DVD laser diode is very dim after first try.

[BoskoSLO]

Hello everyone I'm new here and i have already my first problem.

I'm making a homemade DVD laser burner and made a working driver already.
Tested it with a load using this scheme.

Laser driver - It can be done

Than I extracted a red DVD laser burner diode from a DVD-R/RW drive, but I cut of the heatsink, I tested which diode is the red one. The moment I found the red diode it was already shining dim. Far from what i have seen in this video at 1:00

How to Tell which Diode is Burning Red in a DVD Burner - YouTube

After i got the diode out and put it into my aixiz module, put on the lens, temp. soldered it to my driver board, connected a 9V battery to the driver board and set the potenciometer, so the resistance is set to 5ohm.
The diode was so dim i could barely see it. Even when focusing the lens, I can't see the dot 5m away on a white wall.

Then I searched on google about my problem and some people said the diode is dead.
If my diode is dead. Can you post some links to sites where they sell these type of red diodes.

Thx in advance

Best regards Bostjan

 

[Laser Smith]

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[Blord]

How to Tell which Diode is Burning Red in a DVD Burner - YouTube

That is a very bad method to test diode. You have probably toasted the laserdiode and now it is a LED.

 

[BoskoSLO]

How to Tell which Diode is Burning Red in a DVD Burner - YouTube

That is a very bad method to test diode. You have probably toasted the laserdiode and now it is a LED.

Even if the diode is connected like that for a sec. or two it can get damaged?
Beside that, I used two weak batteries.

 

[Blord]

You will be amazed how fast electricity is. You need a current limited power source to test the diode. Not the batteries, they are voltage limited.

 

[BoskoSLO]

You will be amazed how fast electricity is. You need a current limited power source to test the diode. Not the batteries, they are voltage limited.

Yeah i know its fast, almost the speed of light
Maybe the gun on the video got lucky for not frying hs red diode.
Next time when i get two diodes from a dvd burner i MUST connected them to my driver and check which is the red one.

 

[BoskoSLO]

Hi again!

I bought a new DVD burner 16x, extracted the red diode and attached it to my laser driver right away and pluged in a 9V battery and the results were disappointing. The laser diode was very very weak, AGAIN. The laser is so dim i can look directly into the diode without getting blinded. The diode power is like 0.1mw not even close to 100mw or more.

I don't know whats wrong. I have tested my driver on a 3v led and measured the current and resistance. I can set the current from 0.01Amp to 0.25 and the resistance from 5 to ~105ohm.

Oh and the DVD burner had two red laser diodes and both were weak and useless.
On the back of the DVD burner housing it says that it contains a 3B class laser in it.
For me its a -3b laser class laser -.-.

What i'm I doing wrong all the time?

 

[Blord]

I bought a new DVD burner 16x, extracted the red diode and attached it to my laser driver right away and pluged in a 9V battery and the results were disappointing. The laser diode was very very weak, AGAIN. The laser is so dim i can look directly into the diode without getting blinded. The diode power is like 0.1mw not even close to 100mw or more.

I don't know whats wrong. I have tested my driver on a 3v led and measured the current and resistance. I can set the current from 0.01Amp to 0.25 and the resistance from 5 to ~105ohm.

Are you crazy ? If that is an IR diode you may have toasted your eyes. :tsk:
Never ever look directly into the laserdiode. It won't help you to solve the problem, you are creating one.

Look for static electricity. It can kill the diodes.
Is your solder iron grounded ? Are you walking on carpet ? Dry air ? Wool cloth ? etc etc.

 

[BoskoSLO]

Are you crazy ? If that is an IR diode you may have toasted your eyes. :tsk:
Never ever look directly into the laserdiode. It won't help you to solve the problem, you are creating one.

Look for static electricity. It can kill the diodes.
Is your solder iron grounded ? Are you walking on carpet ? Dry air ? Wool cloth ? etc etc.

I think i said that sentence to direct. I was just a little over reacting in real i didn't looked directly into the diode. "I was mad"

And I think u were right about the static problem.
-My room air is pretty dry
-My solder iron is not grounded ( I think i can fix that) "I used the current tester screwdriver on the tip of the soldering iron and it lit up so propably thats what killed the diode before i hook it up on my driver. I really need to ground it.
-My whole room floor is carpet
-And my clothes are 1/2 made of wool

Does that mean that the static can ruin a diode before i even test it?

I never though i made this many mistakes
Looks like its not that easy as it seems.
I heard there is a anti static wrist band. Can i get it in my local store maybe?