3405 Host Makes A Great 445 Build!

[jayrob]

Hey I have 5 of these 3405 hosts on hand and they will make a great 445 build if you simply set it up for 3 X 10440's in parallel...

This keeps the voltage at 4.2 (fully charged), but triples the capacity of a 10440 battery!

It's really easy to modify the battery holder for this set up...

(3 X 10440's in parallel is good, but a single 'quality' 18650 is still better, see my kits linked in my signature)



Battery Modification:

This will give you 4.2 volts... But 3 times the capacity of a single 10440 battery!



One other note:

The battery holder (different one shown), has these small 'tabs' at a couple of (flat) contact points where the batteries need to make contact.

Use a knife and 'snap' or cut the tabs to make sure your batteries make good contact. The thickness of the tabs can cause a weak connection, or no connection at all...




The host has a massive heatsink... The pill will make a roomy area for mounting your FlexDrive or Micro BoostDrive...

If you order one from me with the 'Hot' option (driver installed), and decide you would like the battery holder for this 'parallel' set up. I will solder it up and do the modification for an extra $10 bucks...

No copper heatsink option for this one as of now, but the aluminum heatsink is plenty massive...

Tutorial for DIY:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/tutorial-3405-build-tips-50930.html

Kit pricing and options:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/fs-mxdl-host-heatsink-combo-4171-3405-a-22512.html




3405 18650 battery modification shown here!:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/tutorial-3405-build-tips-50930-3.html#post769982

 

[DTR]

This is a great host for 445nm. I have one set to 800mA's and I can not feel it getting warm at all. I have run it for extended periods of time and it stays very cool. Mine however has the Meridith module with the Meridith red glass lens and it gives me a better dot than my 18650 Aixiz module with the 405-G-1 lens. And of course it has a little less power than the 405 lens but I don't think much.
Other thoughts I had was that there was plenty of room in this host for a driver with a heat-sink that can be driven up to 1.5A or higher.

 

[Tabish]

Or you can just use Ni-MH AAA's and no need to modify the battery holder !!!!

 

[jayrob]

Or you can just use Ni-MH AAA's and no need to modify the battery holder !!!!

The idea, is to get good capacity at 1 Amp...

3 X standard rechargeable batteries in series is not good capacity for high current.

In series, it triples the voltage. But not the capacity of a single battery...

But this easy modification for using 3 X 10440's in parallel is going to be good capacity. It will keep the same voltage of a single 10440, but triple the capacity!

This is a great host for 445nm. I have one set to 800mA's and I can not feel it getting warm at all. I have run it for extended periods of time and it stays very cool.

Other thoughts I had was that there was plenty of room in this host for a driver with a heat-sink that can be driven up to 1.5A or higher.

Nice job...

I understand you are using a single 14500, which is a good solution too.

But 3 X 10440's in parallel will be more capacity yet!

I overlooked this host at first (for a 445 high current build) because of not having good capacity with a FlexDrive using 3 X standard AAA batteries in series...

But with 3 X 10440's in parallel, it will have good capacity...

 

[Tabish]

Ahh true. Forgot nimh AAAs cant output the current if driving at 1A.

Just 1 warning though:

Make sure the voltage on the 3 cells is similar. For example, if 2 are at 4.2v and one is sitting at 2.75v, the other 2 can "charge" the lower one at a harmful rate.

I may be wrong though but I'm pretty sure cells in parallel "balance" each other.

 

[DTR]

The idea, is to get good capacity at 1 Amp...

Nice job...

I understand you are using a single 14500, which is a good solution too.

But 3 X 10440's in parallel will be more capacity yet!

I overlooked this host at first (for a 445 high current build) because of not having good capacity with a FlexDrive using 3 X standard AAA batteries in series...

But with 3 X 10440's in parallel, it will have good capacity...

Thanks I do love to take credit but I do have to give a little to Daguin who actually built this beast for me. I just realized that with massive heat sink and the extra empty space in the host for adding an additional heat-sink for the driver this would make a good solution for driving a unit to the max potential of these diodes. Maybe even beyond 1.5A driver willing.

