FS: >130mW PHRs, 185-250mW 6x Blu-Rays, 300-400mW BluRays on request!
Dr. Lava had posted that he would recommend only 6 volts, which is about 300mA's on some of the BDR-203 diodes...
I see.. Officially the FlexDrive should not be boosting above 5.5V, but manages to go to 6V as per the datasheet's Absolute Max Ratings...
Problems appear, when the chip tries to boost higher than that, in order to reach the set current. It can burn itself out. Same as if you power a v1 Flex without a load! Altho usually they can go a bit higher than they are rated for, but reliability is not 100% anymore (devices are always made to withstand more than needed, so that they would be more reliable when used within the official limits - that's also what allows us to push diodes)...
But i'm thinking about another possible explanation for the strict limit. The reason could be a different Zener on the latest FlexDrives..
I once discussed the no-load issue with Lava, asking if he has a Zener diode in reverse on the output of his v1's, since people would eventually power them up without a load, either by accident or lack of knowledge (like trying to measure if the voltage is good for their diode)....
He did put a Zener on all later versions, and what it does - it starts conducting the current the driver is set to, if the voltage crosses a certain point (where that point is, depends on the Zener voltage) - the Zener opens and acts as a load in that case... Then at least the boost chip doesn't commit suicide trying to pass current through air!
I don't know the voltage rating of the Zener Lava uses nowadays, but he said it was 7V for the earlier versions... Altho he later mentioned that he was going to reduce it closer to 6V cos 7V is still too hard for the chip.
Maybe the lowering of the Zener's voltage to barelly above 6V is the reason for the strict 6V limit? If so the two diodes would start competing for the current, if the Vf of the laser diode was too high (a common Zener that comes to mind is 6.3V, which might be the ACTUAL limit).
But I know of at least one person running a FlexDrive in a Pocket Mini/8X at 360mA's.
Well, either his diode (is it a 203BK?) is similar to Franco's and has a lower Vf, or his FlexDrive has a chip capable of a little more, due to standard manufacturing tolerances...
I wonder what would happen if the voltage that the diode was wanting could not be delivered by the driver? Would is just not give anymore power than a certain point, or would the driver shut down?
Actually, neither. It would try to boost the voltage high enough to reach that current, but could damage itself in the process.
The problem comes from the constant current. The diodes require a certain voltage to reach the set current. Regardless of what voltage is needed, the chip will always try very hard to reach it - boosting as high as it possibly can, trying to push the set current through the load...
If the voltage at that current is too high, the chip will push itself too hard, potentially frying itself. They actually go up in smoke when this happens!
With FlexDrives, which can't boost too high anyway, this is not always immediatelly catastrophic.
But it's not good for them either! It can cause permanent damage to the chip, causing it to gradually start malfunctioning or stop working completelly.
I haven't killed a FlexDrive this way yet, but i did kill several of my drivers by accidentally powering them up without a load (an interruption in the dummy load circuit i overlooked). The chip would go up in flames in half a second! This is because it's made to boost as high as 25V, but it fries itself, when it tries to go over 30V, in a feeble attempt to push current through air.. Due to the higher voltage it is capable of, it would kill itself much faster if powered without a load (if it had no protection).
With linear drivers this is not a problem. No load, and they simply peak somewhere below their input voltage. But boosters... Well, they can boost! And constant current boosters try to force current through whatever load is there. To create current, you need voltage, so what the driver does, when it "notices" that the set currrent is not flowing - it increases the voltage! More and more, until the set current is reached OR the driver is dead. Because when the "load" is air, it would take ~2000V to breach the gap between the two output pins (altho even then no current would be flowing, just sparks flying)!
So unless there is a load or some sort of protection, constant current boosters often kill themselves upon power-up. It's just the way they work - they are just trying to do what they are made to do, but with an incomplete circuit - a current source circuit is never complete without the load!
It's a completelly different thing from a voltage source, which does it's thing regardless of the presence of a load.
If on the other hand, the voltage was just
slightly outside the chips limit, most of the chips would still be able to power the diode to full current for a while (some even without a glitch - manufacturing tolerances), but many would "suffer" while doing so, slowly damaging themselves until they would eventually stop working (kill themselves) or potentially even "go crazy" (and maybe even kill the diode)..
At any case, I would imagine that Dr. Lava gave a fairly conservative recommendation...
That i am sure of. He knows that Vf's vary, and that the majority of people don't know the Vf of their diode at their desired current/power.
So he probably went for the safest bet - a current where he was sure none of the 203BK's would go over 6V. (Maybe the real limit really is 6.3V - i should test it)
But if you simply test the diode from a linear driver FIRST, set to the desired final current and then measure the voltage across the diode and it's 6V OR LESS it can safelly be powered by a FlexDrive....
EDIT: This measurement should be performed on a COLD diode! The linear driver should probably be away from it so it doesn't heat up the diode. Cold diodes have a higher Vf, and you want to know the max...