First build is dim

[Leodahsan]

Understood :beer:

oh and.. here is a drawing.

if msxmgd used the "current regulator" circuit, he shouldn't have gone up to 15v input. That probably fried the diode.
He needed to use the second circuit (I think it should work, drawed it anyways )

 

[Coherent Light]

That's a good drawing, and easy for the noob's to read.

+Rep

 

[lazeerer]

+1 to lazeerer, and -1 to lazeerer. My first build was a direct driven LOC, and I still have it. Total use before I installed a driver was at least 40 hours.

Are you sure you didn't fried the diode when soldering on it? the soldering iron must be just above the minimum 'tin melting' temperature.

What do you mean by +1 to lazeerer, and -1 to lazeerer?

Leodahsan you probably have the battery matched to the diode. The OP probably used the full voltage He was planning to use with the LM317! That is probably why yours is alive, and his is not.

Yes that is exactly what i meant.

 

[Leodahsan]

@Coherent Light
Thanks. I'm not really into electronics, but I thought that this should help.
(off topic: I drawed all that 5 minutes ago, and before saving, I accidentally pressed "POWER" on my keyboard by mistake.. hahah )

@lazeerer
+1 that you guessed that msxmgd saw kipkay video, almost anyone who had a burnt diode, saw kipkay video
and -1 to "You Killed the diode when powering it up without the LM317", because I still have my ex-direct driven diode (working).
It was a joke.. :beer:

 

[lazeerer]

^^^. I was Just confused it through me off.

 

[Coherent Light]

I direct drive all of my diodes before I hook them up to a driver:na:.....With My variable bench PS that is.

 

[Leodahsan]

where is the thread starter? did he make the diode work back again?

offtopic: I don't have a bench power supply anymore.. I'm thinking of building one myself (oops.. bad idea ) for trying lasers before permanently attaching they at drivers.

I would buy one if shipping goes cheap

 

[Coherent Light]

I think the OP went on Hiatus. Would be nice to get a picture of His set-up.

You'll have to go local or find free shipping to get a good deal.

 

[Leodahsan]

a variable PSU locally? these things cost $200 here. Dang..

 

[Coherent Light]

You can get them for between $50-$100 online, so maybe even with shipping it'll still be cheaper. Amazon seems to always have a few up for sale.

 

[msxmgd]

@leodahsan

i haven't done anything yet - kind of sick...
i suppose the next thing to do would be remove one of the 10-ohm resistors in parallel right now, and failing that, hook up a new diode to my circuit with the lm317

 

[Coherent Light]

Do you just have the LM317 and resistors or do you have any capacitor(s) in the circuit? Discharge the caps if you have any before hooking up your diode. Also 15v is too high for your simple circuit so lower the input voltage to around ~5.5v.

 

[Leodahsan]

@msxmgd
try this and check if your setup is correct.

sorry but.. isn't 250mA too much for your diode?

 

[msxmgd]

I'm not using any capacitors.
is 250mA too much? people seem to agree that 200-250 is the ideal range.

according to the lm317 calculator you posted (ty btw) my setup is correct for 250mA and removing one of the [parallel] 10-ohm resistors will make it correct for 125mA

 

[Leodahsan]

Just a thought.

 

[Coherent Light]

That would the absolute high limit for a 16x, but I'm not sure that you can get 250mw out of a 16x. 200mw is probably the most you'll get. If you get an 815 LOC you can get 250mw or higher with better lenses.