Also another thing that I am thinking of is that my charger only charges 2 at a time. I would need to get another charger or one that can do more than two so that I have all three charged in one sitting. Seen any that charge more than two at once?

 

[jayrob]

Just have a set of extra batteries!

 

[wicked1]

Mine however has the Meridith module with the 650-G-1 glass lens and it gives me a better dot than my 18650 Aixiz module with the 405-G-1 lens. And of course it has a little less power than the 405 lens but I don't think much.

I put a 650 lens on mine and it got HOT.. noticeably hot! W/ the 405 lens it does not. I'm thinking the 650 was bouncing a bunch of the light around inside the cavity between the diode and lens or something.. I did a few tests to be sure I wasn't imagining it.

I'm in STL too! guess Im not the only one in town w/ one of these

 

[DTR]

I put a 650 lens on mine and it got HOT.. noticeably hot! W/ the 405 lens it does not. I'm thinking the 650 was bouncing a bunch of the light around inside the cavity between the diode and lens or something.. I did a few tests to be sure I wasn't imagining it.

I'm in STL too! guess Im not the only one in town w/ one of these

What host are you using?

 

[wicked1]

cree 18650. I just upped the power from 900ma to 1100ma.
No trouble so far.

 

[wicked1]

Copper heat sink, in the cree, too.

Why do you think you get a better beam w/ the meridith module? The lens is exactly the same other than the coating.. (unless you're using the meridith lens, and not the 650-g-1)

So, if it's the same lens, the difference would be the lens holder assembly. Is the opening on the meridith narrower than the aixiz? (I can check later.. Ive got a few meridith modules)

 

[DTR]

Copper heat sink, in the cree, too.

Why do you think you get a better beam w/ the meridith module? The lens is exactly the same other than the coating.. (unless you're using the meridith lens, and not the 650-g-1)

So, if it's the same lens, the difference would be the lens holder assembly. Is the opening on the meridith narrower than the aixiz? (I can check later.. Ive got a few meridith modules)

It is the Meridith red glass. I have not tried the 650-G-1 in an Aixiz module. But this one gives a real nice dot with a almost unnoticeable vertical splash it is as good as i saw with the Aixiz acrylic lens the short time I tried it(did not want to burn it). The 18650 host I have with the 405-G-1 lens has a very noticeable aura all the way around it. Looks very much like the laser depiction on warning labels. But it defiantly gives more power for burning. I am really waiting for the Aixiz glass to see what the dot looks like. Just wish we could find a lens that gives a nice little dot 100 feet away like my green.

Here is a shot of the dots the left is the Meridith red glass and the right is 405-G-1

 

[wicked1]

Thanks!
When I used the 650-g-1 in aixiz assembly, I got a sharp bar when the beam was in focus. Like, | . Then as it gets unfocused, the bar gets wider and wider.. The bar never gets any shorter, though. It's aways a bar (or as it unfocuses and widens a square, then rectangle), but never a dot.

-I'm viewing the 'dot' w/ goggles, so am only seeing the brightest center.. I've not tried taking a photo, but maybe my "bar" would look more like a dot in a photo..

-J sorry to take your thread O.T. I'll stop w/ the lens talk...

 

[jayrob]

It would be the exact same bar with a Meredith. The 650-G-1 is the same exact optical design with a different coating than the Meredith...

He got that round looking dot at a certain distance. Like 7' or so... But at distance (like your talking about), it would be a 'bar' or 'line'...

 

[DTR]

It would be the exact same bar with a Meredith. The 650-G-1 is the same exact optical design with a different coating than the Meredith...

He got that round looking dot at a certain distance. Like 7' or so... But at distance (like your talking about), it would be a 'bar' or 'line'...

That is right. The pic was taken at about 12 feet. The further you get away they both start to get elongated.

 

[DTR]

Update!!!!! 3405 MXDL Meridith module

Just put in a Flexdriver w/aluminum heat sink attached to the bottom of the driver. It is set to 1.5Amp's. Ordering a meter for output update when received. Thinking that it is 1.1W-1.3W

Burns through a cd case instantly.

Check out this thing blast through a cd case:drool: