268mW 6X Key Chain Blu-ray! (With FlexDrive!) - Awesome!

[IgorT]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

Thanks for the measurements..

And hint taken...
(Just in time too! I was just about to order a bunch....)

 

[jayrob]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

There will be 4 of the 10220's Igor. They have your name on them...

I have no use for them, and will not even bother charging them. They cost me $18 dollars shipped. I can send them with your tail caps with no extra charge for shipping. I think $21 bucks will cover the total. Batteries, tail caps, shipping. But we'll talk about that later...
Jay

 

[suiraM]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

there are a number of sizes of these ultra-lights; a lot of possibilities, but probably won't be too useful for lasers.

I wasn't thinking about lasers, though you'd be surprised how long a VCSEL could run off one.

oops! when I bought mine, a while back, they had some really cheap, defective or something... now they're $20 each!

Yeah, but the 3x9x10mm ones are only $10/ea, so that works out nicely.

You could power a pretty wide range of microcontroller, sensor and logging applications with these.

Perfect for geocaching and throwie-like electronic message drop-boxes (add a magnet and stick one on a bus if you want deliveries).

 

[danq]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

You could power a pretty wide range of microcontroller, sensor and logging applications with these.
Perfect for geocaching and throwie-like electronic message drop-boxes (add a magnet and stick one on a bus if you want deliveries).

waaaay off-topic here! but I'm sure the others won't mind, this is so much more interesting than little round batteries ;-)

Remember my post about those really nice sky-blue LED's that light up with only 100uA? Combine that with the mini-LiPo; stack up a very small solar array; and a tiny digital switch to toggle between charge/discharge depending on the signal from the solar; maybe add a part or two for finesse... and you have a perma-throwie!

 

[IgorT]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

There will be 4 of the 10220's Igor. They have your name on them...

Thanks Jay!

I ordered 4 more from AW, and that should last me with my two micro hosts for a while, even if one or two die...

I also ordered some other shapes and sizes, including the 10280 for your host, and a strange 14270 (slightly longer than 1/2AA, already have 1/2AA), as well as two samples of a tiny Li-Ion protection circuit, which i will try to incorporate into builds that can't use protected batteries!

If i find a nice simple way to use them, i'd have to buy 100 of these circuits at once, but i think that could be sorted out, since many of us like to make small lasers these days..

 

[jayrob]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

When you get the key chain host I sent you, you will see that there is a little room above the driver sandwich, between the driver and LD. See if one of your small protection circuits could fit there! I would be very interested in that!
Jay

 

[IgorT]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

The protection circuit is only 10x5mm, Jay...

I think it should fit most anything. I asked for the smallest there is. This particular one comes from a 30x10x3mm 110mAh Li-Ion, meant for BlueTooth Headsets or MP3 players (permanently built in battery)....

I will have to take it out of the two batteries myself (maybe i can use the batteries for something else), but later, if i find a way to incorporate, we can get just the circuits, with a 100 pieces MOQ.


Now in most cases (on round batteries at least), these protection circuits work by being in between the battery negative side and the outside world. There is a thin flat cable running up for the positive contact. So the protection cct obviously interrupts the negative side.

This could be a problem in cases, where the entire host is at battery negative potential and a case-negative diode is used, so it's possible it won't work for reds.. But it should work for blu rays since they are case-neutral. But since this battery is not round, it's possible the protection circuit works in a different way.

In any case, if it can be incorporated into builds i think it only makes sense if we do so, where we can't use protected batteries, so i'm hoping there will be enough interest for them..



Incorporating the protection cct would reduce the run-time of the laser a tiny bit, but it would prolong the life of the battery itself A LOT...

 

[jayrob]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

Very interested in this idea Igor!

Hey i was testing one of the 10180's last night on a 100mW green module. (don't worry, just for 30 seconds)

I used my DMM in series from the positive end of the tiny battery to the module case so that I could monitor the current...

I was amazed at how strong and stable these little batteries are! Probably not good for this kind of current on the little guy, but it held 450mA's steady, just like the same test showed for the current from a RCR123 battery! Then I checked the voltage of the battery after the 30 second test. Still at 4.05! It was only at 4.07 before the test.

With that in mind, the 10280 batteries for this key chain build, will be a really nice set up! I would think...
Jay

 

[IgorT]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

I agree!

The 300mA starting current for a 200mW 6x on a full Li-Ion scared me a little, with an only 90mAh battery! Even if the current wouldn't increase as the voltge drops, this would fully discharge it in 18 minutes. But this is only the starting current. It gets higher and higher, as the voltage drops lower and lower (still need to calculate those averages).

So your test was interesting. Shows what Li-Ion chemistry can do. This can't be too good in the long term, but i'll only put PHRs in my micro hosts, and use yours for the 6x. The 10280's double capacity means half the strain on the battery, among other things..



P.S. If it wasn't for your micro build, my keychain project would probably just keep on hybernating.. Thanks again for the motivation, and your help!

 

[robjdixon]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

I added this to the tutorial.

