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Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 980mA @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

gillza

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Jul 26, 2010
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Hello,

I’d like to share with you my recent build. I was trying to reach/pass the 1W mark with this laser. I got very close but not quite :). It reads at 980mW.
Formalities out of the way: I do own several pairs of protective goggles for all the wavelengths that I “play” with.

Materials:
Driver: I have used my last microboost purchased over 2 years ago.
Diode: 405nm BDR-S06J 12x (from DTR)
Module: 5.6mm Copper diode module and aluminum driver housing (from DTR)
Lens: 405-G-2 (from DTR)
Lens holder: Extended lens holder (from DTR)
Host: SAIK-SA305
Heatsink: Eudaimonium's creation :)
Test load: 3A capable test load (from Jufran88)
Thermal compounds: Arctic Silver (for the module, capacitive)/ Arctic Alumina Epoxy (for the driver, non conductive/capacitive)


I usually like to purchase all of the components separately and put everything together by myself. I did my research and confirmed that. unless I buy everything in bulk the price for a 405nm combo kit from DTR that he sells for $96 would be pretty much the same if I’d buy parts from my several preferred sources separately. Actually the difference was 83 cents in favor of the combo kit. So I decided to try the kit.

I have requested the kit to come with the extended lens holder instead of the one in the picture and DTR offered to swap it at no extra price! There was a little harmless hiccup when the kit has arrived. It came with the original lens holder instead of the extended, and the great seller that DTR he sent me the replacement part for free. He wouldn’t even let me pay half the price or shipping expenses. Great person and sidereal customer service!


Diode Testing.
The first thing I did was test the diode on my bench PSU (HY-1803DL). With the PSU off the voltage regulator was turned almost all the way to maximum while keeping the current regulator at 0. Before connecting the leads I have shorted them to get rid of any residual charge. The module with the diode is secured in the heatsink with arctic silver added to fill in any gaps.
Very slowly the current knob was turned to 760mA (and by slowly I mean less than a degree at a time). 760mA was the current that I was hoping to drive the diode at. While changing the current I was monitoring the defocused diode output to see if I can visually detect any change in intensity ones I hit above 500mA. LPM would be a great help here. I turned of and turned on the diode with these settings to see if it will handle the startup at 760mA several times too.
20120916_001b.jpg



Driver Current Setting
So at 760mA the diode was dropping 6.5V. The test load that I have using 1N5404 rectifier diodes which at this current according to the spec sheet should be dropping 0.8V
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/WINGS/1N5406.pdf

I have confirmed this by pushing 0.76A through a single diode and monitoring the drop in voltage. Spot on :)
So to achieve 6.5V drop with the load I will follow the equation to findout how many I will need to jumper:
6.5=0.8*X + 0.76 where 0.76 is the drop across the resistor that you are measuring. A lot of people don’t take this into account when setting the current. At high currents this drop is high enough to impact your driver’s operation. So..

X ~ 7 I will need to jumper 7 diodes to achieve a load similar to what the driver will have to provide.
20120919_011s_zps4e8b84a6.jpg



After making the necessary bridges on the driver and testing it at this load, I have noticed following::
1) I can not adjust it to output 760mA. It jumps from 748mA straight up to 790mA. In addition if I leave the pot at 747mA, when on the driver momentarily jumps to 790mA anyway. So I set the current on 745mA and tested it several times at different temperatures and changing the load slightly. It seemed pretty stable.

2) At 745mA the driver overheats. The IC gets very hot to the touch and after a few seconds the current starts dropping. It needs heatsinking.

So I broke apart CPU heatsink, cut off a little piece of aluminum and glued it to the IC using Arctic Alumina thermal epoxy.
20120917_002s.jpg


In addition the driver is glued to the slightly modified host pill for additional heatsinking.

The Pill and Heatsink
The heatsink was purchased from Eudaimonium. The transaction was flawless and he was very quick to reply answering all of the questions I had. The dude is great! When the heatsink has arrived (sooner than I thought considering it was coming from across the ocean) it looked better than I expected. Very clean! No bumps or scratches! The module shaft looked very smooth and will provide great contact with the module for improved heatsinking. Oh and did I mention? It is HUGE! Great job Eudaimonium!

The way the heatsink is machined it is assumed that you will not be using it with the host’s pill. With a regular SAIK SA-305 you will not be able to insert the heatsink all the way with the pill still in as it will protrude 1mm or so. So you are to mount your driver into the heatsink or onto it. The heatsink has a 17mm cavity which fits perfectly for round drivers wich have the battery contact on the bottom such as Blitzbuck or FMT drive and similar.

