Battery for PHR-805T w/ DDL driver? (first build)

[Camin]

I have gathered materials for my driver and am now looking to buy my diode, Aixiz module, lens, and battery. I realize a standard 9v would work fine but would like to go with something with a bit more lasting power. All I see on most shops is 3.7V batteries or 4.2. With 4.2 X 2 I could get 8.4v which I think is too little, or 3.7V X 3 which would be 11.1 which is way too much, right? What type of power supply should I use? I searched the forums and Google and couldn't find much.

 

[Fretwrecker94]

I have gathered materials for my driver and am now looking to buy my diode, Aixiz module, lens, and battery. I realize a standard 9v would work fine but would like to go with something with a bit more lasting power. All I see on most shops is 3.7V batteries or 4.2. With 4.2 X 2 I could get 8.4v which I think is too little, or 3.7V X 3 which would be 11.1 which is way too much, right? What type of power supply should I use? I searched the forums and Google and couldn't find much.

Don't worry. With a Linear Driver, all you need is the dropout vltage plus the diode's Vf. The driver will regulate the current and dissipate any excess voltage as heat.

If your set-up is an LM317, you need about 7.5V at LEAST to get an 805 running. I'd say use 2 lithium cells. They'll last a while for a PHR-805.

What IC are you using/building? a 317 or 1117?

 

[Camin]

Yep I am using the LM317, I am also buying from cajun laser store, so two of these would work, but would they be optimal?

 

[Fretwrecker94]

Yep I am using the LM317, I am also buying from cajun laser store, so two of these would work, but would they be optimal?

Yeah! those would run it just fine

If you're looking for a long run-time look for a higher mAh rating. aka, 18650's,26650's, etc. But for the sake of saying it, you could run 2 sets of 5 16340's @ 880mAh in parallel to get like 8.4V @ ~8,800 mAh... but that's a little costly....

Short answer: Yes they'll work fine.

 

[Camin]

cool thank you for your help, I don't want to go huge on the batteries because anything more would end up costing more than the diode .

Now I just need to find a host. I might make a wooden one myself, as I have access to the tools to do it. If I custom make a wood ones then I can easily fit any heatsink into it. Is this a bad Idea?

Thank you for your time,
-Cam

 

[Fretwrecker94]

cool thank you for your help, I don't want to go huge on the batteries because anything more would end up costing more than the diode .

Now I just need to find a host. I might make a wooden one myself, as I have access to the tools to do it. If I custom make a wood ones then I can easily fit any heatsink into it. Is this a bad Idea?

Thank you for your time,
-Cam

Haha yeah, I kinda was just going on a tangent.

Anyway, yeah a wooden host, in my opinion, is NOT a good idea. It will be tough to source the ground supply to the diode/driver. And plus it'd be less permanent. Really cheap, but less sturdy or practical. I mean go for it if you're so inclined! It'd make a really interesting thread!

By the way, here's a link to a seller that sells 2 PHR-805's for about $15 shipped to the US

eBay My World - newgazer

 

[Camin]

Ok well I will think about it, I gess heat would be the biggest problem as the wood would insulate the heat sink making it harder for the heat to escape.

It may have been something that evaded me in my research, but you mentioned that you have to ground your diode and driver? How so?

Also Cajun has them for 10$ and I am buying some other stuff from his shop too in one big order.

 

[Fretwrecker94]

Ok well I will think about it, I gess heat would be the biggest problem as the wood would insulate the heat sink making it harder for the heat to escape.

It may have been something that evaded me in my research, but you mentioned that you have to ground your diode and driver? How so?

Also Cajun has them for 10$ and I am buying some other stuff from his shop too in one big order.

No, no don't get me wrong. Buy from a laser enthusiast whenever possible! I totally think customer service and supporting a fellow hobbyist is worth the extra 2-4 bucks I just meant if you were willing to wait and like a discount, they'd be worthwhile. Nothing wrong with a china order every so often!

Well you don't NEED a ground supply to the driver, but you need to have a ground supply to the diode. Y'know, complete the circuit
But if you want ripple protection and reverse protection then you need to ground out the capacitor and 1N400x diode.

 

[Camin]

So just connecting to the back end of the battery to ground, right? like this?
Why would having a wood host make that any harder?

Thanks for all your help, definite +rep to you, I will send you some pics when I finish

EDIT: found this, PHR-803t too!
EDIT2: found another, but this guy didn't make his own, whereas I can make one from scratch.

 

[Fretwrecker94]

So just connecting to the back end of the battery to ground, right? like this?
Why would having a wood host make that any harder?

Thanks for all your help, definite +rep to you, I will send you some pics when I finish

If you made a wooden host you'd need to rig it so that a metal conductor would make contact with the tail end where the battery's ground terminal is and then supply it to the necessary ground points.
Rog8811 diagram is wonderfully accurate.
What kind of host were you thinking of? A handheld style or a lab style?

 

[Camin]

I have been making a lot of bowls on the lathe and could easily take my knowledge of that and turn some sort of ornate dowel and then drill out the inside. It would defiantly be bulky to accommodate my homemade DDL, but it will still be handheld. One advantages of making it myself is that I can use any heatsink I want and then build/ drillout the dowel to make it fit perfectly.

I now realize what your saying about the grounding part, but I don't think it will be a problem because its going to make it fairly bulky for the DDL anyway (I am specifically using this by the way) so I should have plenty of room to run a wire to the backend of my batteries.

 

[Fretwrecker94]

I have been making a lot of bowls on the lathe and could easily take my knowledge of that and turn some sort of ornate dowel and then drill out the inside. It would defiantly be bulky to accommodate my homemade DDL, but it will still be handheld. One advantages of making it myself is that I can use any heatsink I want and then build/ drillout the dowel to make it fit perfectly.

I now realize what your saying about the grounding part, but I don't think it will be a problem because its going to make it fairly bulky for the DDL anyway (I am specifically using this by the way) so I should have plenty of room to run a wire to the backend of my batteries.

That's a good build plan and I assume you know wood well enough to ensure its preservation and prevention of rot and damage.

What would be a great idea is to add a few ventilation holes in the host. For 3 reasons.
1.) Allow heat to escape
2.) Maybe if you have enough space add a fan
3.) If you use lithiums and they happen to short out then it won't turn your laser into a pipe bomb...

I'm really interested in how this will turn out!

 

[Camin]

Pipe Bomb? 0_0
Can lithium's create flammable fumes?

That is great advice on those ventilation holes, I think I will make a 3D render tomorrow of it. I got my diode the rest of the parts today.

 

[Fretwrecker94]

LiFe PO4 chemistry is a bit safer of the Li-ions.
But think about it, a sealed up metal tube with violently venting high energy cells. It's a set up for an explosion. Always test the set up without dealing it up to ensure there's no shorts. I had a build short on me once. Luckily it fried the clicky's spring and disconnected the circuit so nothin bad happened!
Don't get paranoid about battery explosion. As long as you practice safe charging precautions and don't build you laser carelessly you'll be fine