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FrozenGate by Avery

Identity of StoneTek diode?

I just emailed SenKat and he said the diodes were still the same ones, so I don't know what's going on.
 





drlava said:
I recently bought 5 of these diodes for the purpose of testing. So far they haven't been able to reach 200mW. The first diode showed an absolute operating max at 140mW, and the second diode had a max. of 160mW before some strange valleys in the output. The second diode had a 'second plateau' around 190mW, so I ran it there during a test and it only lasted 1.5 hours before complete failure.

So, these diodes cannot/should not be pushed to 200mW, and for best life should be run below 150mW. I'll be doing more lifetime tests later. If you would like to donate to the testing fund (this is getting expensive) I can provide runtime plots and precise V/I/P plots.
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Excellent, this is something I'd really like to see. I'd contribute if I wasn't so broke.

Bottom line is these diodes are rated for 80-100 mW CW. They are tolerant of being pushed overspec.. just understand they will likely not live long.
 
Kenom said:
Indeed. Lava's findings pretty much snych with my findings this far. Essentially it's these diodes are not what we expected them to be or are of considerably lower power than a different batch he was offering. What it comes down to is you can NO LONGER expect your senkat diodes to run over 150mw for any period of time. I've got 8 returned laser that I'm currently repairing (replacing diodes) to prove it. Lava, I'll donate to your research. I need to know what these are capable of and what the plot is. Expect a paypal payment shortly.
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K, so you're saying the diodes Greg is now offering cannot be pushed as hard (and for as long) as the diodes available during the GB last summer? Do you have any of the old diodes to compare the markings on the can with the newer ones. The first two pointers I made were using the two diodes I got last August .. both of the pointers still work but I've used them very sparingly and I doubt they've got more than a couple hours of use (total).

These diodes are not bad, it's just they are 'only' rated for 80-100 mW CW.. perhaps a 20x DVD diode is still a better choice for those wanting to hit 200+ mW??
 
I wonder if Greg is aware of the changes.....the markings on the diodes I have clearly indicate they are from Sony's JL series of diodes as opposed to the VL series Greg may think he is selling.

I wish I would have saved some of my diodes from the first batch that went "poof" due to my errors, so I could look at the codes on them.

Kenom, please make sure to look at the codes on the diodes you are replacing....if they have a JL stamped on the diode, it might help get to the bottom of this. If they have a VL stamped on the diode, then I don't know except maybe you were pushing them too hard. Anyway, I would suggest you keep track of all the ones you replace. Write down the code on the defective diodes, who they came from, the code for the replacement diode, and who it is being sent to.
 
it's been verified with extensive tests by Dr. lava that the stonetek diodes are indeed lower power than we're thinking.  Based on his findings, 130mw is pushing this diode to it's limits.  That's about 180ma!!

I do NOT think that this is intentional or something that SenKat is even aware that the diodes he got is different quality or even different diodes.  I've talked with him and as far as he knows he's been getting the same diodes all along, so it's probably the seller sending him either a different diode entirely or it's a bad batch.  One thing that has been found if the batch code (the bottom 4 numbers) is 0155 or 0158.  don't push it over 130mw.

So to verify. it's not the top code on the diodes that I'm looking at. it's the bottom. all of the diodes I pulled are JL. but the bincodes were 0155 and 0158.
 
hey i have some old sony diodes from greg ill check, I agrees i ran one with 250ma and it died
 
toked323 said:
hey i have some old sony diodes from greg ill check, I agrees i ran one with 250ma and it died
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the last senkat diode I orderd was a long time ago...
its curently in a laser Im gonna sell, its running at 250mA



a 10ohm resistor would give 125mA.... did you mean 130mA is pushin it to its limits thats 180mW? kenom?
 
He mean't driving it at 180mA is pushing it to it's limit which is about 130mW.
 
Look Amk, all Kenom says is that the new diodes should not be pushed over 130mW which is about 180mA of current. So don't push them over 180mA.
 
Kenom, I don't believe Greg would do anything intentional to deceive us or anything like that. It is a shame that the diodes from the newer batch are not holding up well.

Thanks for the info. about the codes....I think you are on to something there. I have five diodes I haven't used yet and I know one of them has the 155 code. However I do remember when we got the diodes from the first batch, I was recommending running them around 160ma's. They are still darn good burners even with this low a current.
 
All my Senkat supplied LDs have the 0155 ID# and were all supplied in November of 2007. I have several operating at 250mA and 2 operating at 300mA. Most have runtimes that can be measured in hours. Except for a stupid mistake on my part that cost me one LD, all are operating nominally.
 
knimrod said:
All my Senkat supplied LDs have the 0155 ID# and were all supplied in November of 2007. I have several operating at 250mA and 2 operating at 300mA. Most have runtimes that can be measured in hours. Except for a stupid mistake on my part that cost me one LD, all are operating nominally.
Click to expand...

You just had to go and throw a monkey wrench into this didn't you...lol. Oh well, back to the drawing board. ;D
 
well, lava sent me some graphs and everything he did. He's run I believe a total of 4-6 diodes to thier deaths to get the information and the readings and findings were pretty consistent from diode to diode. Maybe lava wants to post his findings, I'll leave that to him.
My last batch was recieved around nov-dec and of those 80% of the lasers have died within weeks.
 
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