In my case however I somehow got a skinny pill. And it actually allowed leaving it inside the host.
The one on the right is the standard size pill:

20120830_003.jpg


So if you want to use both you can either fill off 1-2 mm from the heatsink (there is more than enough metal there) or 1mm from the top of the pill and it will work. Or you can contact Eudaimonium directly and discuss with him the options. Oh yeah one more thing when you submit a sketch of changes you want to make don’t use MS paint and mouse. Use paper, ruler, pencil and eraser :) Good sketch helps avoid future problems and save time.

Below is the pill and a filed and drilled penny on top of which I will glue the driver.
20120917_001b.jpg


Glued the penny in. Top of the pill
20120917_003s.jpg


Bottom. This is where I will insert the original driver to function as contact board.
20120917_004s.jpg


Here I have applied a thin layer of Thermal epoxy in order to create a nonconductive layer and prevent anything from shorting. Let it dry for 5min.

20120919_002s_zps560433ed.jpg


Fresh mix is then applied to the surfaces of the driver that will be in contact with the pill and the driver is glued onto the pill:

20120919_001s_zps14506d4f.jpg


20120919_004s_zpsa0395601.jpg


Next I removed all of the components from the original driver and soldered the battery leads from microboost on top of the board.
20120919_008s_zpse368101a.jpg


And here I made a mistake. The + wire should be soldered onto the hole that is almost in the center of the board. Or I would have to make a jumper from it to the place I soldered it to originally. Ones the error was corrected. I have applied the strips of electrical tape across the contacts to prevent any possible shorts.

Now here is the completed pill:

20120919_007b_zpsac904d43.jpg


20120919_009s_zps9216f194.jpg


Sanity check:
The drier is running for about 5 minutes here. The pill got rather hot and the current dropped from 745mA to 740-738mA
20120919_010s_zpse285f985.jpg


Onto the heatsink:
I have decided to cut off a portion of the driver compartment from the module because otherwise the wires from the driver to the diode would not fit anywhere.

20120919_005s_zps277a8ee0.jpg


I could have completely removed the driver holder compartment but … what’s left of it was screwed back onto the module.
20120919_006s_zpsc5312ad5.jpg


Those black lines is me figuring out what how I want to modify the heatsink for my next build. Ignore them.

The heatsink is inserted into the head and the leads are connected to the driver. This will bitme me in the ass in the future when I will need to remove the head for whatever adjustments to the setup or so. The wires need to be as short as possible in order to be folded and fitted inside the heatsink cavity without twisting madly or damaging the driver itself or diode leads. So make them short and use some kind of tiny wire connectors instead of permanently soldering them I guess.

The white wire is from the case pin. I cut it off even shorter and liquid taped the end so that it would not short anything.

20120919_015b_zps2bcc13ad.jpg


After the wires are packed in the cavity I have screwed the head with the heatsink on and MADE SURE that the heatsink is not rotating with the head. Kept is stationary with a finger. Otherwise the wires will twist too much.

Oh I also like to teflon the lens holder and take the spring out:
20120919_017b_zps27b08f4b.jpg


All done!
20120919_025s_zps9e2d9c43.jpg



Beamshots:

No smoke/ shitty n900 camera:
20120919_027s_zpse32770cf.jpg


A bit of smoke/ still shitty camera:
20120919_029s_zps55edfcb8.jpg


A bit of smoke better camera/shitty cameraman:
DSC_0162_zpsb8843c85.jpg


My guidesman 445nm laser is used for comparison. The lens was dirty, so you can see the splash...

And some more:
DSC_0163_zps793c2d2e.jpg


DSC_0164_zpsbc28192f.jpg


DSC_0173_zps1c8ad914.jpg


DSC_0179_zps58930aee.jpg


DSC_0180_zps37802617.jpg


LPM measurement:

20121006_010.jpg


So not quite 1W but veeery close. Next one perhaps :)


Appendix
The first time I had to replace the stock lens for my 445nm build I found a simple way of doing it without ever touching the lens with tweezers or fingers.

For those who are interested and are buying the lens separately here is how I do it:
You will need a flat screwdriver tip that fits inside the lens holder (I don’t remember the number of the tip and will look it up later). Insert the tip inside the holder and unscrew the insert like so:

20120916_004b.jpg


Than I am going to use head from Guidesman flashlight as a lens support when I take it out. Any spring of appropriate size will do, or any tube. The reason I used the spring ws because it supports the convex side of the lens nicely:
20120916_002s.jpg


Insert the spring end into the holder. Flip the holder with the spring downside up.
20120919_019b_zps7028cf3e.jpg


Slowly lift the lens holder up. You will end up with this:
20120919_020s_zps8b9d86fb.jpg


Now do everything in reverse order using the extended holder and you are done.
 
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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Neat trick with the spring for the lens! I'll have to remember that!!!

I'd watch out for that thermal adhesive, though. Although it doesn't conduct well, I hear it's slightly capacitive. Great build BTW!
 
