low current 495nm driver needed

[Apocalypse]

Hello All,

I'm currently in search of a driver for the new 495nm Sharp diode.

I've seen some people use the nano driver from DTR set to 275mA. link here

However, to my knowledge it is out of stock right now. Also, I would like to run this diode at a current between 150-200mA to reduce heat and wavelength shift.

I plan to use 2 Li-ion batteries to power this thing.

I would prefer to not use linear drivers to reduce heat output.

Anyone got some suggestions?

Found this driver on ebay. link here. Anyone have some experience with these? Thanks in advance.

Edit: I've asked the ebay seller for more information regarding this driver but no response yet.

 

[diachi]

Micro FlexDrive - Just use a single Li-Ion and a spacer. Saying that, may have a hard time going up as high as 150mA with the voltage drop of these diodes.

Other option I've been looking at is the Blitz Linear with a pair of 10440s. At the currents and voltages present it's not going to be putting out a whole lot of heat.

 

[Apocalypse]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have considered the Micro FlexDrive link here however, on the manual it says the max voltage is 5.5V which is too low for this diode. Can it boost higher than advertised?

As for linear drivers if I use Li - Ions fully charged they're around 4V and 2 of them is 8V. So the linear driver will be dropping around 1-2V to match the diode voltage at 100mA - 200mA. That's 0.1-0.4W of heat output. Would that be enough for a small handheld build with little heat sinking to dissipate?

Micro FlexDrive - Just use a single Li-Ion and a spacer. Saying that, may have a hard time going up as high as 150mA with the voltage drop of these diodes.

Other option I've been looking at is the Blitz Linear with a pair of 10440s. At the currents and voltages present it's not going to be putting out a whole lot of heat.

 

[diachi]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have considered the Micro FlexDrive link here however, on the manual it says the max voltage is 5.5V which is too low for this diode. Can it boost higher than advertised?

As for linear drivers if I use Li - Ions fully charged they're around 4V and 2 of them is 8V. So the linear driver will be dropping around 1-2V to match the diode voltage at 100mA - 200mA. That's 0.1-0.4W of heat output. Would that be enough for a small handheld build with little heat sinking to dissipate?

There's a couple of people driving these diodes with a Micro Flex at ~100mA which should be about 6V. Haven't tried it/tested it myself, still need to order some parts for my build. Not sure if it'll go up to 150mA.

That amount of heat should be fine, I don't imagine you'll be running it for particularly long anyway. Can always use some thermal adhesive to attach a penny/small heatsink to the regulator on the driver.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

The micro flex can do an actual max around 6.5V I believe. My osram 485 wants around 6v where I'm driving it and it's running just fine on the micro flex.

I might want to send one to Paul to find out as I'm curious myself what these can actually do.

 

[paul1598419]

Hi, Apocalyse. The Chinese driver you linked to in the OP is a constant voltage boost driver. I ordered one sometime ago hoping it might work as a CC driver. It didn't. The Blittx Linear driver is made to work with case positive diodes, but since this is case neutral, it won't care. I hate working with this driver as the pot tends to stick and doesn't adjust easily. If you could find an adjustable continuous ground X-Drive, that would work well with this diode using two Li-ion cells. You could also check with astralist as he has some new low current drivers out now.

 

[jnrpop]

https://laserpointerforums.com/f67/list-drivers-available-101887.html

^...could help :beer:

 

[paul1598419]

I have a Pico Boost Driver from astralist that is set for ~300 mA. It would take one Li-ion battery to power it and the diode, but since the Vf is fairly high, I suggest a good 18650 or your run times would be very limited. I had forgotten about having this driver and have already tested it for its ability to regulate current. It won't setup any lower than 300 mA, though. I know this is higher than you wanted. The only other X-Drives I have are 1.8 amps, so one of these boost drivers is my suggestion. I know astralist has some low power boost drivers for I think ~$15.00. One of these could be set for 150 mA, or even 100 mA.


BTW, a penny would have been fine 40 years ago as a heat sink, but they are pot metal with a thin copper coating on them now. I do have a few small aluminum heat sinks made for small SMD devices. I need to reorder more as I have gone through almost 20 of them.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

Not if you use a wheat back penny Paul

 

[paul1598419]

True, but you rarely see one these days. :crackup:

 

[paul1598419]

Sorry for the double post, but if anyone is looking for some of these 495nm diodes, lazerman121 has 2 or 3 for $63.00 shipped in the states.