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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

445 Driver output voltage?

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Jan 13, 2011
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Hello all, I was planning on making my own driver for a 445. What is the output voltage needed? Does it change at different currents? I saw somewhere it's around 6.7v. Is this correct?
 





anselm

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"6.7V"

No, you're way off.
It depends on the current you drive it at, but it is typically between
~3.5 near threshold and ~4.5 when driving it really hard.

You shouldn't be worried much about voltage anyway, it's current you must control.
What components are you planing to make your driver from, if that's not a secret?
 
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Thanks guys. So the voltage doesn't really matter as long as its between 3.5v and 4.5v? That being said, aren't most led drivers around there? And why don't we use them?
"6.7V"

No, you're way off.
It depends on the current you drive it at, but it is typically between
~3.5 near threshold and ~4.5 when driving it really hard.

You shouldn't be worried much about voltage anyway, it's current you must control.
What components are you planing to make your driver from, if that's not a secret?
 

Kevlar

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Apr 26, 2010
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Since the 445nm became more available, people have. The 445nm diodes seem to be pretty tough.

LED's are more robust than laser diodes, so their drivers don't have to smooth out the spikes as much. LED driver can get away with using cheaper, lesser parts. The quality control on cheap Chinese LED drivers aren't very good either. I've seen quite a few report getting mixed batches of LED drivers. Like someone order's 5 800mA drivers, one doesn't work, 2 put out 600mA, and 1 puts out 400mA, etc...

So before the "tough" 445's came out, the concern was LED drivers won't protect the laser diode as well and no one wanted to chance their LD's with LED drivers.

But who knows, I can't say I've seen any extensive testing done with LED drivers and other diodes.
 




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