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What is the form factor of diodes found in DVD burners?

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NopIt

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I'm planning to take apart a few old DVD burners, but I want to order some heatsinks first. That's kind of hard though because I don't know the form factor of the diode. (you know, TO-18, TO-5 etc )

Any idea what I have to expect?
 





NopIt said:
I'm planning to take apart a few old DVD burners, but I want to order some heatsinks first. That's kind of hard though because I don't know the form factor of the diode. (you know, TO-18, TO-5 etc )

Any idea what I have to expect?
Click to expand...


The ones you want are TO-18 (5.6mm), some DVD drives have weirdly packaged LDs though, which won't be much use.

This is the sort of "heatsink" you'll be looking for - not really a heatsink, but you can get heatsinks for those modules. The LD is press fit into the copper part, which also holds a focusing lens.

41%2BctmTjpZL._SX425_.jpg


One of the many matching heatsinks:

116.jpg
 
Last edited:
diachi said:
The ones you want are TO-18 (5.6mm), some DVD drives have weirdly packaged LDs though, which won't be much use.

This is the sort of "heatsink" you'll be looking for - not really a heatsink, but you can get heatsinks for those modules. The LD is press fit into the copper part, which also holds a focusing lens.

41%2BctmTjpZL._SX425_.jpg


One of the many matching heatsinks:

116.jpg
Click to expand...

wait what do you mean by weirdly packaged? :thinking:
 
They do occur, but most dvd writers have 5.6mm diodes in them, especially ones that are intended for use in a desktop pc (5.25" drives). You could find odd ones in things like slimline dvd writers intended for use in laptop computers and other cramped form factors.

In some cases the packages may not even be round, but odd rectangular things that would be difficult to mount in such a module. Condsidering the low price i'd ignore any of those.
 
Thanks for all the information. :)

I ordered some of these modules now.
Do you think I need an additional heat-sink for a DVD burner diode?
At how much mW could I safely drive them? And for how long at a time?
Do you think 15secs at 200mW would work without additional cooling?
 
Last edited:
NopIt said:
Thanks for all the information. :)

I ordered some of these modules now.
Do you think I need an additional heat-sink for a DVD burner diode?
At how much mW could I safely drive them? And for how long at a time?
Do you think 15secs at 200mW would work without additional cooling?
Click to expand...


What speed DVD drives did they come from?

It's really impossible to say accurately without knowing which diode you're using.
 
It'll probably have a low ma red diode in there. Not really worth the time extracting for what it is. BUT... it's good practice if you plan on doing more extractions to get higher power diodes!
 
But 24x is the fastest burning speed for DVDs there is, isn't it?
I also have some burners that can burn with up to 16x...

How much mW would you say can I expect?
 
Yes these are the DVD burning speeds.
Thank you. :)

I know I can just buy the diodes for a few bucks, but I get these DVD burners for free. ;)
 
NopIt said:
Yes these are the DVD burning speeds.
Thank you. :)

I know I can just buy the diodes for a few bucks, but I get these DVD burners for free. ;)
Click to expand...


Fair enough :), but still need to extract the LD, buy a module to put it in, a press fit tool to press fit the LD to the module and then deal with the tiny, short, pins of an extracted LD.
 
NopIt said:
Yes these are the DVD burning speeds.
Thank you. :)

I know I can just buy the diodes for a few bucks, but I get these DVD burners for free. ;)
Click to expand...

Free is always good! That's why I said that they're good for practice, if you would rather extract your own diodes. Just remember that a lot of red spectrum diodes are open can, so there's that extra precaution that you have to take.
 
This "press fit tool" you mention, do I really need that? How can I find them and what do they even look like?
 
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