Microboost hopefully not dead

[iknitsteel]

I just received my microboost in the mail and I got all excited and was very careful and soldered leads to the driver so I can test it on a breadboard got that done and all hooked up to a test load I thought that the lowest setting required no jumper but it does and I put power to it without a current range selected and got nothing finally after looking at the directions over and over I saw that a jumper is required I overlooked it on the black and white paper anyways I put the jumper on for 390-750 and powered it on and it worked!!! kinda the current is around 380 and just drops steadily.. Could I have damage the driver by powering it on without a current range selected, Oh im using 2 AA batteries to power it , I hope not I have a deadline on this laser

any advise

Thanks
Justin

 

[Pontiacg5]

Its quite possible that the AA batteries don't have enough juice to power the driver.
Switch to some other, bigger batteries and see if it still drops off.

 

[iknitsteel]

Thats it !!!!!!! slapped a 14500 in my battery pack with a AA for a total of 5.5 volts and this thing lit up!!!!! I have never seen power like this before its my first 445 build all I had before that was a 200mW blu ray now I have this thing set at 1065mA!!!!!!!! Just wondering if you know how many mW I should expect out of this I dont have a LPM Im using the new AR lens from Aixiz bought it with the diode from hakzaw1 thanks sorry for making a new thread if it wasn't needed

But I got my LAZOR working lol thanks

Justin

 

[Pontiacg5]

Probably 900-1100mW, but could be more/less.

Glad to hear you got it working!

 

[iknitsteel]

Thanks for the info I am using safety goggles I looked at this on the wall unforced so the dot was like a foot across and it still hurt my eyes

I noticed I had my laser on for about 30 seconds and the driver got up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit!!! is that normal its kinda hot and should I do I duty cycle I using a custon all aluminum host from Ehegmus ?
Justin

 

[Pontiacg5]

Thanks for the info I am using safety goggles I looked at this on the wall unforced so the dot was like a foot across and it still hurt my eyes

I noticed I had my laser on for about 30 seconds and the driver got up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit!!! is that normal its kinda hot and should I do I duty cycle I using a custon all aluminum host from Ehegmus ?
Justin

The Microboost does have thermal protection so it should save itself and turn off if it gets too hot, however it's probably not good for the driver to run it till it chokes constantly. If at all possible I would suggest fastening the driver to the host in some way, electrically insulating thermal epoxy for example, to help cool the driver a little bit.

Edit: I thought you said 119 degrees Celsius, I was wondering why it didn't shut itself off! But I see you were talking in a different scale

 

[iknitsteel]

Yeah its Fahrenheit that would be crazy if it was Celsius lol thats good to know that it has thermal protection and where can I get some electrically insulating thermal epoxy

Thanks,
Justin

 

[Morgan]

116 degrees fahrenheit is roughly 50 degrees Celcius, IIRC, which should be fine. I believe the maximum operating temperature will be around 80 degreed C but any heat you can get rid of will be good. I would also expect the temperature to keep rising at that current. Although not the same driver, I'm reading around 70 degrees on a Flexdrive at maximum after a few minutes and I don't like pushing it that much. Thermal shutdown seems to be reached soon after this if the symptoms for that are a regular flahing that increases in speed after time.

Epoxy should be pretty easy to find at an electronics store or the interwebz.

M

 

[iknitsteel]

I will have to take a look for the epoxy and I did another test and the temp keeps climbing AHHHHH I will have to switch my thermometer to C that seams what people like to use lol


Justin

 

[millirad]

I would like to applaud your first 445nm build! Now one "small" criticism, you said: "slapped a 14500 in my battery pack with a AA for a total of 5.5 volts". This coupling of a lithium ion battery with a primary battery may run into trouble after awhile.(They discharge at different rates) It may last for quite awhile as well though, but generally speaking, it's not a good idea to mix the two types. Other than that, congrats on getting this up and running and with plenty of power at that! As a side note,(other than using caution with being all thumbs with the adjustment pot), I have put the Microboost through absolute hell in the past and it's like a Timex watch. It just keeps on tickin! Thank you DrLava for such a fine product!

 

[iknitsteel]

I know mixing batteries is a bad idea I just needed more juice to set the current till my AW 18650 battery arrives Then I can put this thing all together and have a BA laser LOL. My only concern is how hot the driver gets in open air when the laser is together there will be no moving air around the driver and I have no more time for ordering epoxy hopefully I do in the future but from your testimony millirad sounds like they can handle it hopefully so!


Justin