Super tiny boost driver for greens.

I found this Taobao around the end of 2019.
It really intrigued me due to its small size and specifications. And better yet, it costs lest than 1 USD per driver
According to the spec sheet, it takes anywhere from 2-7V input, and outputs 6.8V. It is designed to deliver 280mA.



So i ordered a few.

This is how it is mounted. You thread the diode pins through the holes in the driver and just put a small blob of solder on it to secure the driver in place.
As you can see, it is super tiny. Making it ideal for compact builds.

Here are some before and after pictures for comparisons.

Here you can see my super dim and underpowered 515nm sharp, compared to my 107mW 505nm sharp.
I decided that it was time to make it brighter. So i swapped out the old driver for this new tiny guy.



Much better now.

Hello I know it's late to reply, but I have found the same driver on AliExpress and the seller says thet the default current is 120ma, did you remove any resistors to reach 280ma? I want to build a laser with sharp 488nm diode

RADU2975 said:

Hello I know it's late to reply, but I have found the same driver on AliExpress and the seller says thet the default current is 120ma, did you remove any resistors to reach 280ma? I want to build a laser with sharp 488nm diode

Click to expand...

Sorry I don't really have a clue if it's really putting out 280mA. I didn't check back then as it was bright enough for me.

Good luck with the 488nm sharp build. The colour will mesmerize you for a while.

RADU2975 said:

Hello I know it's late to reply, but I have found the same driver on AliExpress and the seller says thet the default current is 120ma, did you remove any resistors to reach 280ma? I want to build a laser with sharp 488nm diode

Click to expand...

could you share a link? I've been searching for something like this for a long time with no luck.

atomd said:

could you share a link? I've been searching for something like this for a long time with no luck.

Click to expand...

I can't share link ,but search for 520nm laser diode driver(it's a round driver coin like size) or zonah on AliExpress he is the seller ,

AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803402531841.html
eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=520nm+3-7v+laser+driver&_sacat=0&LH_PrefLoc=2&_sop=15


I've also recently found these drivers that work with the 488nm diodes with a ~3V source: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801220310329.html
I've successfully used them with two AA batteries and a 488nm laser diode.

I know it's late again but ,I build the laser and it works but I think the small round driver overheats ,it is at full power for 10-15s and then it gets dim and starts pulsating, and is wired because the sharp 488nm is not powerfull diode

Shmackitup said:

I've successfully used them with two AA batteries and a 488nm laser diode.

Click to expand...

How did you wired that driver?

RADU2975 said:

I know it's late again but ,I build the laser and it works but I think the small round driver overheats ,it is at full power for 10-15s and then it gets dim and starts pulsating, and is wired because the sharp 488nm is not powerfull diode

How did you wired that driver?

Click to expand...

Vi is Voltage IN from power source
Vo is Voltage Out to diode anode
GND is share by both power source and diode cathode

Shmackitup said:

Vi is Voltage IN from power source
Vo is Voltage Out to diode anode
GND is share by both power source and diode cathode


View attachment 76154

Click to expand...

And what current does it output at 6-7v? On AliExpress says it outputs 0.95A at 6V wich is way too much
,or does the driver give the necessary voltage to the diode and you can fully regulate the current between 0 and 2A? Planning on using this driver on some other builds
And can I use a single liion cell instead of 2 AA?

I believe the current adjusts all the way down to zero and you're not going to get 2 amps out of some AA batteries anyways. It should work with a single lithium cell too but I haven't tested that yet.

I got a few of these in the mail today.

I did quite a bit of testing on the little round boost drivers last night. They certainly drive the 488nm diodes quite well with just a ~3V source. However, they do get hot quickly when you start to exceed 200mA output. I also tried the driver with an M140 diode and that worked too.

These drivers are interesting because the resistor that needs to be changed in order to alter the current output has to have a higher resistance to increase the output. All of mine came with an 800 ohm resistor installed which only outputs about 60mA. I used a 100K potentiometer to figure out what resistance would equal what output for a few different levels before soldering on a new 4.7K ohm SMD resistor to replace the stock one which gave me about 250mA output.

The results are as follows:

800 ohm = 60mA
1.4K ohm = 100mA
2.4K ohm = 150mA
4.7K ohm = 250mA
8.2K ohm = 350mA

The pin-out photo in the first post is incorrect and with no resistor attached the output goes way too high and it heats up extremely fast and starts flashing if there is enough input current available. I'm guessing the OP got lucky and wasn't using a source that had much current available since his photos show no resistor present. The 3rd hole on the driver has no contact to any other pad on the PCB.

I tried the driver without the resistors and if you use it with a good li ion battery the capps will fry(250ma before it died) if you use it with 2 AA batteries it works just fine outputs something like 180ma with out any resistors .My driver came with a 2k ohms resistor wich outputs about 120ma(I find this is the max before it's starts heating up with the li ion battery)
These are amazing for compact build with the 18350 ( 6x2cm using a cheap flashlight) a bit harder to solder due to it's size

I was able to stuff these little drivers inside my little USB rechargeable micro pointers so now I can have 488nm and 520nm available.