My first build from scratch

[micksterbs]

Hey nice one! I have scant rep to give but have +1 anyway

I'm slightly confused. What does the spring that comes out of your veroboard contact? I can't work out the orientation.

Would love to see pics of the back end of the sink assembly.

 

[HIMNL9]

By the way .....

0.25w 1r : 1 ohm brown blue gold red

Are you sure ?

1 ohm is brown black gold gold (5%) ..... or brown black gold silver (10%) ..... or also brown black gold red (red for 3% tolerance, as last strip) ..... but cannot be brown blue gold ..... this is 1,7 ohm .....

 

[Carl Witcombe]

Hi guys,

Just done a DMM test, turned on DMM in resistance mode and touched red and black leads together, the reading is 0.7 ohms. So every ohms reading I take this into account, is this usual with these meters.

The driver board I am testing is not the board in my current build. The batteries I am using are'nt new but used, Even though batteries are reading 5.92v I guess that with the driver board using up 3v and the driver itself using about the same the voltage probably drops quite a bit after prolonged use.

I have included 2 pics of the reverse side of the veroboard, This side is in direct contact with the LD so it's covered with 2 layers of insulation tape to prevent shorting. There is limited space for a Heatsink, so the only heatsinking available is the Aixiz module only.

The spring contacts the + end of the Cells I know it's a bit of a cowboy job but it's my first build, I started researching building lasers only about 3 weeks ago before that I did'nt know what a resistor was let alone what its purpose was, mainly cruising around this forum for specific information and a few others, What inspired me to build, videos on a certain tube site. Always wanted a better Laser other than the usual run of the mill rubbish you get in your local corner shop.

Thanks for all your comments

 

[Carl Witcombe]

By the way .....



Are you sure ?

1 ohm is brown black gold gold (5%) ..... or brown black gold silver (10%) ..... or also brown black gold red (red for 3% tolerance, as last strip) ..... but cannot be brown blue gold ..... this is 1,7 ohm .....

1.7 ohm is the lowest i had was'nt sure if this would have been an issue. If i am wrong please let me know and it will be changed.

 

[Carl Witcombe]

I have a few 445Nm 300mw BluRay Diodes can these diodes be powered by a LM317 DDL Driver (Homebuilt).

For instance is the 300Mw 445Nm diode power consumption 4.5v or is it similar to the reds?

 

[Kevlar]

I don't think I've heard of "445nm 300mW BluRay diodes". I've only heard of one 445nm diode and thats the one we've been powering past 1W, and it's also referred to as a "Blue Ray" diode. The 405nm diode are referred to as "Blu-Ray" diodes because they come out of the "blu-ray" drives.

Just about any diode can be powered with the LM317 DDL Driver so long as you provide enough voltage for the driver and the diode.

 

[Carl Witcombe]

Kevlar wrote
[/QUOTE]

I don't think I've heard of "445nm 300mW BluRay diodes

[/QUOTE]

Kevlar, you are right, 405Nm 300Mw BluRay Diode from HTDlz.

[/QUOTE]
it's also referred to as a "Blue Ray" diode. The 405nm diode are referred to as "Blu-Ray" diodes because they come out of the "blu-ray" drives.
[/QUOTE]

That's confusing.

Anyway, I got some 1w BlueRay diodes from the afore mentioned site, put it all together but after a few seconds it starts flashing, Now wait, I've looked and found a lot of info regarding this, I also read that changing the Cell to a 18650 can overcome this problem. Ordered 2x 3.7v 2800Mah output, I have also purchased some Thermal heatpads. all in the post.

Re-wired the Host with heavier gauge wire in case thats the problem, check this, Fresh 3x AAA 850MAH cells Flashes pretty bad, once the batteries have been partially discharged the flashing stops, so it seems to me that the issue with this Pulsing behaviour is due to the Cells providing too much voltage causing the Micro Boost Drive to overheat and shut down.

Do you know if these steps will stop the laser pulsing.

Rewiring Host
Heatsinking the Driver to the pill
Modify the host to accept 1x 18650 3.7v Batt

I've seen vids using 1W lasers and there is no pulsing effect, there has 2 be a way to stop this.

 

[Kevlar]

When you say you used "3x AAA 850MAH cells", were those primary batteries (usually alkaline) with 1.2V - 1.5V each or Li Ions with 3.6V each?

 

[Carl Witcombe]

Kevlar

Sorry, AAA, 850Mah were rechargable cells 1.2v each x3, They fit the standard 3 cell case of the 3405 Host. 5w Super Bright Flashlight.

 

[Kevlar]

so it seems to me that the issue with this Pulsing behaviour is due to the Cells providing too much voltage causing the Micro Boost Drive to overheat and shut down.

A lot of it depends on what you driver is set too. What current is your Micro Boost Drive set at?

I have a few 445Nm 300mw BluRay Diodes can these diodes be powered by a LM317 DDL Driver (Homebuilt).

