Help A140 A-Type Laser Diode - 1.8W 445nm 5.6mm TO-18

[Kyle15348]

Help new to lasers, i got an A140 A-Type Laser Diode - 1.8W 445nm 5.6mm TO-18 and been looking everywere for a driver but cant find one that has verry good reviews, any recommendation?

 

[paul1598419]

I'd try DTR's site. I haven't been there in awhile, but he has been selling 1.8 amp drivers there for years.

 

[Giannis_TDM]

Help new to lasers, i got an A140 A-Type Laser Diode - 1.8W 445nm 5.6mm TO-18 and been looking everywere for a driver but cant find one that has verry good reviews, any recommendation?

I'd recommend an SXD driver from DTR or my 3A buck, Info here: https://sites.google.com/view/giannislasershack/3a-buck

Datasheet is available. they ship out with personalized test reports.

Also, such a140s should really be set to 1.6A max to ensure that they don't burn out fast, 1.2A can also be a good bet if you want your diode to live longer.

 

[Unown (WILD)]

Flashlight Drivers

Flashlight Drivers

kaidomain.com

It was thanks to red cowboy that I learned about these. I'm using a 1500ma driver for an m140 build I put together a few months ago. You need two li ion batteries though

 

[paul1598419]

Most of these drivers are buck, so you'll need two Li-ion batteries with any of them. The only exception is SEPIC drivers, but those don't work as well as bucks with this type of laser diode.

 

[Kyle15348]

Thanks everyone, yea i kept looking at ebay ones but didn't get a good feeling about most of them, i think im gonna try the 1500ma one that unknown (wild) brought up or do you think since i have the a140 less powerful then the m140 should i go with the 1000ma one to be safe?

 

[paul1598419]

The A140 diodes are old and don't take that much current well if you are looking for longevity. A buck driver supplying 1.8 amps is a bit much for that diode. I'd try for 1.2 to maybe 1.5 amps in total.

 

[Kyle15348]

Yea i had heard that about the a140s, thanks for the answers everyone on here is so nice I've noticed, dont see that very often these days

 

[Shmackitup]

I have these available as well: https://www.barnettunlimited.com/pr...able-buck-constant-current-driver-w-1-khz-pwm

You could have grabbed one when you bought the A140.

 

[Kyle15348]

Yea i know i was looking at that one and thats actually the person i got the a140 from too i just didn't have that much right now

 

[Shmackitup]

Yea i know i was looking at that one and thats actually the person i got the a140 from too i just didn't have that much right now

Yes, I'm that person. lol.

 

[Kyle15348]

lol, so obviously you have seen these diodes work do they work pretty good?

 

[Shmackitup]

Yes, the A140's are quite powerful.

 

[RedCowboy]

M-140's have half way decent divergence so I'm knife edging a few just for fun, I need to get some blocks precision machined so I can stack and pack several rows in a much bigger yet more compact build, but this is a fun expedient build, definitely get some G8 lenses for your m-140's.

 

[paul1598419]

Since you have them all wired together, I'd use heat shrink tubing as opposed to electrical tape to insulate them. Just a thought.

 

[RedCowboy]

I set the infinity focus and rotational alignment one at a time and then I only connected them in series temporally to check and adjust the parallel alignment, I rarely if ever use electrical tape on anything.

Also by leaving the connections bare I can power any portion of the string while aligning my mirrors, once complete i will trim the excess and use heat shrink.