! GET EM WHILE THEY LAST

[quote author=IgorT link=1223438970/520#522 date=1225476082]
Now that these turned out to be different, i have no other choice, but to hook two up permanently for several days, before deciding how high to set the others.. If they weren't so expensive, i would do it with more of them. Two isn't a lot, but it's still twice as much as one... One alone wouldn't really give any definitive answers.

So 200mA should be about perfect [/quote]

Umm, wait, what? These are not the same diode. We don't yet know how much they can handle, without doing some long term tests first.

 

[IgorT]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

igor

what  do you plan on setting the 2 day tested ones at?

i may be able to set my to the same and run a two day test as well

that would make 3

Well, if i had any usefull pre-existing info, i would probably set both to the same current based on that info. I was hoping i could base my decision about the current from my GGW 6x. But it would seem that i can't. So now i'm thinking i should use two different currents... If one dies, it would be nice, if the other at say 20mA less would keep on going. Otherwise you only learn, that 200mA is not good for more than X hours, but you don't learn what is.

So, if several of us do a long term test, it would be a good idea to agree on the currents we use.

 

[thesk8nmidget]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

i think i plan on doing a long term test right away at 200ma. i should probably be able to get this diode setup and in its heatsink by tonight and start testing then. i will hook it up to my meter and go to sleep. then check how its doing in the morning.

 

[maxkillz]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

payment sent

 

[IgorT]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

Igor, at 219mA's to your GGW 6X torture test, how long of run times are you talking about? Heatsink? I have one at 175mA's and I may want to turn it up a bit...
Jay

My GGW 6x is in my v1 all-in-one heatsink/module (same as my PHRs), which makes very good use of the host as a secondary heatsink, because it is directly screwed in.

I don't limit my run-times, because it never gets hot. It usually stays at under 30°C. I once left it on till the battery shut down by mistake. It felt warm, but wasn't hot, only body temp or so. If body temp was dangerous for diodes, then we shouldn't be holding lasers in our hands.

So when i use it, i use it a lot. Often for 20 minutes. I turn it off and back on during this several times, but not because of a duty cycle, simply depending on what i'm doing. In addition to that, i turn it on for a short time many times a day, just to look at the beam.


I don't remember how many days it's been at 219mA. It started when i posted that picture. And i'm not saying this is safe, especially considering it still costs a lot. If i knew these were different, i probably wouldn't have done it, but now that it's here i'm not gonna turn it back down.

The main reason i set it higher was, because i was worried, that some degradation occured at 197mA. When i first set it to this current it was doing 193mW. Later it was doind 191, then 189, and i had to force cool it to bring it back to 193mW. A little later, it was doing 185mW and i had to cool it to get it to 189mW! So i set it higher, in order to speed up the degradation, if it was really happening. If it was, it would mean 200mA is not really safe for it in the long run.

But surprisingly enough, it is now holding up at 220mA. If there is any degradation, it is very slow, it's definitelly a very tough diode. But also expensive..

 

[jayrob]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

That's good information Igor... Thank you for that!
Jay

P.S. Amk, (Mr. Sled) I'm sure you have already asked your supplier about the GGW-H20L sled. I remember reading that they told you that it was the same sled as this GBW-H10N.

Not that we don't like this new GBW, but try and find out from them about the GGW sled now that we know it is not the same.

 

[chopper]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

Payment sent for my 2!

 

[IgorT]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

That's good information Igor... Thank you for that!
Jay

Keep in mind, i'm a very heavy user. Even if 200mA should be bad for it, it lasted several months by now. With normal use, the GGW 6x would probably last very long at this current..


Otherwise, now that i have some info on the new diode's electrical characteristics, i took another look at some datasheets. They never really fit any diode before... But what if this is the Sharp GH04P21A2GE diode? I used to think that was the GGW 6x, but the forward voltages are too high. The GGW has an unusually low forward voltage, compared to the PHR and the new 4x/6x diode.

But the electrical characteristics could fit the new diode. I wish there was a way to compare it to the power graph, but the power graph in the datasheet is the raw, no lens output. And we don't really know yet how much is getting lost with various lenses, while no lens measurements don't seem to be very reliable.

 

[artix]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

I don't have a test load... But I have a PHR 803T. So can I use my PHR as a test load?

