Flex drives.....

[DKlaser]

When people say that their 445 build is powered by dual flex drives does that mean that their are actually 2 drivers? I want to push my 445 diodes to about 1.8a Right now I have a 1.8a Jib driver that I bought from Moh a while back. If I wanted to look into these flex drives, where are they sold?

I take it that 1.8a I still kind of the threshold for the m140 diodes ?

 

[Blord]

Dual flexdrives means really two drives in the host. The reason is that at 1.8A the laser can run on just one 3.7V Li-ion battery while the Jibs driver needs two batteries.
Each flexdrive is set at 900mA. Another advantage is that dual drives create less heat than the linear driver at 1.8A.

You can buy the flexdrive from several members here on the forum or directly from the maker of the flexdrive, http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_diode/Micro_FlexDrive.php

 

[Hiemal]

I wouldn't recommend buying directly from the seller.... his communication is practically non-existent, and he takes up to 2 weeks to actually ship it...

 

[DKlaser]

Dual flexdrives means really two drives in the host. The reason is that at 1.8A the laser can run on just one 3.7V Li-ion battery while the Jibs driver needs two batteries.
Each flexdrive is set at 900mA. Another advantage is that dual drives create less heat than the linear driver at 1.8A.

You can buy the flexdrive from several members here on the forum or directly from the maker of the flexdrive, http://hacylon.case.edu/ebay/laser_diode/Micro_FlexDrive.php

So these are run in series with each other? Any real advantage to them over the jib?

 

[DTR]

They are run in parallel.

Here is a reply I made in this thread that covres it pretty well.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/what-advantage-flexdrives-71159.html

There are other differences. Linear drivers will pull less current but boost drivers will allow you to use single larger capacity batteries.

In the case of an 18650 host say if you use a linear driver set to 1.8A pulling 1.8A from the battery and two 800mAh 16340's that gives a run time of approximately 28 minutes between recharging.

But if you go with dual Flex'a set to 1.8A you draw on average 2.3A and used with a 2900mAh 18650 gives you aproximatly 1 hour and 15 minutes between recharging.

So that is 28 minutes vs 1 hour 15 minutes.


Also the flex is as the name says. Flexible. As it is also a buck driver so it will drive the diodes that have a lower forward voltage like the 635/650/IR diodes. Also in buck mode it turns the extra voltage into current instead of dropping it like a linear so if you have a 635 diode run by a Flex set to 800mA it will draw like 550mA. If you run that off the same 2900mAh 18650 you get 5 hours+ between charging.:eg:

There are also heat differences. With a 445 diode set to the higher currents they both produce a bit of heat but I think the linear drivers do produce a great deal more especially when they are running off fully charged batteries.

Now the great part is the linear driver is cheap and also pretty easy to build your own if you wanted with a few dollars in parts but the premade ones that Mo sells are great for ease of use. I have use them quite often myself.:beer:

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Here's what dual flex drives look like.

HMike