New - "A better 1W budget boost driver" - AK-007

3zuli said:

cool. did you measure the output current? is there any pot?
I'll order few pcs and test them with my o-scope

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I believe I measured the output current at 0.75 A with a 5x 1N4001 test load. Having said that, the measurement came early in my testing of this driver, and I can't remember if that figure might not have actually been with a 6x 1N4001 test load.

No pot on the driver.

JaiNobeZ said:

Ok, so the curve is not a property of the driver? Sounding good so far. Does it need heatsinking? And what's the Ampage on the low-power mode? (Tell me if these are stupid questions)

Slightly off-topic. Do you find the Rayfoss torch hosts always have really smudgey output windows?

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Probably. I don't know if this is a strict requirement, but I would recommend it considering this is a small driver and we're pushing it past it's intended use (as far as I know). I used a lot of arctic silver to connect it to the aixiz module back. It's not the most perfect heatsinking I could have attempted, but it's a lot better than open air.

123splat said:

Rhd,
Where did you put the 10 mike ceramic, on the driver, on the LD pins, or what (I'm assumming that it was a SMD). Did you replace the LED leads, or use what came on the driver? I plan to use one in a Guidesman host with a seperate heatsink for the driver. So, new leads for the LD and... hot from the guidesman sw to driver and Black (neg) from the case pin on the LD to the outter ring on the big board of the driver (to still have modes), or to the black LED lead connection (to bypass modes??)?
Sorry to bombard you with such stupid, elementery, questions, but, I ordered three from DX and I figure that it'll take say an eon or two to get them and the this thread will have gone off and left me before i get the drivers... So, I'm trying to ask everything that I can think of while the thread is still hot. Thanks,
Splat

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- I put the 10uF SMD cap across the diode leads themselves. That's a tough solder, and you can't really do it without a third hand / helping hand tool, but my feeling is that it's the best way to protect a diode, especially when experimenting.

- Yes, I replaced the LED leads with Flaminpyro wire. The stock leads are stiff, and tough to use in small spaces. Also, on one of the three drivers I received, the +/- were soldered on backwards! Shocker - China makes mistakes!

- Regarding setup and bypassing modes. I might have mislead on that point. I haven't bypassed modes after all. I've been connecting back to the driver (-) from the case pin, and that does not seem to bypass modes. The modes are still there, I just didn't realize it because Low/High are pretty close in appearance, and the "pulse" is fairly smooth once a cap is on the diode. What I don't know, is whether bridging case pin & LD (-) without a feed back to the driver (-) would accomplish this.

How did you drop the output for the 12x diode?

I didn't actually - I think the higher boost voltage requirement of a 405nm (~5.5V) was enough to kick the current down below what the driver was doing for 445s (~4.5V)

rhd said:

I didn't actually - I think the higher boost voltage requirement of a 405nm (~5.5V) was enough to kick the current down below what the driver was doing for 445s (~4.5V)

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Did you ever try hooking it up to a test load?

Oh yeah, how does the memory work? As in, how do you decide what mode it's in?

Whichever mode you leave it in, is where it picks back up.

Maybe one day PriceAngels will sell drivers so we won't have to wait a month for our crap to ship from DX

So using one Li-ion, at the 4.5V required for a 445, you are getting 1A in current? How did you test this? What happens as the voltage of the Li-ion drops? What if the diode heats up? I ordered two of these myself, but I don't like these constant voltage drivers where the current is set by the voltage boost...

I believe I measured 0.75A not, 1A - but as mentioned, I'm not 100% on that figure because I measured it before thinking that I'd create a thread about it

Side note - I've used the three drivers I had, but I have more on order, so I'm happy to test more once they arrive - though others have ordered also, so I look forward to feedback from more people.

Again, I want to highlight that I'm not necessarily saying this is the best thing since sliced bread. So I'd feel awful if people ordered 100X thinking so. It has worked pretty awesomely thus far, but I don't have a spectroscope to really check it out, and I haven't tested it beyond a 1x li-ion 445 and 405 setup.

So - I'd say proceed with caution, and don't jump on this if you only have one 445 diode, and would be heartbroken to see it go

What? 1x16340 and you get 1W + ? Wow!

We get that from NJG-18s - no?

rhd said:

We get that from NJG-18s - no?

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I'm not aware of this model, sry Is it a boost driver too?

Thanks for the feed back. Look forward to trying them out, if my order ever gets here.....

damn rhd, you are the "driver man". finding all this great stuff for us. I was thinking about these drivers but strayed away since it said 1.5V max input. Im guess it works with li-ion A-okay. on another note, this is very similiar to the olike $15 1W 445/200mW405 drivers. depending on output voltage, it can kick down current so that its just perfect whether you are running 445 or 405's. Anyone around the US have any of these... im still waiting on DX to ship 3 seperate orders i made back in mid March... so nooo im not ordering from DX for a long time...

Woahhh... 1.5V max input? What could that be used for... AAs & AAAs? Weird.

I'm likely going to be using this for a build i have coming. 'tis safe for 18650s, isn't it?