Anyone do this?

[LRMNmeyer]

I will probably be building a BR in the near future, and I plan on using an adjustable Micro drive (the low 405nm range), and drilling a hole in the host so I can access the pot during use. I will use the low 405nm model so I can't accidently fry it from too much current, and to make make it easier to use, and so you don't need a screwdriver, I would superglue a knob on it, which would also mostly cover up the hole. This would be cool, an adjustable output blu-ray.

 

[Kenom]

the only problem I can see with doing this is usually the pot on most drivers is very small and trying to get a knob onto it is very difficult. I do however hope you are sucessfull.

 

[el-taco]

Sounds like a pretty cool idea, although it would get tough trying to get the knob on the potentiometer.

 

[ndrew2505]

when you see how small the pot is you might...erm should change your mind. the pot is really tiny and you run a high risk of gluing it in place. not trying to discourage you from your idea but those pots are tiny. like 2-3mm square.

 

[john_lawson]

just go with a safe 120 fixed setting works great for me ;D

 

[scopeguy20]

Hey a pot will jump around in current from pressure and such. You may fry that diode! Milos made adjustable blu-ray lasers, they dim from off to ~28 mW with a nice thumb wheel. I got an extra one if you really must have an adjustable blu-ray.

 

[thesk8nmidget]

i think it may be a good idea but be careful and i would say go with the rkstr driver and not the flex drive for this idea.

the rkstr is a little bigger and also is a 1 turn pot.


another problem i see is on my builds i put my driver flat against the battery spring so make sure the host you chose has room for the driver to be parallel with the host

 

[LRMNmeyer]

Hey a pot will jump around in current from pressure and such. You may fry that diode!  Milos made adjustable blu-ray lasers, they dim from off to ~28 mW with a nice thumb wheel.  I got an extra one if you really must have an adjustable blu-ray.

I'm too tight on money now, I don't NEED it, but after I build a fixed 100/110mA I'll try this. I will make a good heatsink so it wont fry at 150mA, people are driving it even higher, so it should be fine with a generous duty cycle.
I'll use the rkstr then. Thanks for the advice.

 

[rkcstr]

Yeah, can't say it will be possible to effectively bond a rod to the rotating portion of the pot since it's so small and glues tend to creep.

Also, the pots, according to the datasheet have a rotational life of 50 turns, so they're not really meant for "continuous" adjustment; more so, as Ron Popeil would say, "set it and forget it!" lol.  Although I don't think there's any worry of it actually failing as long as you don't play with it all the time.

And, I agree, the small (I think 2mm) open-frame pots on DrLava's driver are very delicate and gluing something to them probably isn't a good idea.  Since its open, its very easy to get glue in there and mess it all up, plus since its small, I wouldn't be surprised if you broke it or lifted it (or the pads) off the board with a lot of movement.  The slightly bigger ones I use are also sealed-type (prevents contaminants from getting it) and a little sturdier, but still I don't think I'd want to try gluing an adjustment tool to it for fear of some of the same problems.

You could just drill an access hole for a tool to adjust. I'd also suggest doing something like put a piece of heatshrink (or other electrical insulation) around the rest of the board (aside from the pot) to prevent accidentally shorting anything on the board if you just HAVE to adjust while it's powered

 

[Eagle_1]

My first rkcstr driver (thanks Ryan) was adjustable to 150ma, and within 2 mins of playing with it I just cranked it to the max and left it there - I no longer had any desire to throttle back such an extraordinary beam. You might end up doing the same thing.

 

[Glaserfan]

Another problem......

These tiny pots are NOT made for constant changes in adjustment. If you move them back and forth too much, you will end up with a "dead spot" in them. If you want constant adjustability, go with a design like the Milos bluray.

 

[GooeyGus]

what you need to do is remove the pot from the driver itself, and buy a larger pot of the same value. Then solder some wire going from the contact points on the driver board to your new bigger pot. That way you could put the adjustment pot anywhere you want.

 

[danq]

what you need to do is remove the pot from the driver itself, and buy a larger pot of the same value. Then solder some wire going from the contact points on the driver board to your new bigger pot. That way you could put the adjustment pot anywhere you want.

Or if you really want to be able to adjust it conveniently, you could cobble together the proper few Bluetooth modules with an interface to the rkcstr driver; write a little Java app; then you could control it from your cell phone.  Be careful about the programming on the phone end, though, or you could end up with the beam coming out of your BT headset into your ears!
;D
that would make one hell of a ring-tone, though!