Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits pens

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

TheMonk said:

Is the FlexDrive positive regulated or works both ways positive or negative?

Will the driver works with case positive LD like the 808nm in a Kryton barrel?

Click to expand...

Yes, the driver itself can be mounted 'isolated'. Then the 'line in' can come from case positive, and the load can go to how ever you diode configuration requires!
Jay

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

jayrob said:

[quote author=TheMonk link=1209418066/480#493 date=1223046700]Is the FlexDrive positive regulated or works both ways positive or negative?

Will the driver works with case positive LD like the 808nm in a Kryton barrel?

Click to expand...

Yes, the driver itself can be mounted 'isolated'. Then the 'line in' can come from case positive, and the load can go to how ever you diode configuration requires!
Jay
[/quote]


Unless i'm missing something, i'm afraid it won't work.. The diode will get directly connected to the battery and fried or the driver will get shorted, depending on the battery polarity.

For a common anode LD you'd have to turn the battery around, so the host would be at the battery positive potential, since the diode is touching the host and the diode can is it's anode (+). And that requires a common anode driver.

A flexdrive is a common cathode driver, and the GND is continuous through it. This would mean, that the LD is touching battery positive from the host and battery negative through the flexdrive directly (continuous GND), meaning the diode would get directly connected to the battery.

If you don't reverse the battery, the host is at battery negative potential, touching the LD anode (cos anode is can-pin in common anode LD). This would short the flexdrive output.


Insulating the driver wouldn't help. You'd have to insulate the diode from the host (often resulting in thermal insulation as well, losing the heatsinking), or the battery, and use wires for electrical connections instead of the host. It's the same problem like trying to power a red with an AMC7135. You have to insulate the diode from the host.


To power a common anode LD you need a common anode driver, if the diode is touching the metal host. On a flexdrive the regulation happens between positive in and positive out. The negative goes straight through. On a common anode driver (like the AMC or drivers in greens), the regulation happens between negative in and negative out. The positive goes straight through.


A driver from a DX200 green pen is actually a very good common anode driver that can handle 1A (a heatsink on the IC recommended). It's just that it needs more than 3V to regulate in most cases, which is why the pens often seem to be unregulated (standard component variances make some work from less, but most don't). But if you give a DX200 driver a 3.6V Li-Ion it suddenly becomes a good driver, almost as good as CNI pn drivers..

An AMC is ok, but the current changes a bit with the input voltage (current climbs as the voltage drops). But this is only around 20mA, whih doesn't matter for high power pumps. If using the AMC the original polarity protection has to be removed, as it makes it not work with an output cap. And an output cap is not something you want to be without.

Obviously, when using a common anode driver, the battery has to be reversed.

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

IgorT thanks a lot for clear things up. [smiley=tekst-toppie.gif]

I have >300mW 635nm 9mm case positive LD that requires over 900mA to drive.

I did ask my supplier if the 3x AMC7135 board was OK to use, but they said it wasn't a good driver for this LD and I didnn't want to risk a >$300 LD. :-/

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Hi

Small report only.
My 2 Flex drives just arrived in Germany.

Thanx

afk

daniel

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

TheMonk said:

IgorT thanks a lot for clear things up.  [smiley=tekst-toppie.gif]

I have >300mW 635nm 9mm case positive LD that requires over 900mA to drive.

I  did ask my supplier if the 3x AMC7135 board was OK to use, but they said it wasn't a good driver for this LD and I didnn't want to risk a >$300 LD.  :-/

Click to expand...

I understand your concern.. Altho i don't understand, why your supplier would think, that an AMC is not a good driver (unless of course they tested them ;D). Because from the datasheet, it seems like a very good driver.

But i made several reds using the AMC, and the first thing i noticed was of course the current changing a little with the input voltage.. But i limited it so, that the max current was bellow what i considered safe. The other thing was, that the original polarity protection makes it not work with output caps. This almost drove me nuts, as i tested 30 AMC chips, and i found two, that worked with an output cap. After changing the polarity protection (in a way, that a diode shorts the battery, if polarity is reversed), the problems with the AMCs stopped, and they are now actually quite decent for powering reds, if you can figure out a way to insulate the diode from the heatsink electrically, but at the same time not thermally (this was the hardest part)..

I also made two high current 3xAMC drivers for LikeItBright, who wanted to power a 300 and a 400mW 635nm diode, which are case positive, of course. High power diodes, like pumps and similar are case positive, so that the hot side of the die is facing the pedestal, instead of the heat having to flow through the die first, to dissipate into the pedestal, thereby cooking itself....

But with all the problems i had with the AMCs, i became hesitant to send him those drivers. I wouldn't want to be responsible for killing his >$400 diode(s)..

But now, that i figured them out, i believe they could do just fine. Of course i would test them first under hard conditions, to make sure there can be no failure... The small voltage dependant current changes are nothing for a diode that takes close to 1A.

I would use AMCs for myself, if making such a laser, and had no other choice.. But on the other hand, i do have an extremelly good common anode driver from a CNI pen, with only 0.39V dropout voltage, and the DX200 drivers are actually not bad either, altho their dropout voltage is higher (and varies). Of the three i tested, one did perfect constant current from a Li-Ion (but i killed it somehow ) another had slight changes in the current with the input voltage dropping (first down a little and then back up to where it was set), and the third was perfectly stable and actually regulated from <3V (for IR pumps with 1.8V Vf of course - 635nm diodes have a Vf of around 2.4-2.5V). But with a 3.6V Li-Ion, all three could drive a case positive 635nm diode quite reliably... But so could a properly modified and tested AMC driver....



