BluRay Help

[Archane]

ok either i'm doing something wrong or i'm completely not understanding the process to getting one of these bluray diode to lase correctly.
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setup
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DDL driver and new 9v battery
30ma output when setup.


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extraction
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remove diode by slowly popping it out using a set of precision screw drivers to lift it out.
I do NOT remove the PCB i'm touch soldering wires to the leads sticking out of the back
soldering iron is on for 1 maybe 2 seconds
I let the diode cool before the second pin is set.
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note I have done this both with and without an aixiz module to ensure no pressure breakage.


when I hook this up with either diode i'm getting a very light violet output (maybe half that of a 5mW red) focus doesn't seem to make a difference. I have tried both glass and acrylic lenses.

I'm getting irritated because I built a few reds and had absolutely zero trouble with that process and aside from the battery being different this is the same process.
Does anyone have any ideas? i'm about to pull my hair out. am I just wrong on what the output should look like? am I ruining the diode on one of these steps?

 

[GooeyGus]

Hmm, everything sounds ok. The current is a bit low, but that is good if you're just trying to get it to fire up. Are you shorting the caps on your driver before hooking them up? Or shorting the cap before you solder it to the diode? Any static shocks? Other than that I guess just make sure you hook it up to the right pins. Maybe try turning up the current a bit and see what happens, very slowly.

 

[jayrob]

The PS3 is very faint compared to what we are used to with the reds. That is, in normal light. In the dark, it proves to be brighter than you thought!

At 30mA's, it would probably be less than half as bright as it would be at 38mA's. So that is probably the biggest difference in what you could expect out of a PS3 diode.

Check the graph and pin out on this page:
http://www.fineartradiography.com/hobbies/lasers/blu-ray/diode.html

Try it at 38mA's!
Jay

 

[rog8811]

Lase point plus 10ma on mine was 39ma, which suggests that at 30ma you are just in the area where is will start to work, as Jay says give it a few more ma.

This shows the sdvantage of using a pot in the circuit for setting up purposes.

Regards rog8811

 

[trublu832]

This might not be the perfect place to ask but I didn't want to start a new thread for a small question: Is there a difference between the PS3 blu ray diode's and a diode from just a standard blu ray player? I noticed almost everyone uses the PS3 diodes.

 

[Archane]

ok i'll start stepping it up slowly then.

Thanks for the input guys

 

[flogged]

This might not be the perfect place to ask but I didn't want to start a new thread for a small question: Is there a difference between the PS3 blu ray diode's and a diode from just a standard blu ray player? I noticed almost everyone uses the PS3 diodes.

Of course & absolutely!

There are several manufacturers of bluray diodes, and each manufacturer has several different offerings.

Some (perhaps many) of the diodes used in bluray drives are OEM parts and often are not available individually, and if they are they still cost $$$.

 

[pwnstar]

Every one uses the PS3 Diodes cause DDL ran a few groupbuys for them for unbeatable prices.

 

[GooeyGus]

Hey I was wondering, everyone says when they set the current to go until it 'lights up' and add 10mA. My question is, are you saying that at (for example) 20mA it will not work at all??? Because mine stays lit (although dim, but will still put a dot on the wall) even at full resistance on the pot (100ohm) plus it has a 25ohm resistor. If i'm doing the math right, that should be only 10mA. I've ran 2 or 3 full batteries through it at 50mA with no signs of stress. I'm starting to think I have some sort of freak on my hands.

 

[pullbangdead]

^Blu-Ray diodes, being so new on the market and such a new technology, are likely o have quite a large variation in their abilities to handle current/power/heat. I'd be willing to guess that even all made the exact same way, they'll have double digit percent variations from the average "strength" of the diode. Sony just needs them to perform to a minimum, and I bet many diodes come out that are capable of a lot more than that minimum required for reading disks just due to unavoidable process variation. When you're growing diodes an atom at the time or a few monolayers per minute, it's really tough to control it all. They're getting very good at it, but controlling monolayers is still difficult/impossible to get identical results every time.

So I bet we have some diodes a lot more capable than what we are pushing them to, it looks like that's what yours is, but there's no way to know what the limit is for an individual diode without pushing it to that limit.

 

[Archane]

grr ok
I have tried 30, 35, 38 and 44ma, it's still not lasing. it looks like nothing more than a light purple LED.
I'm affraid to go above 44ma as most people said anything toward 50 killed theirs.

Any more ideas?

 

[GooeyGus]

grr ok
I have tried 30, 35, 38 and 44ma, it's still not lasing. it looks like nothing more than a light purple LED.
I'm affraid to go above 44ma as most people said anything toward 50 killed theirs.

Any more ideas?

Sounds like its dead already, my friend :'(

I've heard of 'zombie diodes' which were once dead but begin to lase again at very high currents (like 70mA)

 

[rog8811]

I'm affraid to go above 44ma as most people said anything toward 50 killed theirs.

TBH if you are measuring the ma via the voltage drop across a 1ohm resistor (that way you know it is the correct reading +/- a % or 2) I would say keep turning the pot, it will either lase or it won't. At the moment you do not have a laser....after a few more ma's you may have

Regards rog8811