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Death to LOC red laser

jbtm

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Well, I got bored today and thought "Lasers must work higher power when connected to more voltage..." So, The first thing that came to my mind, Mains. I took mains wire, and rectify it to DC, and connected it to my laser diode. I had hopes this would make my laser like...a 10W laser.

So I had it ALL wired up. turned the switch. BZZZZZZZZZZZZ *breaker trips*

Why didnt my laser emit a super beam? Did I do something wrong?



Any ideas?
 





TTerbo

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the thing you did wrong was touch 240v/140v to a diode that needs 3v 420mA :p
 
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I believe this is some good joke on jbtm's part :D

Ofcourse he did not plug in the diode into wall outlet thinking of getting 10 W , did he ?

Good joke :D Though, could've done the experiment with dead diode.
 
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Well, according to your theory with more power in... Since they are made for about 3 volts and you pushed 120 in, it should be 40 times more powerful! And current is rated around 400ma and you tripped a 15 amp breaker. Maybe you didnt pass the threshold current. I would try it with a 20 amp breaker. But, next time, heatsink the laser diode, that way it shouldn't overheat and burn up (use thermal paste). And that should solve all problems.

Hope I help
Salvatore
 
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Well, according to your theory with more power in... Since they are made for about 3 volts and you pushed 120 in, it should be 40 times more powerful! And current is rated around 400ma and you tripped a 15 amp breaker. Maybe you didnt pass the threshold current. I would try it with a 20 amp breaker. But, next time, heatsink the laser diode, that way it shouldn't overheat and burn up (use thermal paste). And that should solve all problems.

Hope I help
Salvatore
Start helping by first using normal color letters. Dark blue on dark background is soring my eyes.

Second, do some reading.
LOC diode'd It (Threshold current) is much more lower than 15 AMPS!

I am not sure but I believe it's at 50 or so mA.

Next, diode's Voltage drop is around 3.1 volts at 400 mA, which is normal operating parameters.

Inputing more than 0.5 A into the diode will result in it's instant COD , and feeding it constant voltage instead of current is also fantastically bad idea.

You did not help. I hope it was another joke, really. This thread is gettig weirder by the post.
 

jbtm

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Well, according to your theory with more power in... Since they are made for about 3 volts and you pushed 120 in, it should be 40 times more powerful! And current is rated around 400ma and you tripped a 15 amp breaker. Maybe you didnt pass the threshold current. I would try it with a 20 amp breaker. But, next time, heatsink the laser diode, that way it shouldn't overheat and burn up (use thermal paste). And that should solve all problems.

Hope I help
Salvatore

Good point, but I tried a 20A breaker, with a 3x4" heatsink on a new diode. This time the diode exploded causing my axiz module to be all charred/black looking :( Guess it didnt work...Maybe I should give a try with 240V 20A?
 
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Good point, but I tried a 20A breaker, with a 3x4" heatsink on a new diode. This time the diode exploded causing my axiz module to be all charred/black looking :( Guess it didnt work...Maybe I should give a try with 240V 20A?
Ah, now I am reassured it's all a joke. :D
 
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Well, IDK, have you tried to ballast them a little? I would try 240 volts but limited to 10 amps, I Since most diodes need some kind of ballast, at 240 volts, that way you should have plenty of voltage, but limited current so it stays cool. I am sure they can push 20 amps but I would recommend 10 max.

This should solve all problems, if not, keep me posted.
 

jbtm

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Well, IDK, have you tried to ballast them a little? I would try 240 volts but limited to 10 amps, I Since most diodes need some kind of ballast, at 240 volts, that way you should have plenty of voltage, but limited current so it stays cool. I am sure they can push 20 amps but I would recommend 10 max.

This should solve all problems, if not, keep me posted.

Well..I have a 300mA ballast...Should that be ok? Then it will have 120V 300mA, and the diode is rated around 420mA...
 
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Sorry, I am new to the forum and didnt know how well the color would show up. Yes, as I read it over I saw it was hard to read.
And Sorry, I dont know a whole lot about laser diodes, I am used to high power tubes and crap like that. And some diodes can handle up to 3 amps (from what I just read)
So, try less power jbtm, I would start at 50 volts @ 5 amps limited, then if there are good results, work your way up
 
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I would try that since it is a super low power, at least we know we wont blow it, And the voltage should be plenty for this, as long as you are in the safe area of current, volts do not matter, amps is what kills shit, almost like how you can power a 3 volt LED with a 15,000 volt 30ma neon sign transformer.
 
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funny-pictures-rabbit-eats-thread.jpg
 
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I would try that since it is a super low power, at least we know we wont blow it, And the voltage should be plenty for this, as long as you are in the safe area of current, volts do not matter, amps is what kills shit, almost like how you can power a 3 volt LED with a 15,000 volt 30ma neon sign transformer.
To everybody who do not know, this is false, and meant for humorous purposes, DO NOT TRY it.

Please don't post such misleading information. One thing is a joke, like OP posted, it's clearly a joke, this already makes the line a little blurry.
 

jbtm

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To everybody who do not know, this is false, and meant for humorous purposes, DO NOT TRY it.

Please don't post such misleading information. One thing is a joke, like OP posted, it's clearly a joke, this already makes the line a little blurry.

Do not try it because your diode dies. I never said it actually went on, now did I? =)
 
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Do not try it because your diode dies. I never said it actually went on, now did I? =)
No I meant for 15kV to LED thing this dude mentioned.

Your OP is clearly a joke, no explaining needed there, except to the noobs looking for a way to actually power up their diode.

I suggest a moderator to be contacted and requested to move this thread to Offtopic section, JBTM.
 

jbtm

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No I meant for 15kV to LED thing this dude mentioned.

Your OP is clearly a joke, no explaining needed there, except to the noobs looking for a way to actually power up their diode.

I suggest a moderator to be contacted and requested to move this thread to Offtopic section, JBTM.

Ok...Then yes, this was a joke, I just thought it be cool to share pics of my diode all toasty. I had it glowing white-orange sparking like CRAZY. Thought it be cool to post the pic of it, with a little stupidity included.

To make you happy, here's what really happen. I arced a microwave transformer to the diode until it roasted.


Diode was placed on top of the metal rod, and since its small, it was covered in flames.
 




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