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IR vs Blue/Green Laserdiode-drivers?

Mannitu78

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2019
Messages
92
Points
8
hello folks,
i thought its time to annoy some of you guys again with tard questions that everybody knows.

I love cheap shit from Ali and over the last years i bought a lot of drivers, most dirtcheap, i just wanted to know if they work and how they would behave..so long even the trashiest one worked and also didnt kill a diode. Not that i didnt kill a diode..but not this way. I also have a few of the better drivers on Ali for 10-15 bucks, they go up to 5 amps, the ones that are made for Lasercutters i think.

Many drivers i have are not even labeled laser, but LED drivers. I have a Nichia 5,5 watt 455nm diode on a 4eu LED driver for over a year now and using the laser regularly. I measured about 2,8A, thats when i stopped the little wheel, didnt wanna push my luck. I think the diode can do a little more. Ill show you a picture of this work of art, maybe yourea amusement will make you answer my question, cause it came to my attention motivation for answering questions does change daily :)

now to my question please, i just received a 2,3W 850nm diode, didnt order any driverboard because i have a lot..and i have quite some that fit, at least in the power/performance department. When looking at the datasheet it surprised me to see how much current it showed. I was planing to hook it on a 6-24V stepdown leddriver with up to 900ma.

Looking at the datasheet, i saw the current is 2,5A and the "maximum" current ( i guess for shorter Pulse use?" is even 3.6A. I feel like thats a lot of amps for a 2.3W diode. Voltage is accordingly low. That driver on the picture, on the piece of wood, is also a stepdown 6-16V...i think its 3A. At least.

So are these drivers ok for IR diodes? i think i even remembered some drivers being labeled as "Blue/Green/Red-Laserdiode driver"...i usually dont give much about these labels. Although it might be a good idea with cheap protection glasses :)

Lets just forget the quality/Are LED drivers a good choice in general-aspect please.

The square shaped driver on picture 2 is probably the highest quality i have...just from the looks...but it explicitely says "1-5A 450nm driver"20231021_005821.jpgUnbenannt.JPG
 





Mannitu78

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2019
Messages
92
Points
8
i just realized, when looking at my own picture of the driver, it does have 2 small screws/potis. So is that both a CC/CV source? Im really not good with electronics. Im just a paesant that likes laser beams and fire :)...
so please help.
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2015
Messages
9,914
Points
113
hello folks,
i thought its time to annoy some of you guys again with tard questions that everybody knows.

I love cheap shit from Ali and over the last years i bought a lot of drivers, most dirtcheap, i just wanted to know if they work and how they would behave..so long even the trashiest one worked and also didnt kill a diode. Not that i didnt kill a diode..but not this way. I also have a few of the better drivers on Ali for 10-15 bucks, they go up to 5 amps, the ones that are made for Lasercutters i think.

Many drivers i have are not even labeled laser, but LED drivers. I have a Nichia 5,5 watt 455nm diode on a 4eu LED driver for over a year now and using the laser regularly. I measured about 2,8A, thats when i stopped the little wheel, didnt wanna push my luck. I think the diode can do a little more. Ill show you a picture of this work of art, maybe yourea amusement will make you answer my question, cause it came to my attention motivation for answering questions does change daily :)

now to my question please, i just received a 2,3W 850nm diode, didnt order any driverboard because i have a lot..and i have quite some that fit, at least in the power/performance department. When looking at the datasheet it surprised me to see how much current it showed. I was planing to hook it on a 6-24V stepdown leddriver with up to 900ma.

Looking at the datasheet, i saw the current is 2,5A and the "maximum" current ( i guess for shorter Pulse use?" is even 3.6A. I feel like thats a lot of amps for a 2.3W diode. Voltage is accordingly low. That driver on the picture, on the piece of wood, is also a stepdown 6-16V...i think its 3A. At least.

So are these drivers ok for IR diodes? i think i even remembered some drivers being labeled as "Blue/Green/Red-Laserdiode driver"...i usually dont give much about these labels. Although it might be a good idea with cheap protection glasses :)

Lets just forget the quality/Are LED drivers a good choice in general-aspect please.

The square shaped driver on picture 2 is probably the highest quality i have...just from the looks...but it explicitely says "1-5A 450nm driver"View attachment 76613View attachment 76614

Try to do a better job of asking your questions, what you wrote is difficult to read so I pretty much didn't..... That said a lot of IR specific drivers don't have a very high VF, usually 3V or so while blues need 4.5V and greens 6V+

Most drivers will list their range and if they are bucking, boosting or both/sepic.

Current limiting drivers do just that, so a bucking driver that takes 7 - 12V in and outputs 2 to 8V out @ 0 - 5A will work for both IR and blue/green because the diode will only flow the voltage it needs at the current limit, so you set the driver for the current you want ( amps ) and as long as the voltage it needs is ( in the examples case ) 2 - 8V then the laser will only get what voltage it needs @ the current limit you set.

Now if the forward voltage is too low like an IR driver that can only output up to 3V, then it won't even reach the threshold of blue/green laser diodes in most cases or it may only let a few ma flow at only 3V.
 
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