For instance is the 300Mw 445Nm diode power consumption 4.5v or is it similar to the reds?

If you are referring to the "405nm 300mW diode" then yes. (I also believe this is the same diode out of the 6X blu-ray sled). With a LM317 you need to provide enough voltage for the driver (~3V) and enough voltage for the diode (5-6V) so you will need minimum 9V. If you use a host that holds a 3XAAA host then using 3X3.7V Li ions would work as it would give you around 12V when the batteries are fully charged, that way giving you some run time. The batteries will start drop in voltage as soon as a load is put on them. Any extra voltage will be dissipated as heat from the LM317. It shouldn't be a problem but if you're worried about you could always put a small heatsink on the LM317 chip.

 

[Carl Witcombe]

A lot of it depends on what you driver is set too. What current is your Micro Boost Drive set at?

I've set my Micro Boost drive to 540ma to 1A, If I put fresh/recharged cells in I need to turn the power down, once the cells have been used for a while the power can then be increased to full, pulsing then decreases. The 1w 445nm diodes are awesome beasts.

I heatsinked the driver with XBOX 360 thermal pads I am waiting for the cells (3xAAA) to charge, then i'll let you know of the outcome, so far tests have been good, but the cells were not fresh. Haven't received the 18650's yet as they are coming from DownUnder.

Carl

 

[Kevlar]

That is weird that it would pulse with fresh batteries then stop. :thinking: Maybe someone else can chime in on this.

Usually it pulses because the batteries are getting low or the driver is getting too hot.

IMO, the Mah of 850 is too low so you could two things. One you've already planned, getting an 18650. The other is to get some 10440s (Li Ion equivalent of AAA size). If you use 3 of those and re-wire your 3XAAA battery cartridge so the batteries are in parallel, that would work too but not as good as 1*18650. Since you already ordered the 18650s I would just stick with those, better choice IMO anyway.

 

[Carl Witcombe]

Resistance help

Ohm's Law

The driver in pic 1 has the following components:-

1x 10 uf 25v Capacitor, 1x 1N4001, 1x 2.7 Ohm carbon film resistor (Red, Violet, Gold, Gold), 1x 100 Ohm Pot and 1x LM317LZ.

The Test/Dummy Load in pic 2 has:-

1x 1 Ohm .25w Resistor (brown, black, gold, gold), 6x 1N4001. with connections for Ir 3rd 1N4001 negative post, Red 4th 1N4001 Negative post and BluRay on the 6th 1N4001. The two posts on the left hand side are for the DMM connectors.

My problem is

I worked out that a 2.7 Ohm resistor should provide some 460ma to the test load, however, When i connect the driver test load up the DMM reads only 210ma The DMM is set to 2000m V---...(Solid top line, 3 dots below).

if for instance I want a diode to receive 255ma this is the calculation I use

1.25 / 255 = 0.00490196
0.00490196 * 1000 = 4.9 Ohm resistor

I assume that if I now put a 4.6 Ohm resistor for example onto my LM317 driver I would be pretty close to 271ma, or so I thought, What am I doing wrong?

I am using 2x rechargable CR2 3.6v cells providing 8.3Volts combined.

:banghead:

DMM setting 2000m V---...(top solid, bottom 3 dots)

Driver resistor Powered reads 460Ma

The driver appears to work, so my problem is the test/dummy load.

 

[Carl Witcombe]

:drool:

It's done, all the hard graft and the 1W 1000Mw Blue Laser is finally working. I Thank you all for the help that got me to this point.

Useful tips

If you are getting a 1w self build laser kit, Do the following

First things first


When you buy the laser kit also buy the 18650 Battery as well (and Scrap those useless 3xAAA's it comes with). If you do need to use AAA's alkalines can't provide enough current, If you have any NMH 850mah Recharchables hanging around, you can use those but there will be a serious hit on the outputed power.

Get and install thermal pads on the driver to the pill.

You probably don't require the next step, however, 1000Ma is alot of current for small wires to cope with.

so for a final step rewire the host with a heavier gauge wire.

P.S. Dont't do what I did and use CPU Thermal Paste as it's a dog to get off the intestines of the host and other parts..

 

[Carl Witcombe]

Hi

Going back to the post #27 above I have recently worked out the problem of low power output, This is due to using an LM317LZ Regulator, this particular regulator only outputs 100Ma max, have seen an LM1117 for a replacement that outputs up to 800ma, however, not sure on the size of this one.

Anyone had experience with this reg.

 

[charliebruce]

Hi

Going back to the post #27 above I have recently worked out the problem of low power output, This is due to using an LM317LZ Regulator, this particular regulator only outputs 100Ma max, have seen an LM1117 for a replacement that outputs up to 800ma, however, not sure on the size of this one.

Anyone had experience with this reg.

The 1117 should be fine - if you get a smaller-size one then you might have a bit of trouble keeping it cool at high current, depending on how many volts you're dropping. The LM317(T) would be best in terms of flexibility, presuming you don't mind too much about efficiency.