BTW, since you want to make a high power 635nm pointer, did you buy a diode with FAC? I sure hope you did, cos i don't know how else you're going to collimate the multimode beam. A FAC microlens has to be installed in the factory, and this costs around $110 extra.

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

the next/last two drivers arrived today, thanks again drlava!

manuel

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Krutz said:

the next/last two drivers arrived today, thanks again drlava!

manuel

Click to expand...

When did you order them?

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

I'm looking into buying this possibly.  I'm getting a blu-ray laser soon rated 150ma at 405nm.

Max Output:  ~150mW CW
Max Current:  ~110mA
Lase Threshold:  ~31mA
Lase Voltage:  ~4 volts
Operating Voltage:  ~5 volts
Wavelength:  ~407.5nm

Can I buy this micro circuit, have it ship to me custom set to idk maybe 120mw, and run it off 2AA or AAA batteries?

Also, Does this circuit include regulators?  Some people do the 9V battery, 5V regulator trick..I figured also the diode comes from a Sony blu-ray burner.

There's no way to test the mw output without a laser and a device to measure the laser right?

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Killa X i believe the Sony bluray diode from the kes-400A sleds arent as strong as the common Phr diodes and is usually run at 20-30mw max.

I could be wrong.


Tommy

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Killa-X said:

I'm looking into buying this possibly.  I'm getting a blu-ray laser soon rated 150ma at 405nm.

Max Output:  ~150mW CW
Max Current:  ~110mA
Lase Threshold:  ~31mA
Lase Voltage:  ~4 volts
Operating Voltage:  ~5 volts
Wavelength:  ~407.5nm

Can I buy this micro circuit, have it ship to me custom set to idk maybe 120mw, and run it off 2AA or AAA batteries?

Also, Does this circuit include regulators?  Some people do the 9V battery, 5V regulator trick..I figured also the diode comes from a Sony blu-ray burner.

There's no way to test the mw output without a laser and a device to measure the laser right?  

Click to expand...

You SERIOUSLY need to read more. All of your questions have already been answered.
Yea, and there is no way to measure laser power unless you have an LPM.

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

BluRay said:

Killa X i believe the Sony bluray diode from the kes-400A sleds arent as strong as the common Phr diodes and is usually run at 20-30mw max.

I could be wrong.


Tommy

Click to expand...

You are 100% correct. But he was talking about the Sony BR burners. The PHR-803T come from PHR-803T sleds.

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

mbaran said:

[quote author=Krutz link=1209418066/500#501 date=1223400181]the next/last two drivers arrived today, thanks again drlava!

manuel

Click to expand...

When did you order them?[/quote]

money sent on 22.september, arrived yesterday 07.okt. shipping was international. quite quick, huh? thanks drlava!

manuel

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Spyderz20x6 said:

[quote author=BluRay link=1209418066/500#504 date=1223434505]Killa X i believe the Sony bluray diode from the kes-400A sleds arent as strong as the common Phr diodes and is usually run at 20-30mw max.

I could be wrong.


Tommy

Click to expand...

You are 100% correct. But he was talking about the Sony BR burners. The PHR-803T come from PHR-803T sleds.[/quote]
...and arent "Killa X"'s diodes neither.

kes-400a (ps3 sled) 20-30mw
phr-803t (xbox) 100+mw
br burner: 150mw+

dont know exact numbers. anyway, all three are different things.

killa X:
yes, this driver is suitable, its the best choice by far. selecting the mA-output is easy and safe if you have a DMM (digital multimeter). no way determining the optical mw power without a proper powermeter.

manuel

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Krutz said:

[quote author=Spyderz20x6 link=1209418066/500#506 date=1223434675][quote author=BluRay link=1209418066/500#504 date=1223434505]Killa X i believe the Sony bluray diode from the kes-400A sleds arent as strong as the common Phr diodes and is usually run at 20-30mw max.

I could be wrong.


Tommy

Click to expand...

You are 100% correct. But he was talking about the Sony BR burners. The PHR-803T come from PHR-803T sleds.[/quote]
...and arent "Killa X"'s diodes neither.

kes-400a (ps3 sled) 20-30mw
[highlight]phr-803t (xbox) 100+mw
br burner: 150mw+[/highlight]

dont know exact numbers. anyway, all three are different things.

killa X:
yes, this driver is suitable, its the best choice by far. selecting the mA-output is easy and safe if you have a DMM (digital multimeter). no way determining the optical mw power without a proper powermeter.

manuel[/quote]
That depends on the current. BTW, Killa-X is using a PHR. Setting one at 150mA can give you more than 140mW.

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Yeah, Thanks all.  I still got to get my ebay-freak brother to go to the other side Spyderz20x6 told me about, and buy it.  I'll prob have it come pre-set to 140mw probably.  These diodes don't get VERY hot right...  I saw the tutorial for that one using heat-sinks and peltier freezers, So Idk, ill look around the web for best heat sinking options, Thanks all!

Re: Lava Micro FlexDrive Driver (lavadrive2) fits

Killa-X said:

Yeah, Thanks all.  I still got to get my ebay-freak brother to go to the other side Spyderz20x6 told me about, and buy it.  I'll prob have it come pre-set to 140mw probably.  These diodes don't get VERY hot right...  I saw the tutorial for that one using heat-sinks and peltier freezers, So Idk, ill look around the web for best heat sinking options, Thanks all!

Click to expand...

Naw, they don't get that hot at all, let alone warm. The peltiers are not necessary... A heatsink is though. BTW, you want it set to 140mA, not 140mW, mW is laser power, mA is current. If you are putting it in a flashlight host, you can send it to DarkHorse or Jayrob for a custom heatsink.