Defintive 6X GGW-H20L Thread.

[brtaman]

Ever since the introduction of the 8X diode the 6X diodes have sort of slipped into the background.

Some time ago there was quite a massive group buy of these sleds, with many members buying quite a few. Therefore I propose this thread. A place where your results including failures are to be added. Based on the ammount of GGW sleds bought, I am sure there is a wealth of knowledge about their longevity and at which currents they seem to work endlessly.

So please, if you tested/played with a GGW diode, post your experience. Make sure to add your testing procedure :gun:, results and at which point the diodes seem to fail on you:can:.

Thanks,
brtaman

 

[millirad]

That would be very interesting to know. Looking forward to seeing some discussion on this.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

270 Ma --- Too much ??
Mine died. but 300 mW was nice for a short time.

Mike

 

[TheGr8Revealing]

i run constant at 180mA on my 6x, havent had any issues yet.


it would be interesting to see a time duration test on the 6x running at nominal power.

 

[brtaman]

Mike: Good to know. But, 300mw through ?acrylic? is something like 360mw on the die :O so not bad at all.

Yeah GR8, before Igor got into all his tax troubles he began testing, with a timer based on a photocell IIRC. Which provides the total time the laser diode was on, will be interesting to see his results on the subject when/if he comes back to the forum.

No one else? op:

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Check the DIY link in my sig. Go to Meta Topic. There are charts and other tid bits.

185-196mA seems to be safe.

 

[brtaman]

Thanks T_J, I know that there are many charts and results available on the forum. I just thought one thread to combine all the results and charts, would be a good idea for all future newcomers etc.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

I agree.

Good luck getting people to rerwite it all though.

 

[brtaman]

I agree.

Good luck getting people to rerwite it all though.

If I pester long enough, I am sure someone will chime in. :beer:

I don't want people to re-write everything, I will try to import as many charts as possible into the OP. However, there were many members IIRC that ordered 10s of these diodes and said they would be testing, yet didn't write any follow-ups. Those are the targeted posters for this thread.

 

[jander6442]

I have had several of the 6X GGW-H20L ...

the first couple fell to the fact of my dummie loads were being read under the mA settings instead of the voltage setting on the DVM...:yabbem: after
that issue.

I had one that ran at about 300mA untill I slipped the probe and shorted it out...

The others I, for the sake of simplicity will be not discussing:banghead:...

I have one that a forum member installed for me at 189mA running over 203mW... Schweet!!! runnig strong w/1hour of 1 min on 1min off...

I would push it harder, but I have no time...

The other I had for maybe 90 min run time at 205mA died after I adjusted the heatsink, maybe a coincidence, but at least I inputted my 6X GGW-H20L story...:beer::beer::beer:

 

[Gata]

I got my first 6x diode a few weeks ago and was excited as hell to get it up and burning. So after some driver issues I finally got it to stay at 185ma, which should be slightly conservative for this diode. Well it lasted about 3 seconds the first time I had it on before it died. So I guess I just got unlucky and got a crap diode.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Remind me not to let you guys build lasers for me :undecided: That diode is hardy, I dont think you guys got bad diodes. Did you use Lava drives? Cause Rkcstr is the way to go.

I'm waiting for my press tool before I pull my first one from the sled. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[brtaman]

Remind me not to let you guys build lasers for me :undecided: That diode is hardy, I dont think you guys got bad diodes. Did you use Lava drives? Cause Rkcstr is the way to go.

I'm waiting for my press tool before I pull my first one from the sled. I'll let you know how it goes.

Jander: Thank you for the additional input. Jander you seem to have had quite some trouble with your 6X diodes, were these the first diodes you personally dealt with? If so, perhaps some cheap 803t would have been better to learn on? :angel: I destroyed quite a couple of 16x burner diodes back when I was starting out in the hobby and blu-ray was just getting into the 803t stage, luckily they were quite reasonably priced back then.

Gata: What sort of driver issues were you experiencing? Which driver were you using? Based on what we have seen in the past at 185ma that diode should have lived a nice long life, perhaps a pin came momentarily loose charging the cap and killing the diode?

T_J: In what way is the rckstr driver superior to the flexdrive? They are in a way apples and oranges. When comparing a buck/boost driver to a linear driver you can't really say one is better. It really depends on the application. Personally I like the lavadrive due to the fact that it is over 90% which means there is less heat build-up. In a linear driver all excess voltage is transformed into heat energy. Enough so that it melts glue from a hot-glue gun. But in some applications where there is abundant voltage and especially in red builds a linear driver is the better choice. I like both drivers, just I prefer the flex, especially for PHR-803T builds where the forward voltage is so high that even with 2x(3.7v nominal) 4.2v li-ion batteries are not enough. What makes you say that the rckstr is superior? :thinking:

 

[jander6442]

Jander: "Thank you for the additional input. Jander you seem to have had quite some trouble with your 6X diodes, were these the first diodes you personally dealt with? If so, perhaps some cheap 803t would have been better to learn on? :angel: I destroyed quite a couple of 16x burner diodes back when I was starting out in the hobby and blu-ray was just getting into the 803t stage, luckily they were quite reasonably priced back then".

I just had a hard time w/capacitor discharge and plain slopp... I have since found a niche for me thanks to some forum members. The days of hurry up are done for me I enjoy taking my time to put them together now...

I use whatever driver that fits my build. The Dr. Ryan driver is very hardy and user friendly the Lava driver is more refined and lends itself to smaller size they are both great a little overpriced what can you do...

Rckstr needs to pay the bills and Dr Lava is the only other option for buck/boost...
sorry for the off topic. Josh

 

[Tech_Junkie]

First its rkcstr not rckstr. Second, of all the driver reviews I've read the rkcstr is the most solid driver out there. There are plies of posts of LavaDrives frying diodes. And I personally don't want to risk frying a $65 diode. Its a lot of money for me. Then how many LD's do you have to go through to find out its the driver? One user told me he burnt 3 diodes before he figured it was the LavaDrive. You are correct in that it depends on the application. Obviously for a pen light build a Flex is a the way to go, but I personally would not put a 200+mW diode in a pen light. I'm using a MDXL with a large heat sink and 3 li-ions with a SI diode series to keep it all in regulation. So for me personally the rkcstr is the only way to go.

 

[brtaman]

Are you serious with the spelling part? His name has not appeared on this forum for while now, so I reserve the the right to misplace a letter or two.

The reason why a rkcstr is rock solid is its simplicity. It is for all intent and purpose a shrunken LM317 based or ddl driver. There is really not much that can go wrong with it. The flexdrive is as I am sure you will agree quite complex and does not take kindly to user error. How many of those horror stories were caused by user error? Operating driver without load, shorting out components etc.

All these faults can easily be found just by using a simple test load and a multimeter...not exactly rocket science.