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FrozenGate by Avery

650 nm diodes looking for driver help

vortish

vortish

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Feb 24, 2014
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I have two 650 diodes out of dvd burners looking for a good drive and module to put them in im still new to laser builds worked for a electronic manufacture few years ago so I know how to solder I just looking for some thing to keep my mind sharp i have tried the lm317 driver and just cant seem to get it to power on mabey using the wrong battery. How is the best way to power diodes with test clips is it a 9 v or get a battery box for 18650s and go from there any help advice would be helpful thanks for looking guys love this forum
 





I don't recommend testing with regular alligator clips attached directly to diodes. Either solder on wires
and attach the clips there, or use test hooks. You could also use a socket, but that is more if you have
to test a bunch of diodes and they have very clean leads. Otherwise it will gunk up the socket.

Attaching a battery directly to a laser diode will destroy it almost instantly. I would say to either give
the LM317 another try or buy some of the cheap adjustable drivers sold by AixiZ on eBay. You can get
a pair for $8 shipped.
 
The 9V should be fine if you are EXTREMELY conservative with your current. 9V provide very little power, but they deliver that power with 9V potential.

Otherwise, I'd go with some AAs in series. Three ought to do it.

If you already have Li-ion and charger and know how to use them, you can also go with a single Li-Ion.
 
You can hook up a 9 volt battery to the lm317. However remember the voltage difference between the diode drop and The battery is burned of as heat at the lm317. You may want to heatsink the lm317 if that voltage difference is great.
 
The Lightning Stalker said:
I don't recommend testing with regular alligator clips attached directly to diodes. Either solder on wires
and attach the clips there, or use test hooks. You could also use a socket, but that is more if you have
to test a bunch of diodes and they have very clean leads. Otherwise it will gunk up the socket.

Attaching a battery directly to a laser diode will destroy it almost instantly. I would say to either give
the LM317 another try or buy some of the cheap adjustable drivers sold by AixiZ on eBay. You can get
a pair for $8 shipped.
Click to expand...


I dont put the battery right on the diode im smarter than that i solder on wires but I do not think im using the battery right what you your suggestion be thanks
 
BShanahan14rulz said:
The 9V should be fine if you are EXTREMELY conservative with your current. 9V provide very little power, but they deliver that power with 9V potential.

Otherwise, I'd go with some AAs in series. Three ought to do it.

If you already have Li-ion and charger and know how to use them, you can also go with a single Li-Ion.
Click to expand...



Thanks for your help would you buy a battery box for a li ion or aa to provide the power or try and stack them and hope they work
 
Which schematic are you using for the driver circuit?
You should short the resistor across the vout and adj pins of the lm317.
Then you hook the diode positive to the adj pin on the lm317.
Hook the diode negative to the negative on the battery.
Any power source over about 7 volts will work fine the lm317 may get hot so be careful.
 
oahu99 said:
Which schematic are you using for the driver circuit?
You should short the resistor across the vout and adj pins of the lm317.
Then you hook the diode positive to the adj pin on the lm317.
Hook the diode negative to the negative on the battery.
Any power source over about 7 volts will work fine the lm317 may get hot so be careful.
Click to expand...

i am using the 3 dollar laser driver video on u tube a the reference i have built it right according to the video but no laser so i am trouble shooting to find out im not getting enough juice to the diode so i need 7 volts ty
 
The Lightning Stalker said:
So you got it working then?
Click to expand...



Not yet Lightning. I only have about hour or two to work on this hobby... I also im in the process of getting some of the items i need such as pots, resistors, caps I have plenty in a variety of uf and volts. I need some im 4001 or similar diodes. I have a hundred lm 317s so im good there. Im going to buy a few of the blank triple a and double a battery boxes as well as a couple for 18650's to power the lasers. I am limited to twenty dollars a paycheck not my choice (i.e) Wife to buy parts. So I am scavenging parts from old electronics and the like for some of it. You can not get resistors from old electronics the metal leads are not long enough to do any thing with But I am working on it but thanks for all the help
 
I know it's been a few days, sorry it took so long to get back to you. I'd look for a 4x AA or even a 3x AA battery holder. Li-Ion is expensive in that you don't want to cheap out with cheap cells, or a cheap charger. Nor do you want to buy an expensive battery and charger for a single device that mosty amounts to a toy.

AA are easy to come by, fairly cheap, and don't explode :san:

AAAs are just as easy and just a bit more expensive, but offer less power, less energy. I don't like AAAs.
 
I don't think a 3 or 4 AA pack would power the diode.
Keep in mind the LM317 has a voltage drop of about 3-3.5 volts on its own.
For my LPC-826 build the diode lights at about 8 volts from my bench supply.
A 9 volt is a good power source for testing but i do agree that ultimately a lithium would be better.
But for the meantime a 9 volt works great, I use one for my red build.
Best of luck!:beer:
 
If you want to power them from AA, either get the adjustable drivers mentioned above or switch to a low
dropout regulator such as the LD39300 if you need more than about 400mA.
 
guys thanks for all the imput I have two 18650 li ions and i think that one should do ok and two would be great i just need a power box to put them in
 
Last edited:
One battery will most certainly NOT be enough. You will at the very least need both the batteries in series.
I'll say it again, test with a 9 volt battery then worry about getting a better power source once you get everything working.
 
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