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help powerering laser drivers with ac power

MISTERWILLING

MISTERWILLING

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Apr 2, 2009
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I am looking to power my drivers for my lasers running from 200-1000mA (AMC7135 350mA and AMC7135 1050mA). What is a good and cheap way to convert ac to dc power so I don't have to keep buying new batteries. I was thinking of just using a bunch of ac to dc coverters and wiring them to the drivers directly. I can get those for 5-10 bucks each so I was thinking this would be cheapest way although it would be annoying to have a power strip full of converters all wired up.
 





MISTERWILLING said:
I am looking to power my drivers for my lasers running from 200-1000mA (AMC7135 350mA and AMC7135 1050mA). What is a good and cheap way to convert ac to dc power so I don't have to keep buying new batteries. I was thinking of just using a bunch of ac to dc coverters and wiring them to the drivers directly. I can get those for 5-10 bucks each so I was thinking this would be cheapest way although it would be annoying to have a power strip full of converters all wired up.
Click to expand...
It can be done.... but you need to find a Regulated Wall Wart Power supply rated
at the correct voltage and can supply enough current to replace your batteries.
Standard un-regulated Wall Warts vary greatly from their indicated voltage.... 8-)

Jerry
 
I've used desktop PC supplies for powering laser drivers as their increased amperage rating means you can use them to power many different parts of your setup. They supply both 5VDC and 12VDC, so what I did to make them work with my LM317 drivers was to install a 7809 voltage regulator in series with the LM317 driver input to give me a clean 9V in for 12V from the PS. The same idea will work for you , but instead of a 7809, you'd use a regulator that drops either the 12V or 5V PS output to whatever input voltage your drivers require.. ( I don't know what voltage those drivers require, but the 78XX series of regulators consists of outputs ranging from 5V - 35V IIRC, with the model number ending in the supplied voltage i.e. 7805, 7812, etc..)

You'll probably need heatsinks for the 78XX regulators at the currents you're talking about..
 
ElektroFreak said:
I've used desktop PC supplies for powering laser drivers as their increased amperage rating means you can use them to power many different parts of your setup. They supply both 5VDC and 12VDC, so what I did to make them work with my LM317 drivers was to install a 7809 voltage regulator in series with the LM317 driver input to give me a clean 9V in for 12V from the PS. The same idea will work for you , but instead of a 7809, you'd use a regulator that drops either the 12V or 5V PS output to whatever input voltage your drivers require.. ( I don't know what voltage those drivers require, but the 78XX series of regulators consists of outputs ranging from 5V - 35V IIRC, with the model number ending in the supplied voltage i.e. 7805, 7812, etc..)

You'll probably need heatsinks for the 78XX regulators at the currents you're talking about..
Click to expand...


The 78XX regulators are rated for 1A IIRC .

-Gabriel-
 
[ch1071 said:
ebel]
The 78XX regulators are rated for 1A IIRC .

-Gabriel-
Click to expand...


I think he was talking about needing 1A Max.. If you heatsink them properly, they'll handle 2.2A absolute max (instantaneous), which means they should easily and reliably provide a bit over 1A with heatsinking.
 
ElektroFreak said:
[quote author=[ch1071]ebel link=1239038212/0#4 date=1239124722]
The 78XX regulators are rated for 1A IIRC .

-Gabriel-
Click to expand...


I think he was talking about needing 1A Max.. If you heatsink them properly, they'll handle 2.2A absolute max (instantaneous), which means they should easily and reliably provide a bit over 1A with heatsinking.[/quote]


Mhmm.

If you pull out the heatsink that cools the regulators transistors and rectifiers in an ATX power supply, one of them should supply sufficient cooling , it is also easy to mount regulators onto them because that's what they were designed for. You can also get some components out of it if you take your time and de-solder all of the components that are attached to the sinks.

Hope that helps.

-Gabriel-
 
Yup just a regular wall ac/dc converter will work.

You could also buy a bridge rectifier and a few caps and a little transformer so step down to the voltage you need if you were thinking about building a 'lab style' PSU.
 
I am a machinist so i can build heatsinks no problem, but will I need one? The drivers i got off of deal extreme recommend 3.5-4.6v and are 350mA and 1050mA. So all i need to do is run a 7804 regulator( to get it to 4v) in series with each driver I attach to the 5v of the power supply? Sorry i am not good with electrical stuff so please be in depth with your answers, but thank you to everyone helping me with this.
 
In that case I'd take the 5V directly from the computer PS, and instead of a 78XX regulator, just put 1 standard 1N4007 rectifier diode in series with the input to each of your drivers. The diode will drop the voltage by .7V which will give you 4.3V in. That's even easier than using the regulators..
 
Okay i will try this. So to be clear, the drivers will be able to regulate the current coming from a 250watt PC power supply and with the 1N4007 rectifier diode i will have correct voltage and power for my drivers? (this is for my laby setup)
 
Correct. Just make sure you check the outputs to find the 5V and 12V wires.. As long as the voltage on the 5V line of the PS is between 4.5 - 5.5V you should have no problems. If you look at a disk drive power connector coming from the PS, I want to say that the red wire will be 12V and the yellow will be 5V but I don't entirely remember..
 
I just bought some new modules from o-like.com that require 3v input, what would be best way to get 5v down to 3v
 
What size modules? A high-power resistor would be best in this case.. Once I know the light output rating of the module, I can estimate the current draw and calculate what size resistor to use to drop the voltage down to ~3V
 
120~150mW (OLGLM150A)
80~100mW Green laser module(OLGLM100A)
Green laser module/5-10mW(OLGM05A)

I got these three, the specs are all listed out on the website o-like.com
 
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