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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

nice build. i also like your guidesman.
 

gillza

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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Neat trick with the spring for the lens! I'll have to remember that!!!

I'd watch out for that thermal adhesive, though. Although it doesn't conduct well, I hear it's slightly capacitive. Great build BTW!

Thank you! About the thermal adhesive: the adhesive used on the driver is based on Aluminum Oxide and is non-conductive and non-capacitive. Arctic Silver thermal paste is slightly capacitive. But since I used it between the module and heatsink it does not matter. Diode's case pin is isolated from the rest and not used anyway :)


nice build. i also like your guidesman.

Thank you. I need to redo it. The Benboost at 1267mA is overheating even with heatsinking. I am thinking of replacing it with two benboosts outputting below 1A or with an FMT drive.
 
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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

I've got one with and x-drive at 2A and 9mm.
 

DTR

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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Very nice build and detailed thread. Driving that one pretty good for sure.:beer:

One suggestion I do have is on the Teflon. Having the teflon go all the way to the bottom of the lens threads could risk depositing bits in the module and on the diode window as the tape does fray over time. If you want to use Teflon I suggest you have it end 4-5mm before the bottom of the threads on the lens barrel so that the tape is just starting to thread into the module when the lens is almost fully focused. That will reduce the risk greatly.;)

Also you may know this but these brass lens barrels are the only ones that I have seen that can use a full internal Aixiz spring and focus completely plus some and they do work very well. Better than they do with the three element for sure and there is no risk from debris like with Teflon.:beer:

20120919_017b_zps27b08f4b.jpg


http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums...IK SA-305 405nm/20120919_017b_zps27b08f4b.jpg
 
Joined
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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Nice build, great and informative post and cool beam shots! A well deserved +1 ;) and :beer:
 
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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Good job... About the microboost you could have soldered all the jumpers and still put the current where at first you wanted it. I believe I read were they where more efficient when you went with the top current set and then backed down.

Man I bet its killing to know its true output.
 

gillza

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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Very nice build and detailed thread. Driving that one pretty good for sure.:beer:

One suggestion I do have is on the Teflon. Having the teflon go all the way to the bottom of the lens threads could risk depositing bits in the module and on the diode window as the tape does fray over time. If you want to use Teflon I suggest you have it end 4-5mm before the bottom of the threads on the lens barrel so that the tape is just starting to thread into the module when the lens is almost fully focused. That will reduce the risk greatly.;)

Also you may know this but these brass lens barrels are the only ones that I have seen that can use a full internal Aixiz spring and focus completely plus some and they do work very well. Better than they do with the three element for sure and there is no risk from debris like with Teflon.:beer:

Thanks for the tip DTR. I gotta admit I was worried about teflon flaking off onto the diode window after some time. Have not seen that yet with my older lasers that are over a year old. But that is a legitimate concern. I have not tried to apply the tape the way you suggested. Will it keep the lens holder firm and steady?

I don't like the spring honestly. I have a weird and unexplained feeling that it will get in a way of the beem, or it might scrape off pieces of metal from bottom of the lens holder. These two are probably baseless worries. I will try what you suggested in my next build.

Good job... About the microboost you could have soldered all the jumpers and still put the current where at first you wanted it. I believe I read were they where more efficient when you went with the top current set and then backed down.

Man I bet its killing to know its true output.

Thank you! I have soldered the contacts according to the dat sheet to operate on 540-1000mA region. It is the top current set in the document. I did this hoping that it will hit 760mA easy. But as I have mentioned in the first post I could never get to 760mA. It would jump to 790mA once I was around 750mA randomly and even at 745mA it was generating quite a lot of heat.

Very true about the output, I do want to know very much :) Well once I get the LPM calibrated and shipped back to me... :) I really hope I passed 1W mark . Well the laser is very powerfull, it burns white paper easy, but that is mostly due to the wavelength. It actually burns trough materials as fast as my 445 laser and I know that that one is around 1300mW or so.
 
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Cel

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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Very nice thread, build and laser! +1 :beer:

You did a good job!
 

gillza

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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Thank you! :) I hope it might be helpful to the beginners who look into building similar "pointers"
 
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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

Nice workbench. I really like the build and ty for going in depth with this thread, I hope it hits >1W.
 

gillza

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Re: Bluray S06J in SAIK SA-305 @ ~745mA, tutorial, long, boring and picture heavy

It is a cupboard under the stairs :)
Thank you, I can't wait for the LPM to arrive after calibration!
 
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I know this an old thread,but just wondering, you used the original flashlight pill as your pill for the laser build? Does the penny fit well inside the pill, or go you need to expand it?

Also, where did you solder the wire to get current from the - battery contact, just somewhere on the metal part of the pill?
 
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