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FrozenGate by Avery

FREE DIY open source BOOST driver!!! Tested & working!!

I reflowed the back first which just has the inductor, diode, and heatsink. The when I reflowed the next side I set it on the inductor and heatsink. The only thing that was exposed to gravity was the diode but it didn't fall off.

When I do boards with lots of parts on both sides I have a stand made from a paper clip that I mount them on. I bent it into a half circle with both ends sticking up. Both end have a kink so you just put the ends through two holes in the boards and they rest on the kinks. It holds them up in the air and I've never had parts fall off.

That's a nice deal on the lm3410s Anthony. A lot cheaper than digikey.
 
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Ben, if you don't mind sharing some details: do you use toaster oven or skillet or something esle?
What are your reflow settings (temperature time)?

Thank you
 
I use a toaster oven. I just picked up the cheapest one at Walmart.

When I reflow I put them in then set it to 200F. When the thermostat clicks and the elements turn off I wait 15-30 seconds then increase by 50F. Repeat that until it melts (300-350 on my oven its not very accurate), then give it 30 seconds after it first melts before I turn it off. Crack the door and let it cool off slowly. I just made this procedure up on the fly, but from my experience it's not get critical. As long as you don't put it straight to 400F, or leave it in there for a long time it will work fine.
 
Oh just noticed, wolfman has released his Boost driver :) . I think the time is right for that opensourced Buck driver ;)

P.S. thank you for the directions!
 
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Hey, my BoostDriver isn't out yet! It'll be at least another month if not more before it hits CajunLasers.

Anyway, regards to ben's method - maybe I've just been really lucky, but I've noticed that just sticking mine in at 400 degrees and leaving it in there till it melts works for me. But I may take up your method instead - seems like it would be safer.
 
I could order 1,000 little copper cubes if you want, they'd be pennies each.
benmwv said:
I actually did post it back on page 44.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f67/f...iver-tested-working-71433-44.html#post1094840

Ill add it and a parts list to the OP soon.

Need to find a source for some copper cubes! Maybe we could cut from
one of these:
Copper Rod 1/8" dia. X 10" for electrical, repairs, crafts, restorations, etc. | eBay
Square Brass Bar Stock 1/8" X 1/8" X 10" for milling, knife making, crafts, etc. | eBay

I think i'm gonna order on of each.
Click to expand...
 
Really? How much do you think the entire batch would be? Id be in for about $25 dollars worth I guess. I don't want to spend too much money considering most of them I would never use. Maybe a couple of us could split it, or you could do a smaller order like 100?

Ideal size is 3.5mm x 3.5mm x 5mm.
 
Machinist Joe,

Ive seen your post about helping to IMS PCB drivers. From what I understand currently no one is making benboosts for clif and he thus removed them from his site. Perhaps youd be interested in making these too?

P.S. My apologies for sounding obsessed about this driver. I guess the opensource nature of it and all other qualities appeal too much :) I think I have a crush on it!
 
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gillza said:
Machinist Joe,

Ive seen your post about helping to IMS PCB drivers. From what I understand currently no one is making benboosts for clif and he thus removed them from his site. Perhaps youd be interested in making these too?

P.S. My apologies for sounding obsessed about this driver. I guess the opensource nature of it and all other qualities appeal too much :) I think I have a crush on it!
Click to expand...

I have contacted Ben about stocking these also :) but just the mini version ;)

Oh and machinist joe I could use a few copper cubes also :D
 
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I actually have a couple drivers in the works that have a little twist on how we usually do things.

I'm a huge fan of simple heatsinking. ;)
gillza said:
Machinist Joe,

Ive seen your post about helping to IMS PCB drivers. From what I understand currently no one is making benboosts for clif and he thus removed them from his site. Perhaps youd be interested in making these too?

P.S. My apologies for sounding obsessed about this driver. I guess the opensource nature of it and all other qualities appeal too much :) I think I have a crush on it!
Click to expand...
 
Hey I remember reading on here that there was a start up spike or some oscillation on the driver. Im not sure if it was fixed, everyone was throwing around ideas for capacitor size change, diodes parallel to output and such. I don't know if it would work, but what about adding a ferrite bead somewhere? I know they are more for interference on tuned circuits, but couldn't they also filter and smooth outputs?

Just a lightbulb, not a fully developed idea.

I can get a strip of smt beads, if anyone thinks this would help, to test out
 
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Warning: I am recommending everyone to use 22uf caps, and leave off C3. The cap was causing some oscillations in the output. It will be taken out on future design updates. With these changes it is safe to use this on sensitive diodes such as 12x.


This is the Quote from the OP. Seems I missed a few things when I was gone..
 
Guys,

I have V1 of this driver before any of the caps were changed. My question is this:

Is it risky for me to use the PWM feature with m140 diodes, given that the start up "oscillation" will be occuring hundreds of times per second instead of once per use as in a normal build.

If anyone is interested in dimming this driver I found that it is much more effective to PWM this driver by switching the Vin, rather than using the DIM pin on the IC.

Also, has anyone used this driver to drive multiple 445s in series? I tried it with 2 in series and it worked fine. 3 did not work. Just curious if anyone else has tried this.

Thanks,

James
 
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