5mW 650nm diode and driver problems [Need Help]

[CreatorBot]

I recently purchased 650nm 5mW diodes from Aixiz (5mw 650nm laser diode 5 pack, AixiZ)

I set up a dummy load using 4 x 1N4001 diodes and a 1ohm resistor. (picture attached)

I bought two different types of drivers. One set from lilly electronics and another from Aixiz.
Lilly Electronics - (2pcs/Lot 532nm/650nm/780nm/808nm/980nmnm Laser Diode Drive Circuit Board - Driver Circuit Board & Power supply - Components and Accessory)
Aixiz - (Adjustable current laser diode driver 80-500mA w/TTL, AixiZ)

Right now I am trying to use the lilly electronics driver. I wired the driver up as seen in the photo attached. I then am supplying the the driver from a power supply at 5V (Buy ATX breakout board bench power supply [106990006] | Seeedstudio).

I attached the driver to the dummy load and adjusted the pot so the voltage across the resistor was 34mV.

I then replaced the dummy load with the diode and I get nothing. Someone please help. I'm new to this and it's driving me insane. My guess is that it may have to do something with my power supply, but I'm not sure.

 

[Pi R Squared]

:crackup: ROFLMAO :wtf::crackup::crackup::crackup: am sorry but I can't stop laughing. In photo #3 you appear to have the power supply and the input and output of the driver and the diode all directly connected to each other.:wtf: With 5V that would surely kill the diode instantly, and connecting both input and output of the driver to the power supply could kill the driver too.

The test load I believe should have 3 diodes as these red diodes have an operating voltage of 2.2-2.5V. The AixiZ driver won't work with your diodes, it will kill them instantly, the driver you are using should be ok as long as it can be adjusted down to 25mA, but the input voltage must not exceed 4.5V, if you must use that power supply try it at 3.3V and see if it works, if the driver is even still working.

Alan

 

[Eudaimonium]

Yeah, first and foremost:

DO NOT USE NON-PERMANENT CONNECTIONS
- Breadboards, alligator clips, twisted wires, the sort. Lasers make up for extremely delicate electronic circuits and must NOT have their connections at or after the driver interrupted. You're allowed only to interrupt the power supply to the driver, obviously.

As Pi already mentioned, yeah in the third photo, you are quite obviously just shorting the entire thing out. Entire lane is connected and you're basically just connecting the power source to the diode directly.

Few trouble shooting tips:

Symptom:
Diode produces no light what so ever?
Probable cause - you're not actually supplying any power to the diode, that is to say, your connection is broken somewhere along the way. Or, you're connecting the diode "wrong way around". Observe correct polarity!

Symptom:
Diode glows very faintly
Probable cause:
This is the worst case actually. Means your diode went "LED" or "LEDed" as we call it, because it glows faintly like a weak LED diode, but does not produce coherent light like a laser diode should. It means you at some point introduced too high of a voltage or current to the diode and destroyed the die. MOST probable causes for that is using a potentiometer in a driver (which is not reliable in any way), or breaking the connection from driver to diode, while driver is powered.

 

[Pi R Squared]

It's best to know some basic electronics first, but at least he is trying, he will do better next time. Don't be discouraged CreatorBot, even Albert Einstein did poorly at math when he was young and look what he did later.

Alan

 

[APEX1]

It's best to know some basic electronics first, but at least he is trying, he will do better next time. Don't be discouraged CreatorBot, even Albert Einstein did poorly at math when he was young and look what he did later.

Alan

I just realized how mean my last post looks. I am sorry if it upset anyone. I will edit it. amen to that Alan.

 

[Eudaimonium]

It's best to know some basic electronics first, but at least he is trying, he will do better next time. Don't be discouraged CreatorBot, even Albert Einstein did poorly at math when he was young and look what he did later.

Alan

That's actually not true. Einstein mastered differential and integral calculus by the time he finished high school and had his parents buy him more books from which to study from.

Albert Einstein Did Not Fail at Mathematics in School

You can google the sh't out of the myth if you want. Tons of sources.