 

[jayrob]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

robjdixon, good deal! Definitely a good addition to your tutorial compilation thread.

P.S. If it wasn't for your micro build, my keychain project would probably just keep on hybernating.. Thanks again for the motivation, and your help!

No problem at all Igor! It is enjoyable to work with you on something! These are the coolest little builds yet! Now that I can get a 10280 in there, it is really nice!

Hey don't 'write off' your hosts for the 10280 yet! Are you sending the complete hosts? So I can drill out the head too? Or just the tail? I think from the pictures, that those may have room too. I really didn't think mine had room either, even though I had them in my hands! But they had room! Barely...

Sounds like you may have already done some precise measurements though huh?

Anyway, wait till you get the little key chain host that I sent you. I would like to know how is compares (size wise) with yours. I think they are very close to the same size...
Jay

 

[IgorT]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

No problem at all Igor! It is enjoyable to work with you on something! These are the coolest little builds yet! Now that I can get a 10280 in there, it is really nice!

Hey don't 'write off' your hosts for the 10280 yet! Are you sending the complete hosts? So I can drill out the head too? Or just the tail? I think from the pictures, that those may have room too. I really didn't think mind had room either, even though I had them in my hands! But they had room! Barely...

Sounds like you may have already done some precise measurements though huh?

Anyway, wait till you get the little key chain host that I sent you. I would like to know how is compares (size wise) with yours. I think they are very close to the same size...
Jay

There is some headroom in my host, and while it is shorter than yours, the barrel could fit a longer battery. But the button is positioned rather low. And the tailcap is so much shorter, that you could only extend the bore to where the barrel ends. Thus it could only fit the 10220 at best.

In fact, i probably couldn't even get a 10180 in there without shortening the threaded part of the tailcap first! (grinding some away)


But the part i am most interested in is having a smooth perfectly fitting AixiZ bore in the head, and the small drill-out in the tailcap for the 10220's. It just won't fit more than that unfortunatelly. And i can't really move the button upwards, or i'd end up with a spare hole.. Besides, the position of the button gives me the required room for my driver.

I'll measure some more, but i doubt i missed anything. Your host has a really massive tailcap which you were able to dril out quite deep. Mine occupies very little room, the room it does occupy is mostly in the barrel and that, if drilled out, only fits a 10220. And i count myself lucky that that is possible at all!


I will still ask you to drill as far as you can, without coming through on the other side and make an AixiZ bore in the head.... I'll figure out the rest. If more can fit, i'll try. But i really doubt it..


The size of my host.. The overall length is 61mm (from head to bottom of tailcap but without the nipple for the keychain). That's 2.4 inches..

 

[jayrob]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

Well, I can't see all of your cap. If you look at my pictures of the drilled out cap, you will notice that half of the room gained, is inside the host. The threads go into the host 5mm... And the distance needed for the 10280's, is 10mm.

Your pictures look like there is at least 5mm of tail cap on the outside of the host. So if your tail cap threads are 5mm long (like mine), you may be able to fit a 10280!

About the head, for heatsinks, I use a 15/32 bit for AixiZ modules to slide in. If I use a 29/64 bit, then I could sand the inside until the AixiZ is a press fit...

But try the Sure module fit on the one I sent you first. (drilled with 15/32) Because if it is a good fit for you, then we know what size drill to use for the head...
Jay

 

[IgorT]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

I have some more pics.. Let me show you what the problem is...


Ok, found it.. Here's a better pic of the tailcap and the barrel.

In this pic, i put my 10220 into the barrel. You can see, it fills it up to the very end. Even if i wanted to fit a 10180 i would need some modifying.
The 10220 will need a dril-out in the tailcap, since the tailcap with it's threads fills the room that the 10220 needs.

There is maybe 1mm extra room in the barrel, then 2mm in the tailcap. That's 3mm max..

I also measured from the outside, from the tailcap bottom (minus the pierced nipple),  to the button, and there is only 26mm tops. And on the inside, there is less room, since the buttom assembly fills it up.


Even if i modified the button assembly (which i will to allow the use of my driver), there would be 25-26mm room MAX. It's just too short for an 10280..


But i am happy i can get the 10220 in at all! This thing just can't run off coin cells. Even if i have a short run-time, it will at least be at a constant current..

 

[jayrob]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

Check out these measurements on my tail cap...

Now, take a look at how it was before I drilled it! It even had a spring on there, which is not needed, because the switch board has a spring...

Jay

 

[jayrob]

Re: Key Chain Blu-ray... With FlexDrive!

We were posting at the same time...

Ok, I see more now. It's just that yours takes the same stock 'stacked' 3 button cells as mine. So it stands to reason that there is the same room between the switch and tail cap. Your cap doesn't show a spring, so the spring must be on the switch end. Which means that battery can push in there a little more...

It would stand to reason, that if your tail cap had 10mm total to be gained (like mine), it should work.

Just looking at it from the standpoint that both hosts took the same 3 button cells...
Jay