 

[IgorT]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

I don't have a test load... But I have a PHR 803T. So can I use my PHR as a test load?

;D

No, don't do that. A test load should be able to withstand more current, than the actual load. Put some diodes in series!

Buy dummy from rkcst, or make it, or ask someone close to make it for you. Diodes are almost free.

 

[artix]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

[quote author=Artix link=1223438970/520#536 date=1225485755]I don't have a test load... But I have a PHR 803T. So can I use my PHR as a test load?

;D

No, don't do that. A test load should be able to withstand more current, than the actual load. Put some diodes in series![/quote]

I don't actually need to keep it alive!

Where can I get some diodes and a 1 ohm resistor? I can't find any website that sells 1 ohm resistors and diodes. :-/

 

[IgorT]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

If you're so desperate to kill the PHR, send it to me, and i'll send you a dummy load... :

Seriously, buy a dummy from rkcstr. You need a dummy if you want to make lasers.


If you use the PHR as a dummy, and it dies, it will still conduct current, but it's Vf will drop. Some drivers can be affected by this, and the current will then not be what you set it to.

What driver are you gonna use?

 

[jake21]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

sweet i just hooked my 6x diode to a rkcstr driver i made at 200ma WOW i saw the light ;D

 

[IgorT]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

^For testing, have 2 outputs in parallel with switches on each parallel leg.  Have the diode leg off and turn the test load on and measure the current until it's where you want it.  Then, turn the test load leg off, and turn the diode leg on.  You can put a 1-ohm resistor in series with the whole thing as well, and you can just leave your multimeter in voltage setting all the time.  Measure the current through the test load by the voltage across the 1-ohm resistor, turn the test load off, turn the laser diode on, measure the current by checking the voltage across the resistor again (redundant, but a sanity check), and you can measure the voltage across the laser as well.  Turn the laser off, and start all over again.

Rudimentary drawing:
______________________
 | |   |
driver test     laser
|     load |
|       |    |
|   switch  switch
|_____1-ohm____|______|


At least it seems liek an easy, safe way to me.

It can be safe, if the only protection capacitor is directly on the diode. The driver should not have an output cap, if you're doing this. Or if it does, there should be a bleeder resistor.

 

[artix]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

If you're so desperate to kill the PHR, send it to me, and i'll send you a dummy load...  :

Seriously, buy a dummy from rkcstr. You need a dummy if you want to make lasers.


If you use the PHR as a dummy, and it dies, it will still conduct current, but it's Vf will drop. Some drivers can be affected by this, and the current will then not be what you set it to.

What driver are you gonna use?

Your right. :-[ I'll just get a test load from rkcstr.

As for the driver, a lava drive.

 

[pullbangdead]

Re: 6x Blu-ray SLEDS GB! THEY ARE GOING FAST!

[quote author=pullbangdead link=1223438970/500#515 date=1225470022]^For testing, have 2 outputs in parallel with switches on each parallel leg.  Have the diode leg off and turn the test load on and measure the current until it's where you want it.  Then, turn the test load leg off, and turn the diode leg on.  You can put a 1-ohm resistor in series with the whole thing as well, and you can just leave your multimeter in voltage setting all the time.  Measure the current through the test load by the voltage across the 1-ohm resistor, turn the test load off, turn the laser diode on, measure the current by checking the voltage across the resistor again (redundant, but a sanity check), and you can measure the voltage across the laser as well.  Turn the laser off, and start all over again.

Rudimentary drawing:
______________________
 | |   |
driver test     laser
|     load |
|       |    |
|   switch  switch
|_____1-ohm____|______|


At least it seems liek an easy, safe way to me.

It can be safe, if the only protection capacitor is directly on the diode. The driver should not have an output cap, if you're doing this. Or if it does, there should be a bleeder resistor.[/quote]

You're right, and I should have clarified something: I imagined this working with the driver having it's own switch as well, so that the dirver was turned off/de-energzied BEFORE turning off either of the switches on the output side. My apologies that I wasn't more clear on these, I'll edit tha tpost to reflect it.

To anyone reading here: The driver should not be energized when switching the output-side switches on or off. Turn the driver off FIRST, then switch between laser and testload. That way, the driver will bleed out any stored energy and not build up excess energy to dump into the diode.