best bang for buck red laser diode???

[starkey480]

hi i recently made my first laser just by taking my diode out of my dvd rw drive and putting it in a laser module and then used a maglight to power it, (the kipkay one) however, after only playing with it for 20 minutes it got really dim. im assuming the diode is fried. I want to make another laser without really spending too much money. if i just used another dvd rw diode and hooked it up to a driver would that fix the problem and make it last? and does it burn stuff pretty good? thanks!!

 

[extremeodd]

The kipkay method is the worst way to go about it. Invest in a cheap driver and you will be golden. Also you should make a post in the welcome area. You can get a good driver for less than $10 for reds usually.

If you can get 100+mw you can burn good when focused to a pin point. I have a o-like 200mw waterproof and it burns the hell out of anything thats not completely white when focused down.

 

[starkey480]

ya kipkay, you suck. and cant i just make a driver for a few bucks from stuff at radio shack?? and if i were to use a dvd rw drive diode, assuming it is 250 mw i would use a 10 ohm resistor correct?

 

[extremeodd]

Use the search tool, you should be able to find many DIY drivers for reds.

 

[IsaacT]

The method I used for mine was to hook up an LM317 Voltage Regulator to a 10 Ohm Resistor and it works GREAT! Just remember to put the switch before the circuit(IIRC that is important). I don't know how familiar you are with electronics, but I had an EXTREMELY hard time wading through the technical vocab of some of the DIY driver threads.

If you need some extra assistance with the driver you want to make, pop over to laserchat.net, everyone there is very helpful :bowdown:and assisted me greatly with my first build. Hope that helps! :beer:

PS-If you are looking for something a little more advanced than the simple one stated above, you probably know more about electronics and can navigate through threads with more ease than I can.

Peace,
Isaac

 

[Mohrenberg]

rkcstr.nfshost.com for your driver, modwerx.com for your diode.

Done.

 

[LtKernelPanic]

Search is your friend but Mohrenberg nailed it. I picked up two of their 5mW 635nm diodes and it worked fantastic powered off a LM317 based driver set at 42mA until I managed to fry it by not paying attention to what I was doing. Those diodes give a nice red color and are considered "safe" to use without eye protection (as long as you don't misuse it). You could get one of the LPC-815 sleds and extract the diode from it if you want a burning red. there are a ton of videos on youtube showing how to get the diode off the sled. Mohrenburg has some excellent videos on how to get the ribbon cables off the diodes and the diodes out of their heatsinks. Search for his name there and you'll find them.

The rkcstr driver is a great driver for reds but yes you can make a simple driver from parts you can get at about any place that sells electronics components including Rat Shack. Styropyro posted a video showing the simplest type of driver. I'd add a 1N4001 diode if you have the space in whatever host you use to prevent accidentally frying your diode if you inset a battery wrong. it can go on either the positive or negative side of the diode but unless you need to lower the voltage going into the driver I prefer to put it on the negative side.

Here's the video. The driver he made for that video outputs 126mA. I have no idea how well that'd power an LPC-815 but I do know it'd likely fry the 5mW 635nm i mentioned earlier. (I use dthe same driver but with a 30ohm resistor to get 42mA)

YouTube - styropyro's Channel

Do some research then post back if you have questions. I was confused as hell when I first started looking into DIY lasers but I found if you're willing to do some work on your own the post questions there are a lot of people who to help you out.

Good luck! :yh:

 

[starkey480]

well, i built my own driver and it works perfectly, the only thing is, i ordered one of those sleds with the burning diode in it and hooked it up to my driver and it didnt work. i know its not my driver because it works with other diodes. i dont know what went wrong. my packaging was dented in on a whole side when i got the package. maybe thats why???

 

[DJNY]

Don´t know if it was mentioned yet, but O-Like now has a nice 250mW red for $55 in stock.
Cute High power 250mW red laser troch/focusable [OL-CR-250] - $54.99 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

 

[kruser495]

modwerx seemed to be out of the red ones. the best deal i was able to find was hightechdealz.com for a lpc-815 sled. it was 11 dollars. make sure you test your driver before hooking it up

 

[justin lawson]

kip kay is not th greatest way to go in fact i think its the worst

 

[inuboi8]

Don´t know if it was mentioned yet, but O-Like now has a nice 250mW red for $55 in stock.
Cute High power 250mW red laser troch/focusable [OL-CR-250] - $54.99 : Welcome to O-Like.com, Your source for laser products

i have one of those (its got a different host) but same advertised power output and same price its a crazy burner it will instantly smoke/burn anything black near instantly when focused and can get through lighter colored materials in a matter of seconds and since its o-like u know your getting as close to advertised spec as possible

 

[starkey480]

whats the difference between an open can diode and a closed can diode? will they work the same?

 

[wolfram]

Best Red diode that I ever have used was the one from a 6X Blu-ray sled. High tech Dealz sells these as well. These sleds come with all kinds of fun optics.



Wolfram

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

whats the difference between an open can diode and a closed can diode? will they work the same?

Closed can is the top-hat looking diode case, where you have the gold-colored metal mounting block, diode and pins are mounted into/onto that, and the diode is covered up with a silver "can" with a window on the end.

Open can is the same thing, but without the can around it, or the window on the end. The actual semiconductor chip is exposed to open air.

 

[Benm]

The difference between open can and closed can diodes is really marginal. The diodes referred to as LOC and LCC are virtually identical in all respects.

The majour difference is that the LCC diodes are somewhat protecte by their can and window, which also causes a slight power loss. Practically, i've found the LOC diodes to be a bit easier to extract from their hetsinks.

Apart from these considerations you can pretty much interchange them - they run at about the same safe current levels, and their output pattern isnt much different either. Prices are also almost the same, so the closed can devices are prferable in environments where dust or moisture could make its way to the laser diode.