my laser Kes400A problem

[Thepolnw]

i made my driver and it's exactly like this.
YouTube - DIY: How to build a laser diode driver
i test it and my laser wont come out the, i try IR and my camera can see little purple light and i wasn't bright at all,
then i see little tinyyyy red light come out when i testing IR
then i think i accident burn out the IR

is the Kes400A really that weak?

what is my problem???

thank you for reply

 

[Toke]

Try read through the link in the bottom of my sig.
It will likely give a clue to your problem.

 

[Thepolnw]

i read it for like 3rd times now
but i still dont get answer that why it's so weak

i gonna try to make load test and try with my other laser

thank you for link

 

[Bionic-Badger]

First of all, try shining it on bleached white paper or fluorescent ink and seeing if it fluoresces. 405nm light in general is not very bright to the human eye; however, if it fluoresces something, it'll look brighter.

Those KES400A lasers are weak PS3 lasers. They're "ok" for laser pointers only because they might have a slightly longer wavelength which might make them seem slightly brighter for safe power levels. I would look into a PHR-803T sled's laser, because those can be pushed to 110mA or so, not the 30mA or so that the KES diodes can be pushed to. They're also a lot less fragile than the KES lasers, and a lot less expensive.

 

[Thepolnw]

i turn it on in the darkest room and shine it to something black, but my cam still can't see anything except at the laser diode.

 

[NetGod3Com]

Black surfaces are not very reflective or very likely to fluoresce. Do you own any items that glow in the dark? If so try pointing the output at them and see what happens.

 

[Thepolnw]

I cant T_T
i think i accidentally burn out the IR and Red is still not working i will test my driver and try with other first and i will know that my driver is wired or that laser.

thank you for reply

PO

 

[Thepolnw]

I tried with my 2 other laser and it work, BUT it wasn't shine very bright.
Light just came out for 1 cm that's all. -*-
I measure my driver's V and ma without Testload and i get range (adjust with my pot)
~7.6-7.6 V and 12.5-250 mA
is it only 250 mA or it's support to be 300 up??
i will make a video to show u later
b/c my cam battery is dead(went to Cherry Blossom in DC )

 

[Bionic-Badger]

KES 405nm diodes only support up to about 30mA. They're pretty weak, fragile laser diodes. Maybe you burned it out. It's easy to burn out 405nm diodes, even the ones that handle more current.

I'd buy a PHR-803T and try again. After heatsinking the PHR-803T diode, set it to about 100mA and you should be fine.

 

[Thepolnw]

my other 2 is regular red LED
the first 1 on
http://laserpointerforums.com/f42/meta-topic-pinout-performance-actual-ld-26417.html
what is the mA that i should use?

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Look at the chart for it. There's also a diode compilation thread in the tutorial section with good suggestions.

 

[chipdouglas]

it sounds to me like it is an ir diode? do kes sleds have ir diodes in them??

michael.

 

[Thepolnw]

the first one is 4 legs IR and red LED diode and i think i burned the IR
i got it from DVD player and i know it's weak
i turn my pot to highest but it it's still shine only 1 cm away.
i will upload the video

 

[Thepolnw]

i cant make video so i take some pics

my driver

connect with regular LED and turn pot to MIN

and turn to MAX

then connect with my laser(old one) and turn MIN and MAX

now i know that it's IR diode
and some pics

it wasn't bright at all
is it should be brighter than this?

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Your camera has an IR filter built in. Even so, you probably burned it out. IR lasers really aren't that much fun, and being a DVD player that can read CDs, it will just use CD reading power, not CD writing power, so it'll be very weak. I would get a DVD-RW drive and start working with that.